Webster Faculty and Collaborators Lead National Conversation on Critical Constructivist Education
November 15, 2025
Presenters Brenda Fyfe, EdD, from left, Yin Lam Lee-Johnson, PhD, Gigi S. Yu, PhD
and Juana Reyes, EdD.
Four educator-scholars committed to advancing social justice and constructivist education co-presented at the Association for Constructivist Teaching (ACT) Conference, held Oct. 10鈥�11, 2025, in Costa Mesa, California.
Their presentation, titled 鈥淐onstructing a Critical Constructivist Resistance Movement,鈥� invites educators to reflect on and take action to promote moral and intellectual autonomy in teaching and learning. Drawing on the works of Piaget, Kamii and Giroux, the session examines how educators can respond to current challenges to diversity, equity and inclusion in schools by reaffirming constructivist principles and critical pedagogy.
Presenters included Brenda Fyfe, EdD, Dean and Professor Emerita, 麻豆社区; Yin Lam Lee-Johnson, PhD, Associate Professor, Department Chair and Director of the EdD in Transformative Learning in the Global Community, 麻豆社区; Gigi S. Yu, PhD, Associate Professor of Art Education, University of New Mexico and Juana Reyes, EdD, Associate Professor, Lewis University.
Together, the team seeks to engage educators in building a movement that resists fear-based policies and supports classrooms grounded in respect, freedom and humanistic values.
鈥淎s constructivist educators, we have a responsibility to help students develop moral autonomy and critical consciousness,鈥� Fyfe said. 鈥淥ur work is about sustaining spaces where diversity, equity and inclusion are not only present but essential to learning.鈥�
鈥淚n the midst of teacher shortages, burnout and ongoing culture wars, we urgently need critical pedagogy to transform the status quo,鈥� Lee-Johnson added. 鈥淥ur social contract as educators is changing and evolving, and it鈥檚 essential that we empower both teachers and students to think critically and act with integrity.鈥�
The ACT Conference brings together educators from across the nation who are dedicated to fostering democratic classrooms and learner-centered practices .
By For more information about 麻豆社区鈥檚 Doctor of Education (EdD) program and its commitment to social justice and transformative learning, visit EdD in Transformative Learning.
By