Developing 21st Century Teachers as a Knowledge Builder

Abstract

The capacity to engage in deep discussion about knowledge should be an expected outcome of all university graduates. This paper describes an attempt to develop teachers as a knowledge builder through a master’s level course. Based on the socio-cognitive determinants of knowledge building proposed by Scardamalia and Bereiter, I identified and applied instructional tactics that could help foster knowledge building behaviors among the participants. These tactics include case study, reciprocal teaching, online discussion, and working on a consequential task. The participants consisted of 11 teachers aged between 27 to 50 years old. They actively contributed to the online forum by frequently querying, clarifying, adding and revising their notes. They led group discussions in class and introduced additional reference materials to their classmates. In short, the participants demonstrated high degree of epistemic agency by taking ownership of their learning and contributing to deep understanding of theories related to knowledge building.

Keywords

• Knowledge building
• Teachers as knowledge builders