Knowledge defined
Knowledge noun
- facts, information, and skills acquired by a person through experience or education; the theoretical or practical understanding of a subject.
"a thirst for knowledge"
synonyms: understanding, comprehension, grasp, command, mastery; - awareness or familiarity gained by experience of a fact or situation.
"the program had been developed without his knowledge"
synonyms: awareness, consciousness, realization, cognition, apprehension, perception, appreciation; formalcognizance
"he slipped away without my knowledge"
Knowledge is information. It is part of a program, that when put into your mind, programs your habits, and ideas, and all creative action.
The Importance of Knowledge
It is the programming behind your imagination. It greatly effects your conscience, your self awareness, and your will power to lead, follow, do, or do not.
Most religions usually don't teach the importance of knowledge. And the ones that do, don't very often. Government run education systems, as well as most religions, teach a very narrow hand-picked selection of knowledge. The same is true with government run science departments. None of them teach the great importance of you personally obtaining a correct knowledge of all things. Simply put: Knowledge is everywhere and effects everything.
Knowledge and Religion
Knowledge is the key to salvation: The degree of glory and happiness you live in is directly related to the degree of correct knowledge you understand. Knowledge is Authority: A priest cannot do his job unless he knows what a priest is suppose to do and knows how to do it. This applies to any position in business, politics, science, and religion. Knowledge increases discernment: The more knowledge you have about an event, or a person, the better judgements you can make concerning the event or person. The tree of knowledge (good and evil) = Responsibility.
Knowledge is Hard but Satisfying Work
Reading, Studying, Researching, and working to acquire the correct knowledge on any subject is a lot of work. But the reward is a treasure of knowledge that is always worth it.
Treasures of Knowledge
Think of this website (or any good source of knowledge) as a treasure chest filled with useful tools (of knowledge). Correct principles are the most useful of all knowledge. You use this treasure, and these tools to strengthen and sharpen your skills. You use it to become financially stable, and to advance your career. You use these tools for every reason listed on this page.
The Knowledge of Truth
Truth is the truth weather we think it or not. But it has no value to us unless we know it. Having the facts verses having an opinion or a feeling about something gives you a foundation that cannot be moved. At the same time it gives you freedom from all the false illusions of all that is confusing. Ignorance Brings Illusion, Knowledge Brings Reality, Wisdom Brings Freedom.
The Knowledge of New Paradigms
The more knowledge we gain, the more paradigms on different subjects are available to us. Knowledge expands our paradigms to encompass more information about a certain subject.
Scientific Knowledge
A knowledge of all science is good. A knowledge of the stars, of the electric universe, of planetary science, physics, mathematics, and all other areas of science related to cosmism is vital to proving this theory.
Historical Knowledge
A knowledge of all history is good. A knowledge of the history of man, and his religion, mythology, and philosophy, as well as a history of our solar system is vital to proving this theory.
Prophetic Knowledge
Prophetic knowledge is a correct knowledge of what prophecy is and how it works. This includes what the prophets have said about knowledge.
Personal Knowledge
This is the knowledge of Being, of personal doing, and having. This is the knowledge of self empowerment, for knowledge is potential power. This is the knowledge that makes you better in whatever way you choose.
Social and Emotional Knowledge
This is the knowledge of communication, influencing others, demanding respect from others. understanding others, and having empathy towards others. Knowledge greatly develops a society.
1.1 INTRODUCTION
Knowledge is habitually defined as a belief that is true and justified.
The philosopher Plato famously defined knowledge as "justified true belief".
