Upbringing’ in the paradigm of social constructivism

The article contains a proposal for a theoretical model of the phenomenon of ‘upbringing’ embedded in the paradigm of social constructivism. The concepts of this model refer to the common world of adult’s and child’s lives. The model consists of both the content of culture, in which this world is immersed, and the reality of the microsystem (family, dyad) created by participation and dialogue. In the educational dialogue, an inexperienced partner is introduced into the system of meanings used by an adult. Educational relationship is not symmetrical. Instead, it is complementary because of a stable, emotionally saturated relationship between a child and a person acting as an educator (most often a parent). Complementarity is expressed in different roles due to the distribution of responsibility, which determines different responsibilities and rights of each person. Control is implemented through a mechanism of self-realizing expectations that adults have towards their children. The description of the phenomenon of upbringing in the current of social constructivism examines relationships between two persons from the above-individualistic perspective. This is the most significant advantage of the proposed approach.