Philosophical implications for the design of instruction

There is a long history connecting philosophy and learning that dates at le ast back to Plato's dialogues and includes such distinguished modern schola rs as Dewey, Piaget, and Vygotsky. More recently the discussion about the r elationship between philosophy and learning has arisen in the context of co nstructivism. Given the long history and prominence of this discussion, it is perhaps worthwhile to revisit foundational concerns linking philosophica l perspectives and learning theory, and to explore what implications may ex ist for the design of instruction. The argument presented herein is that th ere are philosophical implications for the design of instruction, and, furt her, that they are poorly understood and not applied consistently.