On the other hand, knowledge is a familiarity, awareness of understanding of
someone or something, such as facts, information, descriptions, or skills,
which acquired through experiences or education by perceiving, discovering
or learning. On comparing knowledge and wisdom, knowledge is the
accumulation of facts and information and wisdom is the synthesis is of
knowledge and experiences into insights that deepen one’s understanding of
relationships and the meaning of life. Education is really a means to discover
new things which we don’t know about and increase our knowledge. Hence,
it is important to provide effective teaching-learning experiences by means of
constructing productive curriculum. In developing curriculum, all the
foundations (Philosophical, Psychological, and Sociological Foundations) of
development of curriculum should be accommodated with respect to the
learners and the society. Educators, curriculum makers and teachers must have
promoted philosophies that are deemed necessary for planning, implementing
and evaluating a school curriculum. This philosophical foundation define the
purpose of the school, the important subject to be taught, the kind of learning
students must have and how they can acquire them, the instructional material,
methods and strategies to be used and how students will be evaluated. It is
found that Curriculum is influenced by psychology and Psychology provides
information about the teaching and learning process. This psychological
foundation seeks answers as to how a curriculum be organized in order to
achieve students’ learning at the optimum level, and as to what amount of
information they can absorb in learning the various contents of the curriculum.
Education takes place in society. Education is essentially a social process and
life-long process and social environment educates the child education has a
social role to play. Since the society is dynamic, there are many developments
which are difficult to cope with and to adjust to. Hence, sociological
foundation of curriculum helps in developing democratic skills and values in
students. In this unit, we will discuss about the importance of knowledge with
its acquisition, modes of education and its scope and determinants of
curriculum with its foundations.
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1.2 OBJECTIVES
After going through this unit, you will be able to:
Bring the meaning of knowledge
Identify the ways of acquiring knowledge
Explain the forms of knowledge
Understand the different modes education
Define the curriculum
Explain the nature and scope of curriculum
Differentiate the curriculum from syllabus
Discuss the foundations of curriculum
1.3 FOUNDATIONS OF EDUCATION
There are three important foundation of education - Ontological (related to the
nature of knowledge) Epistemic (related to theory of knowledge) and
Axiological (related to values). Of these three, epistemic foundation is the
most fundamental one. As you know, epistemic means relating to knowledge
it is only knowledge that reveals reality and facilities value realization.
Knowledge can refer to a theoretical or practical understanding of a subject.
It can be implicit or explicit; it can be more or less formal or systematic.
Information and knowledge are growing at a far more hastily pace than ever
before in the history of humankind. ‘More than ever, the sheer magnitude of
human knowledge renders its coverage by education an impossibility; rather,
the goal of education is better conceived as helping students develop the
intellectual tools and learning strategies needed to acquire the knowledge that
allows people to think productively’ (Bransford, J. D. 2000). Another
important thing you have to remember is that philosophy implies both process
of seeking wisdom and wisdom itself. This wisdom is nothing but theoretical
and practical knowledge related to problems of life and universe which is
derived out of systematic, critical and universe and beyond and seeking the
same becomes the goal of life.
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Concept of knowledge
Chamber of dictionary answer the question for what is knowledge is (i) as the
fact of knowing, (ii) information or what is known; (iii) the whole of what can
be learned or found out. Further, it also knowledge as assured belief, that
which is known, information, instruction, enlightenment, learning, practical
skill and acquaintance. Considering all the above that are worthy of knowing.
A term widely used by teachers, educators and policy makers is concept of
knowledge and it refers to the body of information that teachers teach and that
students are expected to learn in a given subject or content area such as
English, Language Arts, Mathematics, Science, or Social Studies. Concept of
knowledge generally refers to the facts, concepts, theories and principles that
are taught and learned rather than related to skills such as reading, writing, or
researching that student also learns in academic courses.
Importance of knowledge
Knowledge is not truth. Truth is inferred on the bases of available knowledge.
