UNIT 5 ACQUISITION OF KNOWLEDGE

AND METHODS OF INQUIRY

Structure
5.1 Introduction
5.2 Objectives
5.3 Knowledge : Meaning and Concept
5.3.1 Meaning of Knowledge
5.3.2 Forms of Knowledge
5.4 Relationship between Knowledge and Information
5.5 Knowledge as Construction and Acquisition of Learning
5.5.1 Context of Learning Experiences
5.5.2 Constructivist View of
Knowledge Acquisition
5.6 Sources of Knowledge
S.6.1 Life Experiences
5.6.2 Authority
5.6.3 Customs and Traditions
5.6.4 Deductive and Inductive Reasoning
5.6.5 Scientific Method
(Inductive-Deductive Method)
5.6.6 Social Science Inquiry Method
5.7 Let Us Sum Up
5.8 Unit End Activities
5.9 Suggested Readings and References
5.10 Answers to Check Your Progress

5.1 INTRODUCTION
Ateacher must recognize the child as a natural
learner as he/she possesses the
ability to gain knowledge through various activities in which he/ she is
with right from birth. Children interact with their external engaged
world and construct
knowledge by reacting to various phenomena and they derive meaning. It is
important to know what knowledge is and what are the different kinds of
knowledge. As an elementary school teacher, it is necessary for you to know
howchildren construct knowledge and the kinds of learning support that
need to
be provided to them.
In this unit, you will read how learners develop knowledge through various
sources
like social customs, traditions, life experiences, inductive deductive reasoning,
social science enquiry method and scientific method. An understanding of these
concepts will enable you to adopt appropriate pedagogic practices that will
facilitate generation of knowledge by children.
5.2 OBJECTIVES
After reading this unit, you should be able to:
explain the meaning and concept of knowledge;
5
 Pedagogie Practieex at
Elementary Levt
classify various forms of knowlcdgc with suitable cxamples;
examine relationship between knowledge and information;
explainthe process of constructionof knowledge;
differentiate between inductive and deductive method of reasoning with
cxamples;
discuss the scientific method of cnguiry for knowledge generation; and
describe the social inquiry approuch as a source of developing knowledge.

5.3 KNOWLEDGE: MEANING AND CONCEPT

Amajor concern of philosophers has been to clarify the term 'knowledge'. The
branch of philosophy that deals with the study of or science of knowledge is
known as epistemology. Epistemology is derived from aGreek word "episteme"
meaning knowledge and "logos" meaning the science of or a study of. The
question, "What is knowledge?" is a complex one, because the range of what
constitutes knowing or knowledge is very wide. Knowledge can be used to mean
a variety of things, such as familiarity with people, places, persons, skills, and
competences of performing various tasks, beliefs, faiths and everyday experiences
(Truncellito, 2007).
We shall briefly deal with the meaning of knowledge first and then discuss the
different kinds of knowledge.
5.3.1 Meaning of Knowledge
The term 'knowledge' is used in a variety of ways. Scheffler (1999) mentions
three ways of using knowledge: i) Knowledge supported by psychological
conviction, ii) Procedural knowledge and iii) Acquaintance knowledge.
Knowledge can be an expression of a psychological conviction. For example
one may say, "I knew there would be a dust storm and there was one." Another
kind is procedural knowledge, or "know how" or ability to do something. For
example, you know how to drive a car or you know the car route from Delhito
Meerut city. Another kind of knowledge is acquaintance knowledge or familiarity.
For example, you know Delhi is the capital of India or you know the hotel manager
of a five star hotel.

Kinds of knowledge
Knowledge is generally understood as being propositional. Aproposition is a
statement which conveys truth. This implies that the words or concepts which
constitute the sentences have to be meaningful. Sentences that assert and express
something are propositions. For example, all three sides of an equilateral triangle
are equal or birds have wings and so on. A proposition is made up of several
concepts, which together must constitute a meaningful statement. Aproposition
may be a fact, or a theory, or a law, a hypothesis, or assumption, or an inference,
etc. As in the first proposition, the concepts are - equilateral triangle has equal
sides. These concepts together in the statement create a meaningful statement,
which is a fact. In order to understand the proposition the concepts should be
known. In the earlier example, learners must have prior knowledge of the concept
equilateral triangle before they are taught the new proposition. Propositional
6
knowledge, thus, covers awide range of area of study. Propositional knowledge
 is eNDISNd by adeclarative statement. Ii describes a fact or states of affairs, for Acquisition of Knowledge
CNanple, 'Cows are mammals' or '5+5=|0', And Methods of Inquiry

Iis generally agreed that we can have knowledge of something that is true and
it ix widely accepted that justified true belief is knowledge. For example, the sun
riNes in the cast, is abelief arrived at by daily observation for millions of years by
people (Hetherington, 2012).
So we must know what exactly constitutes propositional knowledge or knowledge.
We should knowtheconditions that determine knowing something.
Some of these conditions are discussed here:

