After a little confusion during the first lessons of Theory of Knowledge, I’m beginning to understand more about the first units of the subject. Today we went over knowledge claims – individual or group perspectives on a certain topic. We also talked about personal and shared knowledge.
Personal knowledge is things that I know as an individual. These could be things like:
- I know how to ride a bicycle
- I know how to play the guitar
- I know how to play football.
Personal knowledge is based on experiences and personal involvement. It can be quite difficult to communicate – an example that we discussed in class was a wine taster; someone who contains an expansive amount of knowledge on different tastes and locations, yet this knowledge could be difficult to explain to an ordinary person. Personal knowledge is formed through WAYS OF KNOWING (emotion, memory, senses, perceptions, etc.)
Shared knowledge is information we know as a collective. This “group” can be as large as a subject prefers. Shared knowledge can be within a family, or within the entire human race. Shared knowledge is common information that people agree on – this can be based on facts, theories, history, etc. Examples of shared knowledge are
- We know that Singapore is a country.
- We know Donald Trump is the 45th president of the United States.
- We know Russia is the largest country on Earth.
This is a really good reflection on personal and shared knowledge. What knowledge means for the individual, is an important part of the Knowledge Framework. You can also reflect on what do your three favourite subjects as school mean to you as an individual?