The document explores epistemology, which is the philosophical study of knowledge, focusing on its nature, origin, and limits. It discusses various theories and classifications of knowledge, including the perspectives of philosophers like Plato and John Locke, and elaborates on different types of knowledge such as experiential, intuitive, and embedded knowledge. Additionally, it covers how knowledge can be categorized based on fields of study like natural and social sciences, as well as the role of perception, reason, and context in knowledge acquisition.

1. KNOWLEDGE AND CURRICULUM
 Knowledge
 Introduction-Epistemology & Knowledge
By
Arthy R
Assistant Professor
Thiagarajar College of Preceptors
Madurai

2. EPISTEMOLOGY
 Epistemology, the philosophical study
of the nature, origin, and limits of
human knowledge.
 The term is derived from the
Greek epistēmē (“knowledge”)
and logos (“reason”)
 the field is sometimes referred to as
the theory of knowledge.

3. WAYS OF ACQUIRING KNOWLEDGE
 Knowing and Knowledge: Epistemology is
one of the branches of philosophy,
 concerned with the theory of knowledge.
 It refers to the origin, nature and limits of
human knowledge.
 It deals with some important issues,
 as whether knowledge of any kind is
possible,
 whether knowledge is innate or learnt,
 whether knowledge is a mental state, etc.

4. KNOWLEDGE
 Epistemology, deals with two fundamental
problems of knowledge
-origin of knowledge
- focuses on the relative roles of knower and the
known in the making of knowledge.
- It is required to focus on process of how we
come to know.
-validation of knowledge
- the generated wealth of knowledge on both
ways and forms of knowing and knowledge.

5. PHILOSOPHERS
 all human beings wish to comprehend the
world they live in,
 many of them construct theories of
various kinds to help them make sense
of it.
 philosophers are captivated by the idea
of understanding the world in the most
general terms possible.

6. THE PROCESS OF INQUIRY
 the process of inquiry develops a
philosophy about matters.
 Example: Stick in water/railroad
 Vision and Thinking
 vision is not sufficient to give knowledge of
how things are. Vision needs to be
“corrected” with information derived from
the other senses.

7. KNOWLEDGE
 the fact or condition of knowing something
with familiarity gained through experience
or association.
 acquaintance with or understanding of a
science, art, or technique.
 the fact or condition of being aware of
something.
 the range of one's information or
understanding answered to the best of
knowledge.

8. KNOWLEDGE
 the circumstance or condition
of apprehending truth or fact through
reasoning.
 learned by a person of unusual knowledge.
 understanding of or information about
a subject that you get by experience or study,
either known by one person or
by people generally.
 the state of knowing about or
being familiar with something.
 all the facts that someone knows about
a particular subject.

9. THE CONCEPT OF KNOWLEDGE
 Expressions such as know them, know
that, know how, know where, know
why, and know whether,
 Concept of Knowledge: Knowledge,
the noun, is used in different contexts
and situations to convey different
meanings to different people.

10. THE CONCEPT OF KNOWLEDGE
 Knowledge has different aspects, kinds
and levels.
 in common sense understanding,
 signifies all the human meanings,
 beliefs about matters of facts (things,
objects, events), about relationships
between facts,
 and about principles, laws, theories that are
at work in the nature and society.

11. THE CONCEPT OF KNOWLEDGE
 Knowledge is understanding about the
relationships;
 the relationship of the knower with the known.
 In other words, it is the relationship of the
subject with the object.
 Knowledge is the result of knower’s active
engagement;
 with the object of knowledge.
 Knowledge and its intensity depend on the
relationship between the knower and the
known.

12. PLATO - KNOWLEDGE
Plato defined knowledge as,
‘justified true belief’.
According to Plato’s definition,
 human knowledge, in order to be
given the ‘status’ of knowledge,
should fulfill the condition of being
a belief-true and justified.

13. JOHN LOCKE - KNOWLEDGE
 John Locke,
 the founding father of empiricism,
 and who defined ‘mind as tabula rasa’,
 surprisingly defined knowledge as “the
perception of the agreement or disagreement
of two ideas”.
 For pragmatist Dewey (2010), knowledge
denotes an ‘inference from evidence’.

14. JOHN LOCKE- KINDS OF KNOWLEDGE
 John Locke distinguished three kinds of
knowledge, as:
 1. Intuitive knowledge, of such things as the
fact that red is not green and the fact of one’s
own existence;
 2. Demonstrative knowledge, which includes
mathematics, morality, and the existence of
God;
 3. Sensitive knowledge, which is concerned
with “the particular existence of finite beings
without us.” Knowledge, in a practical way, can
be classified into following categories on the
basis of means used in the process of knowing
by which a particular ‘class’ of knowledge is

15. EXPERIENTIAL KNOWLEDGE
 Experiential Knowledge, a form of knowledge
that can only be obtained through experience. For
example, the knowledge of what it is like to see
colours, which cannot be explained to a person
born blind.
 Experimental Knowledge is based on or derived
from experience, or empirical evidences.
 Reasoned or Logical Knowledge is knowledge
of the truths and principles of deductive logic.
 Intuitive Knowledge is the knowledge that is
acquired without inference and/or the use of
reason. It comes from within by looking inside or
contemplation.

