Knowledge construction

Knowledge construction is a dialectical process, which involves systematisation of various facts through dynamic interactions between individuals and the environment. Knowledge creation is a spiral that goes through seemingly opposing concepts such as order and chaos, micro-macro, part-whole, mind and body, tacit and explicit, deduction and induction, and creativity-efficiency. There is need to understand that knowledge creation is a transcending process through which entities (individuals, groups, and institutions) go beyond the boundary of the old into a self-acquiring new knowledge. Learners work with their knowledge such that they link their new knowledge to their existing knowledgebase.

1. Knowledge construction By. Dr. Kshetrimayum Sajina Devi

2. As we interact with our friends, classmates, and relatives, we are involved in the process of knowledge construction. It is an art of contributing to the development of a body of ideas, attitudes, and beliefs. Knowledge construction is a process by which knowledge new to an individual/group is created based on a generative process. Knowledge construction is a dialectical process, which involves systematisation of various facts through dynamic interactions between individuals and the environment. Knowledge creation is a spiral that goes through seemingly opposing concepts such as order and chaos, micro-macro, part-whole, mind and body, tacit and explicit, deduction and induction, and creativity-efficiency. There is need to understand that knowledge creation is a transcending process through which entities (individuals, groups, and institutions) go beyond the boundary of the old into a self-acquiring new knowledge. Learners work with their knowledge such that they link their new knowledge to their existing knowledgebase.

3. Knowledge is not part of reality. It is reality viewed from a certain context. The same reality is viewed differently by different persons in different times and in different contexts. It means in knowledge construction one cannot be free from one’s context. Social, cultural, and historical contexts are important in individuals, because such contexts give the basis to individuals to give meaning to it. Knowledge construction is a collaborative process and aims to produce new understanding or knowledge, which exceeds something that anyone alone could not achieve. It is also essential that knowledge construction is based on each other’s ideas and thoughts. Knowledge is created through interactions between human agency and social structures. Our actions and interactions with the environment create and enlarge knowledge through the conversion process of tacit and explicit knowledge. We enact with main levels of consciousness, that is, practical consciousness and discursive consciousness in our daily lives. Discursive consciousness gives us our rationalisations for actions, refers to explicit knowledge, while practical consciousness refers to the level of our lives that we do not really think about and refers to tacit knowledge.

4. Process of Knowledge Construction True research is a process of knowledge construction, which requires some levels of combination of interpretation, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation. When an activity requires students to devise procedures, the activity qualifies as knowledge construction. According to David Berlo, education needs to be geared toward the handling of data, rather than the accumulation of data. Marvin Minsky says “ You don’t understand anything until you learn it in more than one way”. Students construct knowledge when they apply critical thinking and applied thinking to go beyond knowledge reproduction by generating ideas and understandings that are new to them.

5. Many have referred to the modern world economy as a ‘knowledge economy’ in which the possession of knowledge is far less important than the creative uses of knowledge. In this knowledge economy, the development of new knowledge is the greatest driver of innovation. In the context of a school, the knowledge construction process relates to the extent to which teachers help students to understand, investigate, and determine how implicit cultural assumptions, frames of references, and perspectives and biases within a discipline influence the ways in which knowledge is constructed. Knowledge construction cannot be achieved when students merely reproduce what they have already learnt. If the knowledge construction is a process by which students generate ideas and understandings, the focus of classroom instruction should be on helping students to learn and experience this process as inter-disciplinary activities provide greater scope for knowledge construction.

6. Three processes are singled out as crucial to constructing knowledge: 1. Activation of existing knowledge : Activating knowledge refers to making it explicit and accessible to all stakeholders. Both users and developers of knowledge benefit from activation. 2. Communication between stakeholders : This consists of creating a shared understanding through interaction among people. It is a social activity in which all participate and contribute to knowledge construction. The understanding created through communication can never be complete, but instead is an interactive and ongoing process in which common ground, for example, assumed mutual belief or knowledge is accumulated and updated through negotiation and accumulation of meaning overtime. 3. Envisioning : It is a constructive process in the sense that it is based on prior understandings, but extends toward the future. It is different from activation because it builds new understandings, rather than surfacing existing ones. The recent thinking about knowledge construction assumes that knowledge is not something, which can be transmitted from one person to another, but rather is jointly constructed by all parties involved in the process of knowledge construction. Constructivism is a theory based on observation, scientific study, and about how people learn. According to this theory, people construct their own understanding and knowledge of the world through experiencing things and reflecting on those experiences.

7. Teachers’ role in construction of knowledge The teacher helps learner to chart the course of learning by laying down specific learning objectives and expecting learning outcomes; and The teacher should inter-relate concepts, subjects, and activities across the curriculum so that what is learned in one activity gets strengthened and reaffirmed in another.