I think constructivism aligns more with my learning journey so far and what I want to do in the future. My goal is to work with refugees. Often, I ponder on whether I will be able to do them justice in terms of providing them the necessary resources they need to excel in their new environments. After extensive research over the weekend on the different approaches to research, I think a constructivist approach may help me in that future role and with one of the questions I had last week, "How can I support refugee youths, when I do not understand the impact of their experience?"
Constructivism is a paradigm that emphasizes that reality is apprehensible by people in social ways, and knowledge is co-constructed between people as they engage (Guba &Lincoln, 1994). With this approach, instead of wondering how I can help refugees in the future, to answer my question, I can simply be intentional in the way I engage with refugees, learn from them, and understand their needs. In a more practical way, I can create safe spaces where I encourage refugee youths to share their lived experiences, to create and reflect. This gives them a sense of agency, and allows us to build an understanding together.
A German philosopher Ernest Glasersfeld, who was a radical constructivist pushed the idea that knowledge is only judged by how viable or useful it is for the knower. I mention this because I truly believe that we are better able to help youths as youth work professionals when we know more about them. I acknowledge that I can never fully understand the experiences of refugee youths or refugees in general, what matters is creating ways of knowing and relating that are viable for understanding their needs, and supporting their growth and well-being.
Hi Aji! I too relate more to a constructivism researcher, and I think part of it is that we care about the work we do and want to find meaning and results. We enjoy others understanding themselves better! I think there is no better way to be in the community then to learn about others by getting to know them. That alone takes you far, but at the same time going into this work knowing that even with the best intentions we can't solve it all or provide everything without the outside support. Even when we think we can relate you can be surprised at how different things can be, but it does help!
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