) Fact: The ternnhas been defined by Russell(1992) as "'everything that is in

the world",For example, the existence of rivers is afact, having aheadache
is afact and making statements is also afact. The meaning of fact is confined
totheminimum of what must be known so that the truth or falsehood of any
statement may be analyzed. According to Russell, The whole of our cognitive
life is, biologically considered, part of the process of adaptation to facts".
2) Belief: Knowledge is considered as akind of belief that exists in the mind.
We can say belief is a mental state. one has no beliefs about a particular
matter, then one can have no knowledge about it. For example, on seeing
dark clouds, you believe that there will be rain. The belief can be verbalized
or not verbalized. If you are with someone you may express the belief through
words. But simpler beliefs, especially if they require action may be completely
not verbalized. For example,on sniffing a burning smell in the house, you
may believe the house to be on fire. Some beliefs that an individual actively
entertains are called occurent beliefs. Most of an individual's beliefs and
hence knowledge are in the background and only a small amount of the
knowledge are used at a particular time (Hetherington, 2012).
3) Truth: The purp0se of a belief is todescribe the way things actually are, i.e.
it helps to relate the mind with the world around. But it must be true when
the belief has to constitute knowledge. False beliefs do not constitute
knowledge. Sometimes our beliefs do not describe the way things actually
are and by believing those we actually deceive ourselves. Hence as one
acquires knowledge, one is increasing the body of true beliefs and
simultaneously the stock of false beliefs gets minimized. Here we are
assuming that there is an 'objective' truth with which our beliefs will either
match or fail to match. There can be knowledge only if there is
that is true. According to John Hospers, this is one requirement of something
i.e. the proposition must be true. It is also the objective knowledge,
other requirement, the subjective one, is the belief in the requirement. The
proposition.
example, when you knowthat a triangle has three sides you believe in it.
For
However, believing cannot be a defining character of the proposition being
true, because propositionscan be true even if we do not believe them.
Another requirement of knowledge is the necessity of evidence or
believe in the proposition. Merely true beliefs do not constitute reason to
true beliefs arrived at in the right way constitute knowledge, but
beliefs based on evidence or reason leads to knowledge. Formulation of
knowledge. Evidence or reason is
necessary for a proposition to be true. For example, we know that 'ice
heating' or 'grass is green'. We know them to be true because of their melts on
certainty.
7
Pedagogie Practices at There are other kinds of propositions which involve
ElementaryLevel
Cxample,'lam fecling pain' or "I am fecling depressed'only
.
self-experience, for
Such
not come under the definition of
knowledge propositions do
that requires evidence.
established by the experience. There are truths of reason for which The truth is
not required. Such statements are evidence is
we can classify ways of acquiring analytical innature. Based on this
discussion,
broad forms. knowledge or knowing aproposition into two
5.3.2 Forms of
The manner in which knowledgeis
"a priori and a knowledge acquired can be broadlydivided in two ways
posteriori.
1) A
priori knowledge
The foundations or bases upon
as "apriori" and which aproposition can be known are
termed
1s "a priori" and"aposteriori". Knowledge gained independent of experience
an "a posteriori"
experience. For example, the proposition is knowable on the basis of
1S a priori. In proposition that
contrast, a proposition stating that"AllItbachelors are unmarried"
justified on the basis of experiencing the wind is windy outside can be
be stated just by
reflecting outside.
on the content of the claim When the truth can
example, 5x2=10', 'square has four sides', if is a priori. For then it is
tomorrow cannot be Friday' are known today Wednesday then
is based onindependent
can say that apriori of experience. So we
justification
of knowing a
be known (Baehr, proposition a priori is that the thought
meaning
and reason. The condition
of the terms used should
2006).
Hence we may conclude that truths
mathematical truths constitute "a priori"based on logic and
knowledge. They are
reasoning like
reason and do not require empirical based on pure
these truths as "analytical validations. Philosophers lave also termed
of such propositions can be knowledge" or analytical propositions". The truths
established
without recourse to verification through through reasoning and analysis,
experience [Baehr, 2006].
2) Aposteriori knowledge
A posteriori knowledge, in contrast,
the scientific method of gaining emphasizes experience and is known as
knowledge.
the processes involved i.e. observation,
It stresses on the accuracy of
description. Such propositions contain
factual information whose truth or falsity can be determined only through
experience. For example "Ice melts","Grass is green", "Wood is an
of heat" are examples of "a posteriori knowledge" and they are insulator
as synthetic propositions".Aposteriori justification is based on also known
perceptions,
memorizations and beliefs also of the natural sciences (Baehr, 2006).
By now, you would have understood the meaning and concept of the term
"knowledge'. It is important for you as a teacher to have a basic idea of the
different ways of knowing or acquiring knowledge. This has important
implications for curriculum planning and designing learning experiences. You
need to know how new knowledge can be related to the things known. But before
you proceed, attempt check your progress.
 Acquisition of Knowledge
Check Vour Progress and Methods of Inquiry
Notes: a) Write your answers in the space provided after cach item.
b) Compare your answers with those given at the end of the Unit.
1) Explain the term propositional knowledge.

2) Describe two prerequisites of knowledge.

3) Differentiate between a priori and a posteriori ways of acquiring

knowledge

5.4 RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN KNOWLEDGE

AND INFORMATION
Every day a child acquires various learning experiences through interaction with
people, readings, observations and reflections. All these learning experiences
and perceptions form the content of the human mind. The experiences get
organized in the mind as data, information, knowledge and understanding or
wisdom. Data, information and knowledge are stored the mind as they are
acquired, and wisdom develops over a period of time. Let us understand the
relationship between information and knowledge.
Content of the human mind has been categorized into five areas as:
1) Data: Symbols
2) Infomation: Result obtained when data are processed to obtain answers to
'who', 'what', 'where' and 'when' questions.
9
Ivdagogic Practices at 3) Knowledge: When data and information are applied toget
answers to 'how'
Elementary Level
questions
4) Understanding: Answers the why' question.
5) Wisdom: The application and evaluation of understanding
Let us illustrate with the following example:
Activity 1
Take the children to the school garden. Ask them to idenify diferent parts
of the plants. Describe the function of leaves.
Data: Show them a leaf, flower, stem, bud.
Information: Leaf, flower and stem are parts of aflowering plant. Leaf is
green in color. Flowers are colored and even white. Stems may be brown or
green colored.
Knowledge: Green color ofa leaf is due to the presence of pigment
chlorophyll, which is essential for preparation of food.
Understanding: Plants prepare their own food with the help of leaves. Leaves
perform an important function.
Wisdom: Why are leaves important? Make a list of some leafy vegetables
that you eat.

Information is the meaning ascribed to various sensory stimuli (i.e. the empirical
perception). Information has to be made useful by ascertaining a set of patterns
contained in them. Also if this information is memorized, one accumulates
knowledge about these concepts. However, mere memorization of information
will not lead to further knowledge. The patterns need to be understood, analyzed
and integrated to expand the body of knowledge. Understanding and wisdom
imply cognitive ability, reasoning and analytical skills to apply the acquired
knowledge to solve problem situations. The wikipedia describes these concepts
through the Data, Information, Knowledge and Wisdom Model (DIKW Model)
by arranging them in ahierarchical manner. Typically information is defined in
terms of data, knowledge in terms of information and wisdom in terms of
knowledge (htp://www.systems-thinking org/dikw/dikw.htm).
Knowledge consists of facts, beliefs, truths, judgments, methodologies, know
how that is integrated over time to handle various barriers and situations. These
concepts have been discussed in the earlier section 5.2.
You willnow read how children expand their domain of knowledge by relating
their existing knowledge with the external world. This way they construct
knowledge and acquire learning experiences.