16. SOURCES OF KNOWLEDGE
 Perception
 Introspection
 Memory
 Reason
 Testimony

17. KNOWLEDGE CLASSIFICATION
School Subject - Natural Science
 Phenomenon/ Object of Study - Nature-
Physical and Biological ‘Concrete things’
 Nature of the Knowledge - Causal;
‘Objective’ with little subjectivity
 Modes of Understanding - Observation,
Experimentation
 Nature of Validation - Verification/
falsification

18. SCHOOL SUBJECT - SOCIAL SCIENCE
 Phenomenon/ Object of Study - Society in
all its aspects
 Nature of the Knowledge - Dynamic;
Normative; Interpretative
 Modes of Understanding - Interpretative
Understanding; Critical evaluations;
Dialogue
 Nature of Validation - Constantly
reconstructed in the light of values and
utilities; Judged in the light of Normative
resolutions

19. SCHOOL SUBJECT - MATHEMATICS
 Phenomenon/ Object of Study - Numbers,
Symbols and Logic, ‘Abstract thought’
 Nature of the Knowledge - Human
construction and Highly structured Axiomatic;
Abstract and Given
 Modes of Understanding –Logical
Deductions
 Nature of Validation - Proof

20. SCHOOL SUBJECT - LANGUAGE
 Phenomenon/ Object of Study - Words,
Grammar; Culture;
 Nature of the Knowledge - Human
construction but Highly dynamic; Inter-
subjective; Creative
 Modes of Understanding -Narrations;
Creative expressions
 Nature of Validation - Utilitarian

21. ORIGIN OF KNOWLEDGE

22. EPISTEMOLOGICAL TERMS- OBJECTIVISM
 What is knowledge?
knowledge is absolute and true, and is independent from
and outside of the individual. Learning involves the transfer of
what exists in reality to what is known by the learner.
 Source of knowledge?
Reality exists external to the individual, so therefore
knowledge simply exists and there is no need to construct
knowledge. Knowledge is acquired by experience.
 Associated terminology?
Objectivism is linked with empiricism - a process of
gaining knowledge, in which sensory experience (what we
can quantify with our own senses) is the only valid source of
knowledge. Kuhn and Weinstock (2002) describe this way of
knowledge acquisition as 'pre-procedural knowing', or the
first way to approach acquiring information.

23. PRAGMATISM
 What is knowledge?
Pragmatism regards knowledge as a worthy but improbable
goal. This approach emphasises theories of meaning (of what
works) with the understanding that this may not reflect reality.
 Source of knowledge?
Knowledge is interpreted and negotiated, through a process
of experience and reason.
 Associated terminology?
Pragmatism also used when describing the acquisition of
knowledge, and involves active processing where no single truth
exists (Brownlee et.al.,2008). Kuhn & Weinstock (2002) describe
this way of knowledge acquisition as ' procedural knowing '

24. INTERPRETIVISM
 What is knowledge?
In constructivism knowledge is not uniform and identical.
Rather, it’s constructed at an individual level and exists in
multiple formats.
 Source of knowledge?
Knowledge is gained through reason, by considering the
available information and assembling a personal
interpretation. It’s not concerned with whether knowledge is
true in the absolute sense, since truth depends on the
knower’s frame of reference.
 Associated terminology?
Interpretivism is linked with constructivism. Knowledge
is constructed individual or collectively, and varies from
person to person. These ‘constructed knowing’ beliefs are
more likely to be linked to constructivist beliefs in learning
(Brownlee, 2003; Hammer, 2003), which are based on a view
of knowledge as complex, tentative, and needing to be
actively critiqued (Gill, Ashton, & Algina, 2004).

25. TYPE OF KNOWLEDGE
 1. Communicative knowledge.
 2. Situated knowledge.
 3. Embedded knowledge
 4. Practitioner knowledge.
 5. Priori Knowledge.
 6. Posteriori Knowledge

26. COMMUNICATIVE KNOWLEDGE
 Symbolic representations can be used to
indicate meaning.
 thought as a dynamic process.
 the transfer of the symbolic representation
- knowledge can be transferred.
 Other forms of communication include
observation and imitation, verbal
exchange, and audio and video recordings.
 Philosophers of language and
semioticians construct and analyze
theories of knowledge transfer or
communication.

27. SITUATED KNOWLEDGE
 Situated knowledge is knowledge specific to a
particular situation.
 It is a term coined by Donna Haraway as an
extension of the feminist approaches of
"successor science" suggested by Sandra
Harding.
 Arturo Escobar explains as, "neither fictions nor
supposed facts."
 Situational knowledge is often embedded in
language, culture, or traditions.
 The integration of situational knowledge is an
allusion to the community, and its attempts at
collecting subjective perspectives into an
embodiment "of views from somewhere."

28. EMBEDDED KNOWLEDGE
 Embedded knowledge is a significant
feature of the knowledge base in education.
 Tests and other assessment instruments,
curriculum frameworks, the academic
organization of schooling, are all based on
prior investigation and other accumulated
knowledge which the teacher is not
involved in and may not advert to at the
point of use.

29. EMBEDDED KNOWLEDGE
 Embedded knowledge makes a range of
intellectual resources available to teachers
which improve their understanding of
individual students, strengthen their
curriculum programming and enrich their
pedagogy.
 Indicators - two dimensions, reflecting the
amount of knowledge embedded and the
extent of usage respectively.

30. PRACTITIONER KNOWLEDGE
 teachers’ certification is based on the
measurement, through examinations and
observation of teaching practice, of
knowledge and competences or when
serving teachers are rated in terms of a
knowledge-related framework.

31. PRACTITIONER KNOWLEDGE
 there are a number of indicators or quasi-
indicators based on either pre-service or in-
service training, on the grounds that length
and level of initial training and opportunities
for continuous professional development are
associated with expanding the teacher’s
knowledge base.

32. PRIOR KNOWLEDGE & POSTERIORI
KNOWLEDGE
 It is independent of experience, as with
mathematics, tautologies, and deduction
from pure reason.
 It is dependent on experience or empirical
evidence, as with most aspects of science
and personal knowledge.