The truth about the universe around us or the macrocosm to the microcosm is
inferred knowledge. The knowledge of galaxy is inferred; so is the whole
nuclear science, space, DNA etc,. Much of what we knew is not observed
knowledge. They are known through their effects, properties, and
characteristics. It is at the stage of inference that employment of methods for
drawing inferences that philosophy is at work. Knowledge certified by the
philosophy enters the curriculum of education. Methods approved by
philosophy for building knowledge from the bases of methods and techniques
of teaching. The truth arrived by philosophy sets the goals and objectives of
education as well as instruments and uses of evaluation. Like this knowledge
helps philosophy to interpret, guide, monitor and validating the educational
process at every stages.
Nature of knowledge
Epistemology is the theory of knowledge. It deals with knowledge as a
universal matter and aims to discover what is involved in the process of
knowing. As such it belongs for the most part to the critical or analytical
aspects of philosophy. It asks many questions. Is there something common to
all the deferent activities to which we apply the term “knowing”? Does it
know a special sort of mental act? Can we anything beyond the objects with
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which our senses acquaint us? Does knowing make any difference to the
object know?
These are not idle questions. For if we can know that the knowledge we
possess is beyond error, that knowledge becomes a foundation of our search
for more of it. Admittedly it may folly to believe that we shall ever discover
true knowledge when all we have ever known is only an approximation of it.
Doubtful knowledge then only generates more doubtful knowledge.
As Santayana wrote, knowledge is a “torch of smoky pine that lights the
pathway but one step ahead, across a void of mystery and dread”. Still we
must strive, though a step at a time, to understand as well as we can the source
of it, we shall be in a better position to understand the true nature of that
reality to which it is related.Unlike philosophy, epistemology is not interested
in amassing and classifying facts and data and subjecting them to statistical
process. The epistemologist has ideas about how people think and feel, but he
does not claim to be able to explain them scientifically. He is, after all, a
philosopher and not a social scientist. The epistemologist may possess all the
information commonly described as “knowledge’, but still he will ask the
question, ‘what is knowledge after all’? and he may not come up with an
answer.He also examines relevant psychological concepts such as perception,
memory, and reinforcement to determine whether they are consistent, not
necessarily with factual matters but with themselves. Knowing the
psychological problem is to state and assess the very grounds on which
knowledge rests and claim to knowledge are made. There are, of course,
different types of knowledge, are important.
1.4 GENESIS OF KNOWLEDGE
Now let us examine the different sources of knowledge
Sense Experience Empirical Knowledge
Sense experience is the major source of knowledge which comes through
senses. Modern science is empirical in methods; concepts are formed as a
result of sense experience. By seeing, hearing, smelling, feeling and tasting.
We form our composite of the world around us. An empirical cautions us to
“look and see”, whereas a rationalist tells us to “think things through”.
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Reason Rational Knowledge
The view which says that our knowledge is essentially knowledge of universal
and that these are known by the mind and not by senses is called Rationalism.
Reasoning or through is the central factor in knowledge forms which we
derive universally valid judgments that are consistent with one another certain
mathematical and logical truths, for instance, are ‘self evident’ kinds of
knowledge that appeal to our reason. And two contradictory statements both
cannot be true at the same time. Moreover, when we say that if A is greater
that B and B is greater than C, and then A is greater than C, here we are
making a true statement based on reasoning and not derived from the sense.
Experimentation
The experimentation can be defined as a process of observation under
controlled conditions.” We know the bridge is safe because six of us just
crossed it” this instance suggests that knowledge is the product of tested
experiences in which sense perception is an ingredient but in which the effect
of what happens is the basic measure. We depend on experimental knowledge
for particular facts of everyday world. However, our senses deceive at times.
I would like to draw your attention towards an example of the stick that looks
vent in water but turns out to be straight when we touch it. At times we see
what we are conditioned to see not what is actually there. The accuracy of the
sense may be reduced further by such elements as cold, fog, heat, noise or
smog. From this discussion you are able to identify that experiment is another
important source of knowledge.
