POSTMODERNISM IN SPECIAL-EDUCATION

As a basis for policy, constructivism has an ideological character tha t draws from but is not identical to Piagetian or Vygotskian notions o f constructed knowledge. Special educators should be wary of borrowing fashionable rhetoric of postmodernism to justify development or refor m of instruction and curriculum unless accompanying constructs and val ues can first be disentangled. In reflecting on the articles in this s pecial issue, I indicate that there are higher stakes for special educ ation, particularly in national curriculum and testing reform, that ac company constructivism as a rationale or framework for development of instructional curricular strategies for students with disabilities.