Arbeitspapier

The view of knowledge: An institutional theory of differences in educational quality

This essay argues that the most crucial institution of any school system is its view of knowledge - from which virtually all other aspects of a school are derived: the content of its curricula, its pedagogical practices, and the incentives that motivate its members. To make this case, we outline the two main conflicting views of knowledge, the classical view and the postmodern social constructivist view. According to the classical view, the purpose of schooling is to give students objective knowledge and skills that they cannot acquire in any way other than through hierarchical instruction in well-defined disciplines. The social constructivist view rejects the existence of objective knowledge. This rejection translates to a preference for student-directed pedagogy, the mixing of instructional fields, and an emphasis on developing general critical thinking skills rather than on acquiring domain-specific knowledge. Using the history of education in Sweden as an example, our analysis suggests that the recent decline in educational quality in the Western democracies can be remedied by a paradigm shift in the governing view of knowledge toward the classical view.

Sprache
Englisch

Erschienen in
Series: IFN Working Paper ; No. 1432

Klassifikation
Wirtschaft
Publicly Provided Private Goods
Publicly Provided Goods: Mixed Markets
State and Local Government: Health; Education; Welfare; Public Pensions
Educational Finance; Financial Aid
Education: Government Policy
Industry Studies: Services: Government Policy
Thema
Communal knowledge
institutions
postmodernism
social constructivism
thought style
views of knowledge

Ereignis
Geistige Schöpfung
(wer)
Henrekson, Magnus
Wennström, Johan
Ereignis
Veröffentlichung
(wer)
Research Institute of Industrial Economics (IFN)
(wo)
Stockholm
(wann)
2022

Handle
Letzte Aktualisierung
10.03.2025, 11:43 MEZ

Datenpartner

Dieses Objekt wird bereitgestellt von:
ZBW - Deutsche Zentralbibliothek für Wirtschaftswissenschaften - Leibniz-Informationszentrum Wirtschaft. Bei Fragen zum Objekt wenden Sie sich bitte an den Datenpartner.

Objekttyp

  • Arbeitspapier

Beteiligte

  • Henrekson, Magnus
  • Wennström, Johan
  • Research Institute of Industrial Economics (IFN)

Entstanden

  • 2022

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