5.5 KNOWLEDGE AS CONSTRUCTION AND

ACQUISITION OF LEARNING EXPERIENCES
The humanistic school of psychology believes that learning is a process of
construction of knowledge by linking new ideas to existing ones. Such process
enables children to make meaning ofthe world around them. The connection
between existing and new knowledge can be facilitated by providing supportive
10
cnvionmont to children, The teuchers provide appropriate material support and Acquisition of Knowledge
help to oganize various activities which constitute learning experiences. For and Methods of Inquiry
Cxample, ifchildren are shown a set of visuals and pictures of various occupations
combined with discussions they can formulate general ideas about them. The
interactions and visual representations will help them construct ideas about
differentoccupations like teaching, medical profession, industrial, trade practices
for urban students. Students from a rural background can think of
agricultural
practices, handicrafts, weaving, pottery, carpentry, dairy farming and others.
Learners construct and reconstruct ideas based on these experiences and thus
learning progresses as they acquire new knowledge. For example initial
knowledge about a particular occupation, let us say health and medical practices,
willlead to expansion in the knowledge domain by accommodating new ideas
about other occupations. The learners need to be engaged in meaningful activities
and interactions that construct mental images of the different occupations and
their relationship with human life. Gaining new knowledge also has a social
aspect.

Knowledge construction can occur in a group situation, especially if the task is

complex. Group learning or collaborative learning facilitates knowledge
construction by sharing diverse ideas, multiple views. The children construct
knowledge individually as well as in groups. Children at elementary level can be
given a group project on the role of a village post office.

Activity 2
Lesson for Class 4 (ppl25-126, EVS, CIass IV, NCERT, 2007)
Ask the students to talk to a vegetable seller in their area. Give them a set of
questions to facilitate their survey about the life and work of the vegetable
sellers and ask them to preparea report. The questions can be;
1) What is his/her name?
2) How many people are there in hisher home? How
many are children?
3) What are the names of the children? How old are
they?
4) Whoamong the family members help in selling
vegetables?
5) Who stays with the vegetable cart/sit in the
shop?
6) What vegetables do they sell?
7) What time do they start work? For how
manyhours in a day do they work?
8) Ask them about any three vegetables that
they sell and fill this table:
Name of the vegetable
Price of the vegetable
Where does it come from?
What quantity of vegetable do they buy at one
time?
In which month do you usually get
this vegetable?
The reports prepared by the
Such a survey task will makechildren can be discussed in groups in the class.
children sensitive to the
disadvantaged people in the community. It will give lives of the poor and
the life and work of these them an understanding of
people.
11
Pedagogic Practices at
Elementary Level 5.5.1 Context of Learning
derive meaning through
AS Stated above, children construct knowledge and knowledge enables the
nteractions with their environment. Development of
1naividual to connect with the external world. It is important that whatever
own
cOncepts children learn, they should be able to relate these to their
Cxperiences. The learner should know what it means to know something and
now this knowledge is to be used. For example, when children enter class I, they
Dring with them a host of experiences - the flora and fauna they see, the weather
Patterns and seasons they enjoy, the gardens they visit and so on. But the classroom
interactions seldom provide them the opportunity to share and narrate these
experiences. For example in Class I, to develop the concepts of living and non
Iiving, a visit to the local park may be organized. Subsequently, children may be
asked to write names of ten living and ten non-living things, which they may
have seen during that visit, This would foster the ability to reflect in the children
and enable development of new knowledge based on their experiences.
Local context should be included in classroom learning. Children from coastal
areas willbe able to talk about shells, pebbles, fishes, seashores,whereas those
Trom hilly areas may narrate their experiences of birds, trees, rocks, stones. This
approach needs to be integrated in the teaching learning process instead of the
usual classroom practice in which children are given a list of words or pictures
from which they are to identify the living and non-living things.
Let us understand another example, lessons on pollution should be replete with
activities that engage children in examining the natural environment around them.
They could comment on the sources of air and water pollution as they experience
it in their daily lives. The knowledge of pollution could raise concerns about the
safety and health of human beings and develop an understanding of methods of
conservation and protection of the natural environment, while designing lessons
in social studies and language at the elementary the values enshrined the
constitution should be borne in mind. Pedagogically and ethically sound choices
of content and corresponding learning experiences should be designed so as to
introduce children to the diversities and complexities of the natural world.
Children should be able to compare life in different places with their local
communities and bring out the similarities and differences. Apart from the physical
and natural environment the local context also implies the socio -cultural world.
The Indian communities are arich storehouse of cultural knowledge. Experiences
in the socio-cultural world of the child should be heard and used in the classroom.
Local stories, fables, folklore, riddles, jokes, art, etc. are a potential source of
knowledge generation. Children belong to different communities,bring with
them rich histories and traditions that can enrich learning and knowledge in
schools. Children need to understand the plurality of society and diverse lifestyles
which are reflected in text books. As part of their social science lessons., they can
be made tointeract with the members of local self governing bodies like gram
panchayats or zila parishads. They can understand how decentralization addresses
local problem and civic issues more efficiently and effectively. Lessons can be
organized around songs and poems common sung in a particular region. This
will bring them closer to their community arts, folk music, traditions. (NCF
2005)

12
 Activity 3 Acquisition of Knowledge
and Methods of Inquiry
Talk to children about how they decorate their houses.
out the different timnes and occasions and the locally This will also bring
which they use to decorate their houses. You can available materials
also discuss how
decorations vary depending on the festival or occasion. Ask them to bring
pictures, photographs depicting different areas ofhouses done up in a variety
of ways. The discussion can be based on some of these
questions:
1) Is there any specialway in which you decorate your
house?
2) When do you do so?
3) How do you decorate the house?
4) Discuss in groups when and how they decorate their houses.
5) Make a list of things with which you decorate your house.
(Source: pp35, Looking Around, Environmental Studies, Textbook for Class 3, NCERT, 2006).
There is need to build a rapport with the children so that they exprss themselves
freely and shed inhibitions about their ways of life. Such interactions not only
expand their knowledge and understanding about lives of people in other
communities and regions but also foster tolerance and respect for others in the
group.

