Reflection and Reconstruction of School Learning: A Perspective on the Meaning of Knowledge

Author: Zheng Tai-nian
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-07-01
Features: This book is based on the cutting-edge research findings in learning science, aiming to reflect on the prominent issues in traditional school learning from a new dimension—the meaning of knowledge—and explore how research in the field of learning science provides fundamental clues for approaching and attempting to solve these problems, as well as for reconstructing school learning. It analyzes the implications of these clues for curriculum and teaching reform. The core question addressed throughout the book is: How is the meaning of knowledge lost in traditional teaching methods, which primarily rely on teacher lectures and student listening and practice? How can the meaning of knowledge be restored in school learning to overcome alienation and drive the reconstruction of school learning? The book explores pathways to restore the meaning of knowledge and reconstruct school learning from three aspects: establishing connections between knowledge and the real world,,, and restoring the social practical nature of learning.
This book, grounded in the forefront research findings of learning science, seeks to reflect on the prominent issues in traditional school learning from a new dimension—the meaning of knowledge—and explores how research in the field of learning science provides fundamental clues for approaching and attempting to solve these problems and for reconstructing school learning. It also analyzes the implications of these clues for curriculum and teaching reform. The core question addressed throughout the book is: How is the meaning of knowledge lost in traditional teaching methods, which primarily rely on teacher lectures and student listening and practice? How can the meaning of knowledge be restored in school learning to overcome alienation and drive the reconstruction of school learning?
The book is divided into five chapters. Chapter 1 begins by analyzing the construction of human knowledge, exploring its characteristics—objectivity, social contextuality, social negotiation, and social selectivity. It then combines perspectives from philosophy and linguistics on knowledge and the meaning of language to propose that the meaning of knowledge exists in several relationships, including the relationship between knowledge and the external world, the relationship between knowledge and its producers and readers/listeners, the relationship between knowledge and the environment in which it is applied, and the relationships among internal parts of knowledge. It is in natural settings that the meaning of knowledge is revealed. Chapter 2 analyzes the absence of knowledge meaning in school learning. Due to reasons such as the organization of school education, the development of knowledge, and the concepts of learners and teaching models, the phenomenon of meaninglessness in school learning is widespread, leading to alienation. This chapter also compares and analyzes two traditional approaches to restoring meaning and proposes suggestions for restoring the meaning of knowledge in school learning based on the framework of Popper’s three worlds, emphasizing connections and dialogue among them.
The first two chapters explore the pursuit of knowledge meaning and reflect on school learning from this perspective. Chapters 3, 4, and 5 build on these foundations to explore pathways to restore the meaning of knowledge and reconstruct school learning from three aspects: establishing connections between knowledge and the real world,,, and restoring the social practical nature of learning. Chapter 3 elaborates on rebuilding connections between knowledge and the real world. The pursuit of such connections is determined by educational goals and is reflected in contemporary curriculum and teaching reforms. This chapter proposes achieving this connection through dual authenticity, analyzed through two teaching case studies: one is the meaning-based authenticity, which establishes a connection between knowledge and the world; the other is activity-based authenticity, which connects knowledge and the world through the way practitioners and knowledge institutions engage with it. Modern information technology provides unprecedented conditions for achieving this dual authenticity. Chapter 4 explores reconstructing school learning based on learners’ social-cultural attributes and knowledge experiences. This chapter shifts the focus of research on culture and curriculum from content to learning methods and extends the emphasis on knowledge dependency in learning science to the subject context, noting that learners’ social-cultural attributes shape their knowledge experiences and influence their learning methods, which together constitute their subject context. Viewing teaching as an important way to redevelop the subject context of curriculum materials, maintaining sensitivity to the cultural characteristics of learners’ society, particularly focusing on how cultural traits influence learning methods, helps adapt learning to learners’ subject context. Chapter 5 first analyzes the multi-layered implications of learning as an activity from the perspective of activity theory, including the transformation of knowledge into learning objectives as tasks, the simultaneous focus on individuals and communities, and the emphasis on the dynamic and non-predetermined nature of the teaching process. It then focuses on the transformation of participants and participation methods required by the social nature of learning activities, as well as the specific requirements for achieving the social nature of learning activities: the presentation of individual knowledge and meaning through cooperation and interaction. Finally, combining the perspectives of previous chapters and this one, it proposes that the process of learners’ learning should be a process of social practical activities, characterized by activity forms, practical orientation, and social attributes. In summary, this book analyzes the fundamental issues of school learning from the new perspective of knowledge meaning and proposes a framework for solving these issues and reconstructing school learning from this perspective. Drawing on the forefront research findings of learning science, it suggests that restoring the meaning of knowledge in school learning and reconstructing it can be achieved through connections and dialogue among the three worlds. It also proposes specific strategies for reconstructing school learning, such as moving learning toward dual authenticity, treating teaching as the redevelopment of the subject context of curriculum materials, and restoring the social practical nature of learning.