The Understanding And Application Of Knowledge

Published Date: 02 Nov 2017

Introduction:

The concept of knowledge is something that forms the basis of human minds, our thoughts and behaviour. The way that we approach knowledge and use knowledge is often influenced and guided by paradigms that are integrated through the educational curriculum. A paradigm is like a belief system or world view of how we think and feel about things. Paradigms guide our thought patterns and the way that we do things. Living in the information age of the 21st century, our approach to the concept of knowledge is very much influenced by the paradigm of post-modernism. Through this essay, the relationship between post-modernism and the opinion that curriculum developers have on the concept of knowledge will be discussed.

The nature of knowledge according to Postmodernism:

When looking at the concept of knowledge, knowledge should be categorised according the substance of knowledge and then according to the processes of knowledge. The substance of knowledge refers to the subject matter dealt with and the way that it is structured and arranged. In other words, the type of learning content that one would teach or learn and within which learning area it is arranged. The syntax/processes of knowledge then refer to the procedures or methods in which knowledge is learnt.

According to postmodernism, the substance of knowledge is considered as any kind of information that can be organised, digitalized and translated into a form that is recognizable and storable by a computer. All other forms of knowledge/information that cannot be digitalized, is irrelevant and will therefore cease to exist as knowledge. Although postmodernism rejects the notion of reality, it is generally accepted that subject content which is presented as learning content represents the different aspects/categories of reality in which a human would come into contact with during the course of his/her life. The syntax of knowledge within the postmodern paradigm is characterized by its function rather than what it means. Postmodernism portrays the notion that the ultimate function of knowledge is not to learn knowledge via education to know things, but rather to learn knowledge in order to be able to use and apply it in different situations. E.g. when obtaining a teachers degree, todays educational policy focuses on skills and training rather than learning an ideal view of education in general. The question that is asked by postmodernism on knowledge is not "what have you learnt through your degree/learning experience" but rather "What can you do with your degree in society?"

Through postmodernism, faith is lost in the idea that society is moving along the one, true pathway towards a full picture of knowledge that is equal and just. It is longer possible that there is a universal, world view of knowledge, because people interpret it in different ways. Alternatively the paradigm puts emphasis on multiple approaches, variety, diversity, difference and subjectivity when regarding the nature of knowledge.

Although the paradigm rejects ideologies when considering the nature of knowledge, both curriculum developers and postmodernism acknowledge that knowledge is subjective.

The purpose of curriculum development, is to bring into action more effective education by developing a more effective and meaningful curriculum. The opinion curriculum developers on the other hand hold the view that knowledge is acquired through the development of curriculums and effective ways to learn and understand the contents of the curriculums. They will debate and decide what is the most useful and important for learners to know about a concept and what are the most effective ways in which they can learn it. Said another way, knowledge is transferred and obtained through effective learning and application of carefully constructed curriculums.

The way that knowledge is organized and structured:

Within the postmodern paradigm, knowledge is structured and organized by an integrated approach. According to an integrated approach, knowledge/subject matter is organised and structured into learning content that can be interrelated and unified with the different learning areas so that students gain an integrated, more meaningful and relevant learning experience. Organizing and structuring knowledge within an integrated approach, allows children to adopt a more holistic perspective on learning knowledge. Furthermore, children gain the opportunity to explore, gather, refine and present information/knowledge about topics they personally want to investigate without the constraints of having to learn knowledge/subject matter within the certain traditional subjects/learning areas.

The way that knowledge is presented in terms of Postmodernism:

Postmodernism follows a democratic, diverse, multiple and integrated approach in presenting knowledge with the view that everyone constructs knowledge with in the context of their own socio-economic background and culture. Therefore postmodern teachers shift from using a teacher-centred approach to more of a learner-centred approach. A learner-centred approach focuses on the learners’ needs, abilities, interests and learning styles and aims at putting the learners’ needs first while placing the role of the teacher as facilitator of learning. On the other hand, a teacher-centred learning approach involves the teacher as being the primary source of information and plays an active role in the learning experience. The focus of learning was to gain information as it was presented to the learner and as a result leaners used rote learning and memorization as learning styles to acquire the set knowledge presented to them. The reason for using a learner centred approach is that it enables students to take on a more self-directed role to learning which promotes active learning and peer communication. Students’ levels of motivation are strengthened and learners also learn to take responsibility for their own learning.

Adopting a facilitator of learning role means that teachers should guide the process of student learning rather than instructing it and should avoid invading student active learning experiences by imposing information. Teachers who are facilitators of learning should also connect student knowledge to other fields of knowledge. As teachers adopt the learning-centred approach of teaching from the postmodern paradigm, so their roles change to facilitators of learning. Fulfilling this role also requires teachers to become aware of the diverse backgrounds of their students and how the learning styles of the students may differ

The impact of post-modernism on classroom assessment practices:

When adopting a postmodern approach to classroom assessment practices, there is a shift from evaluation to assessment. Evaluation has a summative, product-orientated purpose which focuses on obtaining a final, overall grade that measures the amount of knowledge that the student has learnt. The outcome of evaluation is judgemental to the student’s ability to learn and the measures or standard of measurement is fixed and comparative. Student success is rewarded where failure is punished and students are divided as better/stronger students or as worse/weaker students. The postmodernism paradigm prefers to use assessment as it has a process-orientated approach where the process of learning is assessed/observed. There is a more reflective/cooperative relationship between the teacher and learner and the criteria for assessment is more flexible where adjustments are made as areas of improvement are identified. The standard of measurement is absolute where one strives for ideal outcomes by learning from each other.

Different approaches are used for assessment such as: oral, written assessment, MCQ’s and essay questions within the postmodern context. The reason for following multiple approaches is that it enables learners to demonstrate what they know, understand and can do by basing the new knowledge on their prior experiences, interests and aspirations. Multiple approaches of assessment are also used in order to assess the different kinds of achievement across the curriculum and to accommodate the different learning styles of the learners.