September 2008 — News
Print this article | Email this articleClick here to receive your FREE subscription to T.H.E. Journal
Expert Teachers: Building Knowledge Versus Conveying Information
|
|
In Part 1 of this two-part series, we discussed the problem of being a knowledge worker in an essentially task-based education system. Teachers who are pressured into transferring information to students at a rate that supports test taking rather than knowledge building face considerable challenges. Not only does the system itself not support this approach, there are others risks to face.
Facing the Risks
What are some of the risks of knowledge work in education? All participants in the process of learning that produces new knowledge face risks of time, perceptions of success, and misunderstanding of the process. In my experience as an educator all three are difficult to face and manage but must be addressed if knowledge work is to be the outcome.
Time
Simply put, it takes longer to build knowledge than to exchange information. That is a problem externally and internally in any course of study. There are always external pressures on teachers to cover material and test students on the material within a set period of time. But real learning, as we all know, does not necessarily fit into set time periods. Developing thinking and ongoing learning and problem-solving skills leading to new knowledge in students takes commitment to a process and a disregard for time.
Knowledge building within a relevant context of learning does require the exchange of information but must move beyond that to application quite quickly. Therefore, rather than spend all of the course time delivering information, teachers should require students to cover information but then use that information to actually learn. Students all move at an individual pace in learning, so asking students to explore and discover information for themselves is a great way to both develop thinking and study skills and use those skills to apply the information faster than if all of the information is expected to come via the teacher.
All students, even those with learning challenges, should be required to build knowledge, not just gather information. In fact, it is often an overload of information that stalls the learning process for students, not the process of learning itself.
Perceptions of Success