5.5.2 Constructivist View of Knowledge Development

You have read in the earlier section, that the learner is the constructor of
knowledge. The learner participates in the process of generation of knowledge.
This is the constructivist philosophy which considers knowledge as subjective
and contextualized. Constructivism is opposed to the objectivist's view which
considers knowledge as an objective entity to be handed down by teachers to
learners who are their passive recipients. Traditionally, teachers adopted such
teacher centred methods and believed that knowledge could be transmitted by
them to those who did not have it, i.e. learners. Constructivism, on the other
hand, presumes that knowledge is contextual and is based on learner's social
construction of reality.
We will now briefly examine views of different educationists and philosophers
on the constructivist view of learning. They have differences on some aspects of
how learners construct knowledge but the common features on which they agree
are:

generation of knowledge or learning is not apassive but a meaning making

process, which enables problem solving:
new knowledge gained depends on the learner's previous knowledge and
leads to reorganization of prior concepts;
social interaction facilitates learning; and
authentic learning tasks lead to meaningful learning.
Major theorists like Piaget, Vygotsky, Novak and Easley agreed on the aspects of
constructivism described above. Piaget believed that learning depended on the
developmental stage of the child. The extent of learning and depth of
understanding, according to him, are determined by the physical, emotional, social 13
Ivdagogic Practices at intellectual development of learner. Optimum learning occurs when learners
and Learning is enhanced if the learning
are in their proximal stage of development. relevancy. Challenging tasks would
Elementary Level
tasks are of optimal difficulty, authenticity and achieving the task. Vygotsky
motivate the learner to put in more efforts in learning
advocated for social construction of knowledge. According to him, teachers and
learner and
Occurs as a result of social jnteraction between the
experiences and
between the learners. Interaction leads to sharing of ideas and
increase their
this results in meaning making. Learners gain new insights and others.
domain of knowledge, by comparing their own understanding with those of
verbalise
Inthe social constructivist process of acquiring knowledge, learners
their experiences, discuss, debate in a cooperative manner. Driver, Posner, Novak
and Osborne (quoted in Sharma, 2006) consider learner's construction of
knowledge as an adaptive process, whereby the existing concepts are continually
reconstructed, thus expaning the learner's domain of knowledge. They consider
learning as a process of sense making over which the learner has greater control.
Learner strives to gain new concepts being dissatisfied with their existing ones
which they consider less explicative. Thus, aconceptual reorganization or change
occurs as postulated by Posner (quoted in Sharma, 2006). Novak (quoted in
Sharma, 2006) gave the theory of human constructivism which emphasized the
ability of human beings for meaning making which was embedded in a system
of language symbols. Human beings construct knowledge which leads to gradual
learning. It results from restructuring of knowledge through incremental changes
in conceptual understanding. Novak and other human constructivists believe
that no two human beings can perceive the same meaning when presented with
identical events or objects. However, there is a still sufficient common feature
that enables sharing discourse and exchange of ideas which place great demands
on the role of teachers in the classroom. (Sharma, 2006)

Teachers need to have in-depth knowledge of the subject and also the ability to
explore the concepts in a variety of ways. For example, the concept of density
can be taught by relating with the concepts of visibility of the tip of icebergs, ice
berg floating on water or comparison between a needles sinking in water while
ships float. Teachers should facilitate learning of new concepts and knowledge
acquisition through problem solving approach. The learners should experience
the idea, artifact, first and then explanations, descriptions should be provided. A
changed classroom approach is required to enable the learner to construct
knowledge. The learner should be given the freedom to question the teachers,
discuss and debates the ideas of others in the group, design experiments, formulate
hypotheses, discuss results and compare findings with those of others. Students
validate their own ideas and beliefs and are able to interpret and relate to ideas
presented in the text. Learners develop the habit of self-directed learning and
also take responsibility of their learning.

Check Your Progress

Notes: a) Write your answers in the space provided after each item.
b) Compare your answers with those given at the end of the Unit.
4) What are the main features of the constructivist approach to acquisition
of knowledge?

14
 Acquisition of Knowledge
and Methods of Inquiry

5) Tllustrate how learners can construct knowledge with a topic from the
subject you teach at the elementary level.

5.6 SOURCES OFACQURING KNOWLEDGE

Knowledge is a result of many processes like knowing, perceiving, thinking.
remembering, reflecting, observing, finding out, inferring, proving and so on.
Knowledge, as you read in the previous section, is justified belief. Knowledge
has three elements which are:

1) existence of a group of ideas and phenomena,

2) these ideas and phenomena correspond to things which exist,
3) the correspondence is supported by beliefs.
Human being has traversed an arduous path in trying to arrive at reliable
knowledge. Human being's efforts over several centuries to obtain knowledge
have improved and depend on these sources of knowledge to understand the
world around and solve his problems. We discuss some of the sources from
where human beings gain knowledge These sources of knowledge are:
1) lifeexperience,
2) social customs and traditions.
3) authority,
4) deductive and inductive reasoning,
S) scientific method,
6) social inquiry method.
Let us now briefly discuss each of these sources.

S.6.1 Life Experiences

Humans need to find solutions to their problems s0 as to live in harmony with
the world around. For this they need to understand various phenomena and
activities they undergo and make sense of their experiences. One of the most
primitive and primary source of knowledge for human beings are their life
experiences Nomadic tribes learned from experience about the edibility of certain
wild fruits and also that others were harmful. All their actions were based on
whatever they experienced in performing their daily life activities. They observed
15
I'vdagogic 'ractices at weather patterns throughout the year and could ascribe reasons for floods or
Rlementary level
droughts. The experiences gained during the course of life accumulate into a
body of knowledge and enable individuals to cope with life's problems. However,
one cannot rely solely on personal experiences as a source of knowledge for
tackling new problems. Sometimes this may lead to wrong conclusions if the
experiences are examined uncritically. The inferences drawn may be affected by
personal prejudices and may be influenced by subjectivity. Two people may
perceive and report aparticular situation or event in completely different ways.
Classroom practices adopted by teachers should enable children to relate the
knowledge gained with their daily life. Opportunities should be provided for
group work, discussions and sharing of experiences and ideas guided and
facilitated by the teacher.(IGNOU, 2007)
Activity 3
Lesson on Water: Class 3(Looking Around, EVS textbookfor Class 3,NCERT)
Ask the children to read/recite apoem/song on water: The
poem may
many forms of water and refer to different kinds of water bodies.mention
After
recitation ask the children to:
1) Make a list of water bodies mentioned in the
poem and any other that
you may know.
2) Put atick mark on activities for which
water is needed: to dance, to
Swim, to read, to make tea, to paint, to write, to play
guitar, for
gardening, to clean the house.
3) Put a circle round the places from where you
get water for your daily
use: lake, well, tap, tube well, hand pump, river, tank, and stream.
5.6.2 Authority
Getting knowledge or seeking knowledge from authorities is acommon
Whenever the individual comes acroOss a new situation or encounters practice.
a problem
that she has never experienced before, he/she takes
recourse to seeking answers
from established authorities, parents, teachers even older siblings
and friends. It
is all the more true for children in the
teacher-centric classroom, where they can
get answers on solutions to problem situation from their teachers.
However,
such a practice should not be encouraged. Learners should be provided such
learning experiences that engage them in learning tasks leading to solutions.
Role of authorities, i.e. teachers in this case, should be that of a
facilitator and
guide leading them on the path of self-directed and independent problem solving.
In a society that is evolving at a rapid pace the role and place of experts and
trained individuals is important. Experts are required in every field and are a
valuable source of knowledge and skills, because of their level of expertise and
knowledge. However, one must not lose sight of the fact that even exXperts can at
times be wrong. One cannot accept their advice or guidance unconditionally.
The truth of their statements should not be accepted without validation and
authentication from other sources. When dealing with children teachers need to
be thorough in their subject areas and pedagogical skills. This way they can deal
with problems and obstacles faced by children in the classroom adeptly and also
guide them toexplore situations in diverse ways (IGNOU 2007).

