Dr. Merchant believes that teaching is a covenant between people. Since learning about social constructivism, he has adopted many of its tenets into his teaching world view. He believes that every learner has a Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD), and it is his responsibility to help them learn knowledge and skills that they would not be able to acquire independently. This is known as a cognitive apprenticeship. At the same time, he has tried to reconcile with the idea that knowledge can be fluid, and needs to be co-constructed with learners. The best learning occurs when everyone brings their cultural, social, and institutional experiences to the table, and looks at problems from all angles, scaffolding knowledge and ideas to get closer to understanding.