Authority
The first fundamental source of knowledge is authoritarianism. It may,
however, be noted that its central doctrine is that, ultimate source of
knowledge is authority of different kinds - the God, the Sate, Tradition of the
Expert. You should notice that authoritative knowledge it accepted as true
because, it comes from experts. We shall now analyze why authoritative
knowledge is inadequate. The reason for this conclusion is what constitute
authority and by want criterion we should select our authority as against
another. Most of our factual knowledge is based on authority.
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Intuition
Intuition is perhaps the most personal way of knowing. It occurs on what
psychologists call the subliminal level; beneath the “threshold of
consciousness” it is connected intimately with feeling and emotion and
contrasts with the logical process usually associated with thinking at conscious
level. As persons we see “in a sudden flash of insight” that something is the
case. We apprehend knowledge directly gain direct access into the heart of
reality. Yet, we do not know how we acquired this knowledge. Only an intense
feeling seems to convince us we have discovered what we were looking for.
Revealed Faith Knowledge
Faith is in part the king of knowledge that God discloses to man. In this
omnisense God inspires certain men to record. His revelation in permanent
form, whereby it may become accessible to all mankind for the Hindu’s it is
contained in the Bhagavad-Gita and the Upanishads. For Christian’s and Jew’s
it is contained in the Bible: for the Mohammedan’s, in the Khoran. Divinely
authenticated, it promises that those who accept it never, according to their
own rights, can be mistaken. Human interpretation may distort parts of it, but
in itself it is Devine truth. You will agree that revealed knowledge is confined
to whatever a religion or sect accepts to be the world of God. It is also based
on supernatural phenomena, but it can apply to natural phenomena, as in
Genesis. There can be very little argument about the credibility of its source.
It neither can be proved nor disproved. One accepts it on faint, but stressed
whenever possible by reason and critical experience.
1.5 TYPES OF KNOWLEDGE
Philosophers were classified the types knowledge in to the three major types
that are personal, procedural and propositional knowledge.
1.5.1 Personal Knowledge
The first kind of knowledge is personal knowledge, or knowledge by
acquaintance. This is the kind of knowledge that we are claiming to have when
we say things like “I know Incidental music.” The first type of knowledge is
personal knowledge, or knowledge by acquaintance. Knowledge in this sense
is to do with being familiar with something. Personal knowledge does,
possibly, involve possessing at least some propositional knowledge. What is
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important is that personal knowledge involves more than knowledge of
propositions.
1.5.2 Procedural Knowledge
The second kind of knowledge is procedural knowledge, or knowledge how to
do something. People, who claim to know how to juggle, or how to drive, are
not simply claiming that they understand the theory involved in those
activities. Rather, they are claiming that actually possess the skills involved,
that they are able to do these things. Procedural knowledge clearly differs
from propositional knowledge. It is possible to know all of the theory behind
driving a car (i.e. to have all of the relevant propositional knowledge) without
actually knowing how to drive a car (i.e. without having the procedural
knowledge). You may know which pedal is the accelerator and which is the
brake. You may know where the handbrake is and what it does. You may
know where your blind spots are when you need to check them. But until you
get behind the wheel and learn how to apply all this theory, you do not know
how to drive. Knowing how to drive involves possessing a skill, being able to
do something, which is very different to merely knowing a collection of facts.
1.5.3 Propositional Knowledge
The third kind of knowledge, the kind that philosophers concern about most, is
propositional knowledge, or knowledge of facts. When we say things like
“I know that the internal angles of a triangle add up to 180 degrees” or
“I know that it was you that ate my sandwich”, we are claiming to have
propositional knowledge. Although there are several different types of
knowledge, the primary concern of epistemology is propositional knowledge.
This is knowledge of facts; knowledge that such and such is the case. The
difference between the three types of knowledge is not as sharp as it might at
first appear. Personal knowledge does seem to involve knowledge of at least
some propositions. Simply having met someone is not enough to know them
(in the personal knowledge sense); you also have to know a few things about
them (in the propositional knowledge sense). Procedural knowledge also
seems to involve some propositional knowledge. If you know how to drive a
car (in the procedural knowledge sense) then you presumably knows certain
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facts about driving (e.g. which way the car will go if you turn the steering
wheel to the left). What is important is that propositional knowledge is not
enough to give you either personal knowledge or procedural knowledge.