16
 Acquisition of Knowledge
Aetivity4 and Methods of Inquiry
halesson for Class 3 students on postalcommunication, you can ask the
hildyn to discuss with elders at home on how letters were delivered in old
times, For example, the elders may tell their children that messengers were
carrving messages ofkings and subjects to far-off places. Similarly, trained
pigeons were used to send letters to distant places. Althoughchildren are
not exposed to these experiences, they tend to believe information us true
because they get them from the elders who are considered us authorities.
5.6.3 Customs and Traditions
Ourcustoms and traditions are arich source of knowledge. Many communities
in India are a storehouse of knowledge. All of us are used to certain patterns of
behaviors inour daily lives which are customary. For example, the food we eat,
dresses we wear, and cultural practices we adopt, and so on. All these are accepted
practices and serve as guides for our future behaviors. This is true especially in
school settings where customary and traditional practices are relied on. Children
belonging to diverse and heterogeneous communities bring in the class room a
varied set of experiences. Teachers can tap this rich resource of knowledge by
organizing group work or project studies based on local knowledge and practice.
For example, teachers can engage children in discussions about how their families
celebrate different festivals, or about different kinds of food habits in their
communities. However, one must exercise caution because all customary and
traditional practices may not hold true or be useful in the present context. Some
erroneous practices need to be discouraged and even rejected.
ACTIVITY 5

Help children to identify plants which are available in their immediate

environmnent and are used as medicines. This will enhance their traditional
knowledge of medicinal plants. After this the children can be given the
following exercise:
When you are sick do you take any medicine which we get from plants?
What do you take when you ...
Get hurt
> Have astomach ache
Have cough and cold
> Have a tooth ache
(pp: 94-95, Looking Around, Environmental Studies, Textbook for Class I, NCERT, 2006)
Schools often approach knowledge of customs and traditions differently and
may not even consider them important. School may consider that knowledge
gained through practical experiences by children can be called school knowledge.
For example, ways of classifying plants or adopting sustainable agricultural
practices may be approached in adifferent manner by the teacher in the classroom
than done or observed in actualpractice by the learners. Sometimes classroom
practices may be parallel to traditional methods and at other times the two may
be contradictory. The traditional methods of curing certain diseases as discussed
in the activity above or ascertaining their causes may be challenged by school
based approaches. However, allforms of local knowledge based on cultural and
customary practices should be mediated by constitutional values and principles. 17
'vagogie Practices at
Elementary level 5.6.4 Deductive and Inductive Reasoning
As discussed in the earlier section knowledge is also arrived at by reasoning.
Two types of reasoning generally accepted are: (a) deductive and (b) inductive.
Before we discuss the two types of reasoning, it is necessary to understand what
isreasoning and how it is a source of knowledge.

Reasoning is aprocess of thinking through which reliable knowledge is obtained.

Achild tends to make meaning of the external world by
reasoning.
a) Deductive reasoning is based on Aristotle's
syllogism which is a great
contribution to formal logic. Syllogism has been defined by Aristotle as,
discourse in which certain things being posited, something else than what "ais
being posited follows them". Asyllogism consists of a major
on a priori or self-evident proposition, a minor premise based
and a conclusion. It willbe clear from the premise providing an example
following examples :
1) All men are mortal.
(major premise)
Socrates man. (minor premise)
is a
Therefore, Socrates is mortal. (conclusion)
2) All mammals have
lungs. (major premise)
Rabbits are mammals. (mirror premise)
Therefore, all rabbits have lungs. (conclusion)
In deductive arguments, the
The basic assumption of
premises provide the truth of the conclusion.
syllogism
from valid premises through a
is that valid conclusions are
deduced
to specific. sequence of logical arguments from
general
Deductive reasoning is employed in problem solving. In
situations children use deductive logic to solve the classroom
problems.
use deductive logic to find
solutions to research problems.Research workers
However, deductive reasoning does have its
limitations. It depends on pre
existing knowledge and relies on verbal symbols.
things to different people and may lead to Words may mean different
does enable generation of new ambiguity. But deductive logic
systematizing knowledge
the existing knowledge. It can help tothrough enquiry and by
by moving from known to unknown. identify new relationship
In the above examples, you find that
conclusion follows from the
Both the arguments and the
conclusion are valid. But one must bepremises.
distinguish between validity and truths. The arguments may be valid able to
premises may not necessarily be true. They may also lead to a but the
conclusion. For example: logical
All snakes are mammals.
This is a snake.
Therefore it is amammal.
In this example, argument is valid,
because conclusion is derived from the
premises. But the premises are false and the conclusion
18 arrived is also false.
 Sonetimes the premises may be true but the argument may not be valid. For Acquisition of Knowledge
example: and Methods of Inquiry

India is a multilingual country.

5plus 5 equals 10.
Therefore he can swim.

