Four Actions for Knowledge Builders
Knowledge Building can be understood as a series of actions guiding students on how to play with ideas and improving them. Using the actions of Wonder-Create-Share-Improve, students engage with their curriculum that is idea-driven, community-based, and most of all, authentic to how the world works with knowledge and ideas.
We have designed the Four Actions for Knowledge Builders as a recognition that busy teachers need a straight-forward, easily understandable method to engage students using Knowledge Building principles as the means for reaching the highest impact for learning. Below is a brief overview for each action. More detail can be found by clicking on the links above.
Wonder
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Students work with authentic problems from their world or curriculum, those that they really care about
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Students express their initial wonderings in the form of questions or ideas to begin the exploration
Create
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Students create their knowledge using authoritative sources of knowledge
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Students create ideas and theories to share that hold promise as they work to resolve their problem
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Further questions and ideas are encouraged leading to deeper investigation and understanding
Share
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Students assume a role within a community where all members share a collective responsibility to give and accept knowledge and ideas
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Students assume a social responsibility by acknowledging and encouraging the positive contributions of all members of their community.
Improve
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Students understand that knowledge and ideas are meant to be improved and then work as a community to do so
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Everyone has ideas. Sharing and improving upon them is how learning and progress is made. .