Does teaching in the South Bronx make me a social constructivist on a truth quest? I kind of want to be more scientific...

Question: What is truth? How does one uncover it?

It sounds cliché, but aren’t there so many truths for any single event? Uncovering these individual “truths” is perhaps easier than defining or identifying one single truth. Observing, questioning, and experiencing are some ways to uncover truth. However there must be much more to this process.

For elementary students, identifying the truth may sometimes appear so simple. This one lied and the other told the truth. But is it really that simple? What happens when a child steals because he or she is hungry or in need? Or hits because that is truly all is known of love? Yes it’s true that these children misbehaved or did something “wrong,” but is that the real issue? If a child grows up in an abusive home, then what kinds of truth does that child know?

What about when truth is manipulated and twisted to achieve a means to an end? Is truth something that is genuine and pure? Could it be raw emotion in reaction to events?

When one undertakes research, it’s definitely useful to recognize that there are many truths and many ways to uncover these truths.

This first post reveals the thinking of this blogger on the first day of class.