Allthe premises in this case are true but the conclusion does not follow
from the premises. Hence, to know that a conclusion is true the premise
should be true and the argument should be valid. In deductive argument the
conclusion is often contained within the premises.
b) Inductive reasoning where the premises provide the probable evidence to
Support the conclusion but not completely. Francis Bacon argued against the
practice of syllogistic (deductive) reasoning which derived conclusions from
authoritative premises. He believed that researchers should collect their own
data after careful observations and base their conclusion on this data. The
conclusion drawn in the process of inductive reasoning are not certain but
probable. The examples that follow will illustrate this:
1) Pigeon 1is grey.
Pigeon 2 is grey.
Pigeon 3is grey.
(Ten thousand and more pigeons)
Therefore, all pigeons are grey.
2) Gold is malleable and ductile.
Silver is malleable and ductile.

Copper is malleable and ductile.

Iron is malleable and ductile.
(For all metals)
Therefore all metals are malleable and ductile.

but the
In the first example, even though the ten thousand premises may be true
is not certain
next pigeon we come across may be white. Hence the conclusion
even though the premises are true. In the second example, the conclusion is also
not certain as there may be metals which are not malleable and ductile. The truth
is established based on earlier evidence or observation. Inductive arguments are
based on laws of nature, which are formulated on the basis of certain recurring
phenomena with uniformity. For example, it is an established law that:
1) all living things reproduce,
2) fish is an aquatic animal,
3) ice melts on heating.
We come across many such uniform patterns of occurrences based on which we
arrive at inductive arguments. In inductive reasoning, the conclusion is only
probable and not certain. (1GNOU, 2007).
The difference between deductive and inductive reasoning depends on the strength
of evidence to the premises, which the author believes, to provide for the
conclusion. The difference does not depend on the content of the subject matter
19
 I'vdagogie ractices at
Klementary level of the argument. Much depends on the
author intends that the premises provide strength
of the justification, which the
for the
argumentmay cmcrge wherein the premises thoughconclusion. Alogically invalid
true, may provide no support
for the conclusion. Consider the example:
Allodd numbers are
Alleven numbers are
integers.
integers.
Therefore, allodd numbers are
even numbers.
lf the author argues that the premises are
then the argument true and thus the
becomes deductive, conclusion is true,
although a bad deductive
Limitations of inductive reasoning are that it too does not by argument.
toadvancement
of knowledge. The itself lead to
as many inherent
instances as can be observed. limitation is that it can be applied only
5.6.5 Scientific Method
The scientific method of
(ht p:/ www.iep.utm.
(Inductive-Deductive Method)
edu/ded-ind/)
He believed that acquiring knowledge was propounded by
The synthesis of investigators should arrive at conclusions by Francis Bacon.
in the scientific methods of reasoning and observations observing facts.
were combined
method method of generating to result
to Mouly
thus combines inductive and
(1978), the scientific
knowledge.(1GNOU,
deductive methods
2007).
of reasoning. Scientific
in which the
to their investigator first method consists of "a back and forth According
operates inductively from movement
implications, in order to check
their observation to hypotheses
compatibility with accepted knowledge". validity from the standpoint of
Therefore, scientific method aims at
arrived at discovering facts. But these facts have to be
of gaining through process of reflective thinking and enquiry.
a
it strives toknowledge from experience, authority,
attain knowledge customs,
Unlike methods
traditions,
through systematic process of folk-lore,
investigation. The basic steps involved in scientific enquiry and
1) method are:
experiencing a difficulty or aproblem situation,
2)defining the problem - the problem or
facts is defined in concrete
terms,
difficulty based on observation of
3) formulating
hypotheses or
solutions to the problem, intelligent guesses that are made about the probable
4) collecting
evidences or data to test the probable solutions or
These are collected through
observation, hypotheses.
5) experimentation
verifying testing the hypotheses: Evidences
or
or testing,
discard the hypotheses. are collected to confirm or
Based on these steps one can know
whether the knowledge
not. Hypotheses, based on
inductive and deductive methods,arrived
at is true or
lead to
consequences of the hypotheses. The hypotheses that are inconsistentthewithlogical
are removed. By combining both facts
inductive and deductive one arrives at reliable
knowledge. scientific method can be used to teach all
The
curriculum (Rao, Bapat, 2006) subjects in the
Let us take an example from Science at the
20
elementary level.
 Aeauisstion of Knowledge
Experiment: Physieal Properties of Naturally Oceurring Acids and Methods of Inquiry
Material needed -Citrus and non- citrus fruits and vegetables (Lemon, armla,
banana, orange, grapes,cte.), test tube, blue litmus papcr, knife, sp00n and plate.
Procedure - Ask the students to sit in acircle. Display the fruits and vegetables.
Tell them to identify the citrus and non-citrus fruits,Cut thecitrus fruits and ask
the students to taste them. Squccze the juice of lemon into atest tube. Take some
juice and dip blue litmus papcr in the iuice. Instruct the students to observe the
change in color. Then ask the following questions:
Questions -
1) Which fruits taste sour?
2) Which fruits do not taste sour?
3) Why do the fruits taste sour?
4) What color does the blue litmus change to when dipped in lime juice?
Investigatory Questions
What kind of acids do some fruits contain?
What are the physical properties of naturally occurring acids'?
Conclusion
contain naturally
You will help the students to consolidate that citrus fruits
of
occurring acids,like citric acid, ascorbic acid and so on. Physicaltoproperties
red. (DEP
litmus
these acids are that they taste sour and turn blue color of
SSA, IGNOU, 2010)
Examine another example from English which employs the Scientific method.
Lesson: Idioms relating to body parts. For example:
1) He's got a finger in every pie.
2) Get it off my chest.
3) Had to pay through my nose.
4) Go to hand it to her.
Method
Ask the children to collect 20 idioms relating to body parts.
Next, look up the dictionary and find out the meaning of these idioms.
Write astory using these idioms.
This project should be an individual or group activity. Abilities to be developed:
creative thinking
Skills to be developed: writing (language skills)
Therefore, scientific method is being increasingly used in the classroom involving
statement of questions to be investigated, formulating tentative solutions or
hypotheses, suggesting the experiment, conducting the experiment, recording
observations, analyzing the data, generalizing and drawing conclusions. It is not
only useful as a laboratory method to understand scientific phenomena, but also
in finding answers and solutions to social phenomena (Rao, Bapat, 2006).
21
Pedagogie Practices t
Elementary Levet Check Your Progress item.
answers in the space provided after cach
Notes: a) Writey your
the end of the Unit.
Compare your answers with those given at
D)
acquisition.
6) Write down the steps of scientific method of knowledge

7) Select a topic from the subject you teach. Describe how you will apply
the scientific method of inquiry to provide learning experiences to
children in your class. Discuss the skills and concepts you will develop
through this approach.

