Shared and Personal Knowledge - Essay Example

Shared and Personal Knowledge By + Introduction There are two main categories of knowledge, which are shared knowledge and personal knowledge. Shared knowledge is a social cultural knowledge based on a set of values, norms, values and cultural mores. It can also be knowledge produced by collaboration between people or different groups. Personal knowledge is knowledge acquired through the experience of an individual and his perspective through emotions, memories and perceptions. The difference between shared knowledge and personal knowledge is that personal knowledge is harder to share and individuals possess it and it does not rely on linguistic forms of description (Scott 2012). This paper explains how shared knowledge shapes personal knowledge. The first example is the developmental process of a child into adulthood, which is greatly influenced by shared knowledge from the community in which the child belongs. Children tend to learn and acquire behaviour from their parents, friends, neighbours, teachers, brothers, sisters and other people they interact with as they grow. Acquisition of these behaviours by children can greatly influence personal behaviours as they grow because these people share their knowledge to the children thereby influencing them and this interferes with the personal knowledge of the child. For a baby to speak there must be a person available to teach the child to utter the first words and these may be the parents or guardians. This is evidence that the parents or guardians will share their knowledge of the language with the baby until the baby begins uttering the words properly. In this process, there is sharing of knowledge to the baby, there is collaboration because the baby tries to imitate the parents through speaking and then there is acquisition of language by the baby that has sharpened the baby’s personal knowledge of language (Illeris 2009). We can also refer to another child scenario where a young girl is given her first piano. She performs poorly in attempting to play the piano. The father demonstrates some basic strategies, such as identifying all the key note in the musical tones as arranged in order and demonstrates by pressing the appropriate musical tones a couple of times while explaining to the child before allowing the child herself to continue playing the piano and offers encouragement when she plays. As the child becomes more knowledgeable, the father allows the child to work more alone. The above examples base on the cognitive and development theory specifically talked about by Vygotsky in his theory. His theory stresses the fundamental role of social interaction in the development of cognition (Blunden 2010). Vygotsky mentioned that for development to occur learning must have preceded meaning social learning comes before development in a child. He claimed that for social learning to have occurred infants are born with intellectual abilities which include attention, sensation, perception and memory which enables them to acquire knowledge through sharing which adds up to their personal knowledge(Iliseris 2009). Eventually it is through interaction and sharing of knowledge that results into higher mental functions that adds up to our personal knowledge. From the above example and Vygotsky’s theory, it is true that shared knowledge shapes personal knowledge (Gupta 2006). Another classic second example would be a patient that has a fractured bone on his right leg. The surgeon would want to operate, the physiotherapist would want to exercise the musculoskeletal system, the pharmacist would want to medicate, the nurse would want to monitor the patient’s improvement status and the priest would pray. Each individual takes an approach based on their area of specialization and the shared knowledge held by their profession. The patient is admitted to the hospital with the knowledge that his or her leg is fractured but the patient remains curious as to where exactly did the leg fracture and how is it going to be treated and managed until it heals. To answer all this questions the above practitioners are involved through sharing of knowledge in their areas of expertly to the patient to boost the patient’s personal knowledge and alleviate anxiety. The surgeon examines the fracture and describes to the patient type of fracture before explaining the surgery process to repair the fracture. The pharmacist comes in after the surgery to offer medication services, which can include analgesics and antibiotics. The patient might not understand the importance of the drugs but it is through prescription and talking to the patient about the importance of analgesic making the patient understand and be able to take the drugs without doubt. This again adds up to shared knowledge that shapes personal knowledge (Wisniewski 2010). The physiotherapist plays a very important function in helping the patient to heal. The patient might have doubts as to whether he or she might be able use the broken leg again after recovery because it is inactive during treatment. The physiotherapist exercises the limb daily and talks to the patient by answering patient questions on the importance of massage and musculoskeletal exercises. The patient learns that his fractured limbs need massage and exercise to ensure there is proper blood circulation in the leg (Blunden 2010). The nurse comes in to monitor the patient’s healing process, administer prescribed medication, assist the patient in meeting his or her activities of daily living and ensure the patient receives the appropriate meal that can help the patient to heal faster. The patient might be wondering how he or she is going to meet the above requirements but a nurse has been allocated to the patient to ensure the patient is comfortable throughout healing process. It is according to the code of ethics of medical practitioners that everything they do should be for the betterment of their patients and therefore their duties involve sharing knowledge to the patient based on their different roles in the hospital to ensure they shape the patient’s individual knowledge (Temes 2005). Priests also play their part in ensuring knowledge shared to patients contributes to the patient’s personal knowledge. Patient may lament spiritually by asking as to why did this happen to him or her. To answer this questions priest play an important role in sharing the knowledge of God to the patients making them understand better as to why accidents happen and that is not any body’s fault but merely bad luck. Priests also play a vital role in guiding and counselling the patient until they heal (Gupta 2006). The above example compares to Milgram’s study of obedience, which explains that people tend to obey orders from their authorities if they consider them legally based (Temes 2005). The response to legitimate authority is learned in a variety of situations for example in schools and workplace. My example in hospital set up describes how shared knowledge shapes personal knowledge in the work place. Shared knowledge comes from the surgeon, pharmacist, nurse, physiotherapist and priest and the person whose personal knowledge is being shaped is the patient. There is collaborative understanding between the medical practitioners and the patient there by creating a proper ground for knowledge to be shared in support to the patient’s personal knowledge (Scott 2012). In conclusion, there are many theories that support how shared knowledge shapes personal knowledge a good example being the Vygotsky theory. With these examples, it is strongly agreeable that any shared knowledge has a great impact to the life of another person especially by shaping the individuals personal knowledge. In order to share knowledge, there must be two groups collaborating with each other despite their age, ethnicity or gender. Therefore, for development to occur knowledge must be shared to those who need it. Bibliography Scott, D. (2012). Theories of learning. London: SAGE. Illeris, K. (2009). Contemporary theories of learning: Learning theorists -- in their own words. London: Routledge. Blunden, A. (2010). An interdisciplinary theory of activity. Leiden: Brill. Gupta, A. (2006). Early childhood education, postcolonial theory, and teaching practices in India balancing Vygotsky and the Veda. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. Wisniewski, J. (2010). Come on Ugzruk, let me win: Experience, relatinality, and knowing in Kigiqtaamiut hunting and ethnography. Temes, P. (2005). Teaching leadership: Essays in theory and practice. New York: P. Lang. Read More