“Our culture tends to equate soft with feminine and feminine with unscientific and undisciplined. “ Papert, S. and Turkle, S. (1990) Epistemological Pluralism and the Revaluation of the Concrete. Versions of this article appeared in the Journal of Mathematical Behavior, Vol. 11, No.1, in March, 1992, pp. 3-33; Constructionism, I. Harel & S. Papert, Eds. […]
“The computer can be a partner in a great diversity of relationships. The computer is an expressive medium that different people can make their own in their own way. But people who want to approach the computer in a “non-canonical” style are rarely given the opportunity to do so. They are discouraged by the dominant
“Culturally shared negative attitudes toward teachers are nour ished by personal experiences. As a rebellious child I saw teachers as the enemy. Then, with time, these feelings merged with a theoretical position which had the illogical consequence of further demonizing teachers by identifying them with the roles that School forced on them. I disliked School’s
“When I met Piaget my passion for understanding mathematics came together with my desire to know how the mind works and to create a theory of intelligence. Plaget fascinated me because he managed in the same breath to say something both about the nature of mathematics and issues fundamental to philosophy and at the same
“They first learn engineering, then from there they progress to learning the ideas behind it, and then they learn the mathematics. This would be inventing, it’s a little probe toward inventing a different kind of content. It’s not a different way of teaching; it’s not pedagogy. It’s different knowledge. It’s a good example of turning
“It’s astonishing – no other word would do – that everywhere where there is knowledge work, you expect to see a computer on every desk and yet our schools still boast of the fact that we’ve finally achieved a computer in every classroom. Wow, it is astonishing.” Papert, S. (2004). Will Going Digital Improve or
“Jean Piaget’s very strong idea that all learning takes place by discovery is emasculated by its translation into the common practice known in schools as ‘discovery learning.’” Papert, S. (2000). What’s the big idea? Steps toward a pedagogy of Idea Power. IBM Systems Journal, vol. 39, no. 3-4.
“Why then should computers in schools be confined to computing the sum of the squares of the first twenty odd numbers and similar so-called ‘problem-solving’ uses? Why not use them to produce some action? There is no better reason than the intellectual timidity of the computers in education movement, which seems remarkably reluctant to use
“I have noted elsewhere (Papert, 1996b), that School’s math can be characterized by the fact that its typical act is making marks on paper. Explorations in the Space of Mathematics Education develops this idea by imagining an alternative mathematical education in which the typical activity begins with and consists of creating, modifying, or controlling dynamic
“Nineteenth century researchers seeking to improve transportation stumble on the idea of a jet engine and propose to use it to augment the power of horses pulling stage coaches. Researchers of a rival school ridicule the idea of using technology to solve the problem and suggest that the better way is to train the coachmen.