What is knowledge? Why is knowledge important?

Knowledge is a place where

individuals store learned information, however, knowledge is not obtained until it is
applied in a meaningful day to day life. Pritchard explains in Chapter 2 that, “If truth in
one’s beliefs is valuable and knowledge demands truth, then we can assume that
knowledge is valuable” (Pritchard, 2014, Chapter 2, Section 2, para. 1). I would like to
think that knowledge is different for everyone because each individual value different
matters in life and each of us have our own unique truths influenced by our different
experiences and ideas of how the world around us works. For instance, Prichard speaks
of beliefs and false beliefs in chapter 4. A few weeks ago, in our class justifying beliefs
discussion I explained how Everybody views the world with a different lens. This lens is
shaped by several different factors such as upbringing, culture, and life experiences.
For instance, two different people can have entirely different opinions of a situation
based on their own personal general knowledge base. 

This may not always be a positive thing as it creates a very sheltered view of the world.
One may not believe something, simply because they have not yet "seen" or
experienced it for themselves, although someone else who has personally "seen" this
knows it to be true.  For example, through the lens of a young child, Santa Claus is a
real person who visits at Christmas time; children take pictures with Santa at the mall,
they write letters to him, they see him in movies and have no reason not to believe in
him. However, adults will see Santa Claus as nothing more than a person dressed in a
costume, bringing joy to children during the holidays. The lens of the adult has been
changed by the experiences they have lived through. 

Pritchard quotes Plato by saying that, “Knowledge must consist of 3 criteria: justified,
true, and believed” (Prichard, 2014, Chapter 3, Section 1, para. 1). If we are to have
knowledge, then we must be able to justify what we believe in. Knowledge cannot just
be true belief, since one can gain a true belief in bizarre wats that makes it seem as
though they did not have knowledge. For example, I believe that the Washington
Capitals will win the Stanley cup next year, based on them winning the cup this year
and how they have kept the same core players for next year. Even if this is true, I did
not clearly know that this would be the outcome. Epistemic rationality is a part of
rationality which involves achieving accurate beliefs about the world. It involves us
examining why we believe what we believe. But sometimes “the way things look isn’t
always the way things are appearance can be deceptive” (Pritchard, 2014, Chapter 8,
Section 1, para. 1). A great deal of our knowledge is based on how we perceive the
world, but if what we perceive is false? Pritchard calls this false knowledge an illusion.
Pritchard’s comments in Chapter 16 on objectivity aligns with this ‘false knowledge’
idea, where he says, “no matter how good your reasons are or believing that the world
is a certain way, it could still be that it isn’t that way, you could be wrong” (Pritchard,
2014, Chapter 16, Section 1, para. 2). With constructivism, knowledge is not
transferrable; instead, it should be constructed socially and through experiences.

While teaching may seem to be the opposite of learning, it is a binary relationship that
develops in a search for meaning; the teacher affects the student’s learning.
Constructivism is a philosophy of learning, which proposes that by reflecting upon
experience we come to understand the world around us. Constructivism began in
developmental psychology with Jean Piaget, who’s theory emphasized that “Knowledge
does not and cannot have the purpose of producing representations of an independent
reality, but instead has an adaptive function” (Fosnot, 2015, Section 1, para. 1).
Students must be actively involved in their learning and active involvement in their
learning requires prior knowledge. The learner must make sense of experiences by
actively constructing meaning. The role of the teacher is to facilitate learning, as good
teachers will understand that there are multiple ways to solve a problem and that just
lecturing students will not lead to understanding. Lev Vygotsky expanded upon Piaget’s
theory by looking at how society or social interactions aided a student’s knowledge and
learning. His social constructivism theory differs from Piaget’s trivial constructivism
because he believed that “A student’s mind is inherently social in nature and so speech
moves from communicative social to inner egocentric” (Fosnot, 2015, Section 3, para.
6). Humans are social beings and throughout our evolution, we have sought to establish
communities, societies, and different forms of communication. In addition, Vygotsky
Zone of Proximal Development theory suggests that “the distance between the actual
developmental level as determined by independent problem solving and the level of
potential development as determined through problem-solving under adult guidance, or
in collaboration with more capable peers” (Vygotsky, 1978, p.86). He suggests that
teachers use cooperative learning exercises where less competent children develop
with help from more skillful peers – within the zone of proximal development.

References:

Fosnot, C. T. (2015). Constructivism: Theory, Perspectives, and Practice. New York:

Teachers College Press.

Pritchard, D. (2014). What is this thing called knowledge? London; New York:
Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group.

Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). Mind in society: The development of higher psychological

processes. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.