5.6.6 Social Science Inquiry Method

Social science inquiry method is based on the belief that providing a reflective
and enquiry frame of reference to social issues helps to improve the personal and
social life. Massailas and Cox (1966) believed that school fosters development
and inculcation of values in children and plays a crucial role in 'creative
reconstruction of culture'. Social inquiry method is helpful in identifying the
social issues and dealing with them effectively.Massailas and Cox highlight
three main features of social inquiry as:
1) an open climate,
2) hypothetical solutions, and
3) use of facts as evidences.

Social inquiry is based on the humanistic philosophy of learning. According to

Vygotsky learning is a result of learners' interaction with peers, teachers and
other social groups in the community. Learner constructs knowledge on the socio
cultural context in which he/ she is situated. As discussed in section - learning
results through social interactions wherein experiences and ideas are shared.
Learner's thinking is influenced by the social values and culture. In the social
inquiry approach learners learn from the community and also from experts in the
field.
22
 Let us oxamine one teaching nodel bascd on the soial-enquiry approach. The Aequlstlon of Knowledge
appoachiN Usetul for addressing social issues, creating awarencss inchildren and Methods of Inquiry
and developing faculties of critical reflection and analysis. The social farmily
teaching models emphasize working in groups, developing interpersonal skills
and social commitment, In the process lcarners arc not passive recipicnts but
active participants and seck knowledge, observe facts, read books, with the
guidance and facilitation by teachers.
One model of social inquiry suggested by Daniel Oliver and James P. Shaver is
known as the Jurisprudential Inquiry Model' (Joyce and Weil, 1986). Thus model
helps children to think critically about moral, ethical and legal issues. The model
provides learners tools to analyze and debate social issues, and thereby helps to
clarify and resolve them. The model also exposes the students to current social,
political and legal issues confronting the society.It develops higher order skills
this
and competencies and usually is applied to case studies. The six steps of the
model are:

Phase I: Orientation to the case

Phase II: Identifying the issues

Phase III: Taking a stand
Phase IV: Exploring the possibilities in the stand taken
Phase V: Redefining and Qualifying positions
Phase VI: Testing the assumptions about facts, consequences and definitions
Phase I to III is considered as the analysis phase and Phase IV to VI as the
argumentation phase. The teacher acts as a facilitator and aguide.
In Phase I, the teacher introduces to the students the case, which may be a historical
event or a political event or narrate a story depicting a social cause, show a film
highlighting a social evil and so on.
In Phase Il, students synthesize the facts and organize them into apolicy issue.
They bring out the values inherent in the issue like freedom of speech or freedom
of religion and also bring out conflicting values.
In Phase III, students state their own stand on the issue, which is based on
reasoning. In Phase IV, the questions raised by students are further discussed,
debated and argued in the group. The student can be confronted and probed by
the teachers and peer group.
In Phase V, Students further refine their positions by restating and clarifying the
stand taken and give reasons.
In Phase VI, their positions are further tested by identifying and examining the
underlying factual assumptions.
Social Inquiry requires activity in real situation and generates new knowledge,
data, and facts in an ongoing manner. The method can be adopted in the classrooms
by organizing children in groups. An ideal group may consist of ten to fifteen
students, who may provide a diversity of views and ideas and there is also the
possibility of getting engaged in individual activity. However, certain
characteristics have to be borne in mind, while constituting the investigating 23
 and
common level of knowledge
mnembers should have a should possess an
IPedagogie ractices at Ahoup. The group subject to be investigated. Participants
Elementary level understanding of the enable communication and also diversity
vicws to
opimum measure of similar discussion.
of views to foster decbate and from Social
Inguiry' can be illustrated with an example
The method of 'Social
Science.
Society
Topic:Status of Girls' Education in Indian
Objectives Indian
education in
learners about status of girls'
lo create awareness among
society.
by girls in Indian families.
Tohighlight the barriers to education faced
Procedure
questions.
Prepare an interview schedule on status of girls' education with 15
Select a sample of 10 families from rural and urban locations of society.
Draw sample from three different income groups -lower, middle and higher.
IntervieW men and women members in the chosen families after obtaining.
consent from them.

The questions in the interview schedule may be prepared as follows:

> Howmany children are there in the family?
> How many girls are there in the family?
> What is their age?
> Whether they are sent to school or not?
What are the reasons for not sending them to school?
> What problems do they face in the school?
> What works do they do at home?
How much time do they spend on studies, play, and household chores?
> How often do they fall ill at home and what kind of medical
treatment is
provided to them?
Apart from the above questions, the interviewer can ask
supplementary questions
during the course of interview in order to elicit more authentic
information.
The responses obtained from the family members may
in an audio recorded by the interviewer. The noted down or recorded
student analyses the data and reports the recorded data are transcribed. The
the status of education of girls in rural andfindings and conclusions, describing
urban Indian societies.
The philosophy underlying the social inquiry
approach is the assumption that
students actively seek knowledge through observation
recipients through lectures, notes,and demonstration and textand not as Dassive
construct new concepts through induction, deduction and books. The leamers
proper and effective use of this method it is generalization, For
important
meticulously with an adequate prior knowledge of the subject to plan the lesson
24
2006). area (Kaushal.
 In the process of knowledge acquisition children are madeto look at similarities Aeqisitin of Knowledge
and difterences, draw comparisOnsand make inforned guesses, Children learn And Methds of fnquiry
to nake hypotheses which are bascd on the qucstions made by the tcacher during
the course of the activities, According to Harlen and Elstgecst( 1998), when
childnen Igintomake hypothescs they learn to obscrve phenomenon and identify
features. They are also able to conncct the phenomenon with their previous
eNperience. It also cnables them to provide explanations,test them and describe
the event in more than one way.

It is important that teachers engage children through activities, ask

questions
which are age appropriate and help them to evolve an understanding of concepts.
(NCERT, 2008)

5.7 LET US SUM UP

In this unit we discussed the following:
Meaning and different forms of knowledge and how processing information
leads to development of knowledge and understanding.
Children are natural learners and construct knowledge by their own activities.
Teachers have to be facilitators in this process of knowledge construction by
engaging them in meaningful activities. Through these activities, learners
gain experiences, which helps them to make meaning of the external world
and relate with their existing knowledge.
Constructivist approach to knowledge generation was discussed. The views
of some psychologists like Piaget, Novak and Vygotsky were highlighted.
> Lifeexperiences, customs and traditions are rich sources of knowledge for
learners. Learners should be given the opportunity to learn in their social
and cultural contexts. Their natural tendencies of questioning and curiosity
should be nurtured by the teachers.

