Postivists vs. Relativists vs. Contextualists

Question 2: Chapters in this section present two contrasting epistemic stances: positivist and relativist. However, a third stance, the contextualist or hermeneutical, is also widely recognized. This stance falls somewhere between the strictly objectivist/positivist beliefs about knowing and the purely subjectivist/relativist stance. While designers and educators with a positivist stance generally apply behaviorist principles to the design and development of instruction, those with either a contextualist or relativist epistemological framework employ constructivist theories and methods. However, relativists ascribe to radical constructivist approaches, while contextualists draw upon social constructivist theories and models. Based on what you’ve read about positivist and relativist epistemologies, as well as behaviorist and constructivist approaches, try to more fully describe a contextualist epistemology. How might it differ from either a relativist or positivist stance, and how might social constructivism differ from either behaviorist or radical constructivist approached to learning and instruction?

 

As stated with the root of the question, posivists subscribe to behaviorist principles, meaning they approach learning more scientifically than experientially.  Behaviorialists believe that learning can be explained and enhanced based on observations, modifications and feedback in a continuous loop. The sign of success for a behaviorialist is positive change in behavior.

 

Conversely, relativists apply radical constructivist theories where the learner acquires knowledge form their environment and then construct their own new knowledge based on authentic experiences. Radical constructivists believe that learning comes from their environment.

 

In the middle of these two perspectives stands the contextualist.  Given the information presented about positivists and relativists, I believe contextualists blend the tenets of the two epistemologies together to formulate, where the learner acquires knowledge using the scientific observation/feedback loop of behaviorialists, but the instructional designer also uses purposeful contexts to guide the learners through the process in a series of small learning experiences.