-  representations (e.g. ideas, theories, taxonomies)
- general non-representational facts 
- non-representational facts about human traits.


Types of Social Constructs

The social construction of race refers to how the concept and categories of race, as well as the meanings given to them, are not innate, but instead formed by society. While there are real physical traits that humans have, such as skin color, these traits do not exist in the format of clearly defined boxes that the concept “race” is structured as, nor do they correspond to any personal traits or values, a false belief that racism is built upon.

The Social Construction of Race

Kerschbaum argues that discourse extends beyond spoken or written language to encompass material objects, body language, and physical environments. By integrating perspectives from materialist disability studies and critical phenomenology, the author offers a theoretical counterbalance to purely social constructionist models, arguing that the material world serves as an "active co-participant" in the construction of disability. This approach insists on recognizing the "shared world-making" that occurs between material realities and social constructions.

The Material Surround

The theory that what we consider “reality” is a collection of collaboratively constructed views of the world created through social interactions that then become the basis for shared assumptions, meanings, and ascribed values within a society.

Georgetown University

The view that knowledge does not exist as a singular objective truth, but rather as a collection of constructions made by humans. We can only interact with reality through our interpretation of it. No interpretation is more or less “accurate”, but rather more or less applicable/helpful to our own experiences.

Epistemic Constructivism

This theory views peoples’ reactions to a stimulus as a response to the meaning they give the stimulus, rather than as a reaction to the stimulus itself. The meaning that is given to a stimulus is not random, but based on previous interactions with the stimulus and other people in society. 

stimulus --> invokes socially derived meaning --> invokes reaction

Symbolic Interactionism

Berger, P. L., & Luckmann, T. (1966). The Social Construction of Reality: A Treatise in the Sociology of Knowledge. United States: Anchor Books. 

 The Social Construction of Reality: A Treatise in the Sociology of Knowledge

A theory that recognizes the learners' understanding and knowledge based on their own experiences prior to entering school. Rather than simply taking in knowledge, learners take the opportunity to reinforce and build their own understanding of the topic, derived from what they already know and what is being presented to them.

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