Inductive-deductive methods of acquiring knowledge were described.

Teachers should employ thought provoking questions which make children
aware of their own reasoning abilities. The skill of observation must be
emphasized so that children take note of features of the events and arrive at
conclusions by making logical connections.
> Adoption of scientific method and social inquiry methods of acquiring
knowledge were described. These methods are very important for developing
skills of inquiry among learners.

5.8 UNIT END ACTIVITIES

1) Use the social inquiry method to explore the issues pertaining to define
gender roles. You can use charts/posters depicting two types of families.
One set of pictures can show men and women performing the
stereotypical
roles. The other set of contrasting pictures can depict families wherein men
andwomen share the work and thus break the stereotypes. Divide the class
into groups and discuss the gender roles. Prepare worksheets for children
25
Ihtagogle vtlees at
Elementarylevel with questions pertaining to work done by members of thcir own families
and comparisons may be drawn with families of friends, relatives and
neighbors.
2) Ask the children to read the newspaper and look for different types of data
and information. They may be asked to look at the weather forecasts,
temperature and humidity predictions and match it with their own experience
during the day. Theycan be asked torecord the same for aweek and present
their observations in the form ofa bulletin. Prepare an assessment sheet to
evaluate the individual bulletins or it may be done as a group
how you can actiVity. See
develop the concepts of temperature, humidity, along with
inculcating the habit of reading the newspaper.
3) Select a topic from the subject you
teach. Describe how you will apply the
scientific method of inquiry to provide learning
your class. Discuss the skills and experiences to children in
approach. concepts you will develop through this

5.9
REFERENCES/ SUGGESTED READINGS
Baehr, J.S., (2006). APriori and A
Philosophy posteriori. Internet Encyclopedia of
(http:/ www.
DEP-SSA, IGNOU iep.utm.edu/apriori/), accessed
(2010). Teaching of Science at Upper
on 02-05-2012
New Delhi: IGNOU Primary Level,
Harlen, W. and Elstgeest, J (1997).UNESCO
the Primary School, NBT, New Source Book for Science in
Delhi.
Classes 1 to 5, Environmental Studies,
In Source Book on
Assessment for
NCERT, 2008
Hetherington, S.(2012). Knowledge, Internet Encyclopedia of
(http://www.iep.utm.edu/knowledge), accessed on 03-05-2012 Philosophy
IGNOU(2007). Unit 5,
in Education (Block-2), Concept
and
Nature of Knowledge. In Knowledge
(MES -012, Education Nature and Purposes), New
Delhi: IGNOU
IGNOU (2007). Unit 2,Knowledge Generation:
In Perspective of Historical Perspective-1.
New Delhi: IGNOU Knowledge(Block-1), (MES -016, Educational Research),
Joyce, B.R. Weil, M. (1986). Jurisprudential Inquiry
Teaching, 3rd edn, Boston MA: Allyn and Bacon Model, in Models of
Kaushal, S. (2006). Social Inquiry Approach. In Sharma,
S.(Ed)
Constructivist Approaches to Teaching and Learning, Handbook for Teachers
of Secondary stage, NCERT: New Delhi
NCERT (2006). Looking Around, Environmental Studies, Textbook for
Class 3, New Delhi: NCERT.
Massailas, Byron. G. and Cox:, C. Benjamin (1966). Inquiry in the Social
Studies, New York: McGraw Hill.
Mouly, George J.(1978). Educational Research. In IGNOU(2011), Unit 1,
Methods of Acquiring Knowledge in Educational Research (Block-1), (MES
26 054, Methodology of Educational Research), New Delhi: SOE, IGNOU
 NCERT, (2005). NationalCurriculum Framework, Nw Delhi: NCERT Acquisition of Knowledge
and Methods of Inquiry
Rao, M. and Bapat, B.P. (2006). Investigatory Approach.In Sharma, S. (Ea)
Constructivist Approaches to Teaching and Learning, Handbook for Teachers
of Secondary stage, New Delhi: NCERT
Russell, B.,(1992). Human Knowledge. Its Scope and Limits, London:
Routledge.
Scheffler, I..(1999). Epistemology and Education. In Mc Cormick, Rand
Paechter, C. (Eds). Learning and Knowledge. London: Sage.
Sharma, S. (2006).Constructivism, In Sharma, S.(Ed.) (2006): Constructivist
Approaches to Teaching and Learning, Handbook for Teachers of Secondery
Stage, New Delhi: NCERT
NCERT (2008). Source Book on Assessment for Classes I toV,
Environmental Studies, NCERT: New Delhi
Truncellito, D. A..( 2007). Epistemology, Internet Encyclopedia of
Philosophy (http://www.iep.utm.edu/epistemo), accessed on 02-05-2012
Web Resources (Accessed on 23-06-2012)
http://www.knowledgebase-script.com/demolarticle-914.html
http:/len.wikipedia.org/wiki/DIKW
htp://www.diferencebetween.netanguage/difference-between-knowledge-and
wisdom/
http://www.systems-thinking.org/dikw/dikw.htm
http://cdn.ttgtmedia.com/searchDataManagement/downloads/
Making_sense_of_data_and_information.pdf
http://www.success.co.il/is/zins_definitions dik.Pdf
http://www.cse.ust.hk/-dekai/600G/notes/KM_Slides_Ch02.pdf
htp://www.personal.psu.edu/glh10/istl10/topic/topic02/topic02_02.html
5.10 ANSWERS TO CHECK YOUR PROGRESS
1) Propositional Knowledge is the knowledge which conveys truth. It is
conveyed through words, terms or concepts contained in sentences which
are meaningful.
2) The two prerequisites of knowledge are that the proposition or sentence
asserting something must consist of true facts and beliefs. The other
requirement is that evidence or reason are required to believe that proposition.
3) Apriori knowledge is that which can be arrived at on
the basis of reason and
logic. It does not require experience to validate its truth.
Aposteriori knowledge is based on empirical
at through a scientific process of evidence and truth is arrived
observation
and verification.
4) The main features of
constructivist method of knowledge acquisition are:
i) learning is an active meaning making process,

27