Personal knowledge involves acquiring propositional knowledge in a certain
way, and procedural knowledge may entail propositional knowledge, but the
same propositional knowledge certainly does not entail procedural knowledge.
1.6 STRUCTURE AND FORMS OF KNOWLEDGE
Knowledge acquisition is the process used to define the rules and ontology
required for knowledge based system.
1.6.1 Ways of Acquiring Knowledge
Knowledge can be acquired along the following ways:
- Observation and Experience
This may be more or less sophisticated, ranging from a simple, "I saw" to
carefully design controlled experimentation.
- Reason / Logic
Taking other knowledge as data, by logical operations knowledge can be
inferred. For example the theoretical construct, the electron, is derived by
logical inferences from observations and experiment. Such knowledge, being
derivative, cannot be better than the knowledge upon which it is founded.
Modeling a situation sometimes allows those with a hands-on viewpoint to
learn howto do something. This pragmatic approach is often seen in computer
programming.
- Testimony
Knowledge based on the acceptance of testimony involves accepting what
others say. For example, I only know that Kent is a county of England, that
the First World War was horrendous. This seems to be a common way we get
knowledge but is seen by philosophers as problematic. See Testimony,
philosophical problems of.
- Authority
Knowledge based on authority may rely upon the reputation of an individual
such as Aristotle or Einstein or perhaps on institutional authority such as that
of the Roman Catholic Church or Oxford University. Note that an authority
may adopt knowledge upon other criteria such as divine revelation or
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observation as well as upon authority. Authority may have a political basis in
the sense that some political process, perhaps involving status as well as
simple voting, peer review, or comment. This is familiar to participants
in academia.
- Revelation
Many people believe knowledge may be obtained via revelation or even divine
revelation, which may be directly from God or another spirit, perhaps
conveyed through a religious text or texts, such as the Bible, although there is
no evidence to support this claim.
1.6.2 Meaning of Information
- Wisdom
‘Wisdom is the right use of knowledge. To know is not to be wise. Many men
know a great deal, and are all the greater fools for it. There is no fool so great
a fool as a knowing fool. But to know how to use knowledge is to have
wisdom’ (Charles Spurgeon). Wisdom is the knowledge that is gained by
having many experiences in life; the natural ability to understand things that
most other people cannot understand; knowledge of what is proper or
reasonable good sense of judgment. On the other hand, wisdom refers the
ability to use one’s knowledge and experience to make good decisions and
judgments.
- Instruction
The instruction does not involve the instruction between the teacher and the
pupils. Still in instruction can divert the pupils towards objectives. The main
difference between teaching and instruction is that the teaching includes
instruction but the instruction does include teaching. Hence, the teaching is
instruction but the instruction is not teaching. In spite of this, all three
cognitive, affective and psychomotor aspects of the pupils can be replacing the
teaching. In short, instruction is that process which diverts the pupils towards
the objective aspect.
- Teaching
Teaching is an innate contact between a more mature personality and less
mature one which is designed further the education later (H.C. Morrison,
1943). Teaching is a kind of mentoring. In teaching an interaction occurs
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between the teacher and the pupils. As a result of which the pupils are diverted
towards the objectives. In other words, the main element of teaching i.e. the
mutual relationship or the interaction between the teacher and pupils advances
the pupils towards objectives.
- Skills
A teacher makes use of number of methods and techniques to bring about
effective learning. The techniques includes, motivating the students,
explaining, questioning, and writing on the black board, using teaching aids so
- The teacher could also make use of nonverbal behaviors such as smiling,
nodding and gesturing. These groups of activities are called skills.