Tacit Knowledge

Over the last few weeks packing up in Education, one of the things that I’ve noticed is how much tacit knowledge is in my head. Having been present from when the TechPD unit that I am, at least to the end of the day, involved in, there are many things that I know and do “just cause”. Thinking deep thoughts on that, it seems to me that this type of knowledge is truly what is the holy grail of education. This knowledge maintains, retains and propels us all at the same time. To this end, I’ve gathered a collection of blog posts from “out there” to help flesh out this idea. Some of it is a bit of a stretch, but it’s my blog, so I’m allowed.

First up is Kathy over at Creating Passionate Users, who wrote recently about “how to do everything better“. She mentions that there are two parts to our mind, one that is creative and useful or expanding, and the second part is analytical and essentially restraining. So to do things better, we have to learn to let the creative side free. She uses a set of examples – drawing with the right side in art, writing from storyboards, design by quickly mind mapping, programming by gut feel and for everything else, take a look at Gladwell’s Blink(Amazon). Boiled down, this recommendation is one that tells you that what is often the the best course of action is one that happens quickly and without over thinking. Connecting the first part of my thread through these posts, there is some manner of essence to our actions that I think if governed by our tacit knowledge that is often hindered by rationalization.

Second are a raft of posts that suggest reasons for why technology adoption in schools hasn’t taken off the way that many thought it should have. Before I list them, I think it is in part because of the tacit knowledge of those instructors who are a generation (at least) behind, that may not have a good feeling about technology. They may see it as a fad, or they may be trying to get all the “intangible stuff” out of their heads and into the heads of their students in what time they have together. The posts (Illusion of buy-in, Technology doesn’t work by itself and Blame the technology) talk about how passion, time and money are lacking. Those people who are adopting technology have the passion, but those who don’t, are likely “just not feeling it”. There is something in their core that is suggesting that these new tools are somehow not all that they are cracked up to be. Some of these people are likely right and some are wrong. If we are lucky, we’ll find out which is which in 20 years.

To me, this second set of people could benefit from a good dose of what I’ve referred to as Comfortable Computing. Helping people match what they are afraid of with what they are seeing the technology not doing and then working to see if there are any ways around the situation. Once their core feelings are aligned with the “reality” of what they are seeing in their classrooms and with what their students believe will help them, it should not take much rationalization to get people to hop on board. If we can get the second group to think more like the first group, then we can move towards some of the points that a recent Time article has rehashed, as have many others (especially after reading The World is Flat).

Looking beyond the box, be those borders or “boxes” is vital. If one starts to over rationalize actions, thoughts and processes, then one seems to become paralyzed. If you’ve watched the extras on the Cars DVD, you’ll find the story about how a trip down Route 66 was an eye opener for the crew because it opened up a whole new world for them. In fact, the entire theme of the movie is that the world opens up when you look off to the side… the most rational thing to do when you travel is take the main highway, a desolate ribbon of engineering that devastates all in it’s path for the sake of efficiency. Irrationally, the side roads are where the life that is to be found, will be found.

Lastly, remember that technology is an enabler and a route for information, nothing more, it is people that will count in the end. It’s the last bit that the late adopters/rejectors of technology can really cling to. Regardless of what humanity will become, it got that way through educating it’s successive generations about their past, and what it means to be “them as a people”. A cell phone can’t make someone a better person, but it can help them say in touch with more people, and if those people bonds are strong, then the technology, as a route for information is useful. In education, if technology is used to connect students with content, and content alone, then it will likely fail. But if that content can have some manner of personal connection (facilitated through storytelling or some other traditional means that has had e/digital or online added), then it can be far more successful. If technology has to be rationalized in it’s use, then there is a chance that it’s not being put where it may fit best. If on the other hand, it seems natural or “feels right”, some measure of tacit knowledge may be informing that decision. It may be that gut vs brain feeling that one has to get through to get anywhere in terms of technology integration.

Well, if you are still reading this, here is the meat… a distilled version of this post. We all have tacit knowledge that informs what we do, often this knowledge buts heads against rationalized thinking. Rationally, many of us are very conservative, and this hold true with how anything new, including technology is adopted. Adoption of these new methods, just doesn’t feel right for them. While it does for us (I am assuming that I’m talking to adopters here) and a few others, it doesn’t mean that the experiences that have informed our tacit knowledge can or should be compared to what informs non adopters. The challenge for those charged with creating adopters is to make a comfortable connection to the tacit knowledge of the non adopter and from there build using what the new adopter is passionate about. In this way, the new adopter will be doing things that “feel right”. While moving through this process, remember that technology is just an enabler. Having said all that about “feeling right”, it is true that at times, everyone will have to do things that don’t quite feel right to push their own boundaries. But if this is the case, try to ensure that there is some means of support or rescue, so that eventually even taking risks by “going beyond” feel right.

Thanks for indulging the brain dump.


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