Navigating the Pedagogical Space for Knowledge Building Classrooms

Book excerpt: Showcasing the design and implementation of knowledge building pedagogy, this book for educators and education researchers illuminates this future-oriented instructional and learning approach. In this Knowledge Age, innovation and creative knowledge works are central to the progress of a society; increasing the productivity of knowledge workers remains the main priority of competitive societies. Consequently, developing knowledge building capacity among students becomes one main goal of education. Knowledge building aims to transform school education in a radical way by developing the culture of innovation and knowledge creation in classrooms, from preschools to universities. Knowledge building pedagogy focuses on sustaining idea improvement among students, who develop the collective cognitive responsibility to add value to the learning community. Developed since the 1990s, knowledge building is now a model of instructions researched and advanced with an international network of researchers, teachers, educators, engineers, and policymakers. Implementing the knowledge building approach requires educators to make decisions based on principles, rather than following prescriptive procedures that characterized most instructional models. Tan highlights the key pedagogical principles and discusses the critical design considerations. He also identifies the emerging research directions and developmental works related to knowledge building. A must-read book for educators and education researchers who are interested in the design and implementation of knowledge building pedagogy.