There have been monumental advances in the study of the social dimensions of knowledge in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. But it has been common within a wide variety of fields--including social philosophy, cognitive science, epistemology, and the philosophy of science--to approach the social dimensions of knowledge as simply another resource to be utilized or controlled. I call this view, in which other people's epistemic significance are only of instrumental value, manipulationism. I identify manipulationism, trace its manifestations in the aforementioned fields, and explain how to move beyond it. The principal strategy that I employ for moving beyond manipulationism consists of synthesizing enactivism and neo-Kuhnian social epistemology. Specifically, I expand the enactivist concept of participatory sense-making by linking it to recent conceptual innovations in social epistemology, such as the concept of immanent cogent argumentation.

Australia faces many challenges in a globalised and rapidly changing world. Schools are increasingly being given responsibility for ensuring the future economic, social and political wellbeing of the nation and its successful transition into the knowledge age. Teachers have the responsibility of educating their students for an as yet unknown future. To meet these complex professional challenges, teachers need to become creators rather than consumers of knowledge. Through engaging in knowledge creation work teachers can re-image their work, reconceptualising the meaning of teacher professionalism. The study explores understandings of knowledge creation that emerge from the experiences of three Queensland schools engaged in IDEAS, a process of whole-school renewal which focuses on the work of teachers. In each case, through collaborative effort, the teachers created new knowledge. How this happened, what was achieved, the dynamics of the relationship between individual and group learning, and the subsequent impact on practice varied from case to case. The nature of the knowledge created was strongly influenced by contextual factors such as the dominant organisational paradigm, socio-emotional climate, cognitive processes, leadership and organisational coherence. In each school extensive data were gathered through in-depth interviews, artefact and document collection, and participant observation, particularly of IDEAS related activities. The story of each school and its engagement with IDEAS – constructed from the accounts of the teachers – is told to provide a basis for understanding knowledge creation in each context. In the final stage of analysis, cross-case comparisons are made to provide a more generalised understanding of knowledge creation processes and the factors which impact on the nature of the knowledge produced. The findings indicate a link between the creation of knowledge in the three schools and a re-imaging of teachers’ work.

<p>Project management has become a natural way of conducting activities in companies.  The goal is continuous improvement in project performance.  The way knowledge is managed in the company is crucial for gaining competitive advantage.  Knowledge management and learning, has been recognized by academics and practitioners as important to achieving success and improvement in projects.</p><p> </p><p>Achieving continuous improvement is considered a difficult task.  The difficulty lies in capturing and storing the knowledge and learning from one individual to another and from one project to another.  In this study the researcher has reviewed the mechanisms and processes from recent research which are supposed to facilitate knowledge transfer and learning.  Nevertheless, the academic and practitioner researchers do not seem to have a common ground on how to facilitate knowledge transfer and learning, even though there are many mechanisms and processes suggested.  Their results are not concurrent in effective and efficient facilitation of knowledge and learning.</p><p>The researcher has conducted a qualitative case study through seven interviews.  The empirical study was done in a Company X which provides air traffic services.  It shows that some of the practices institutionalized by Case Company X are different from what the literature suggests.  Moreover, the environment wherein these mechanisms and processes co-exist is particular from what the literature suggests.  A learning landscape of Case Company X is identified based on the empirical data.  Recommendations and suggestions are provided in the end to increase knowledge transfer and improve learning in and between projects at Case Company X.</p>

<p>Klinisk blick är en term som frekvent återkommer under sjuksköterskeutbildningen och i klinisk verksamhet. Den återfinns ofta i samband med klinisk bedömning och som</p><p>en övergripande beskrivning av en patient. Endast antydda betydelser har framkommit och då tätt knutna till andra termer och processer. Syftet med studien var att</p><p>undersöka komponenterna intuition och tyst kunskap som delar i sjuksköterskans kliniska blick. Studien genomfördes som en litteraturstudie där 17 vetenskapliga artiklar granskades. Resultatet visar att intuition och tyst kunskap är huvudkomponenter i sjuksköterskans kliniska blick. Intuition verkar som en länk mellan kognitiva, affektiva och perceptuella processer. Tyst kunskap sammanbinder intuition och teoretisk kunskap. Intuition och tyst kunskap utvecklas över tid och baseras på personlighet, erfarenhet och teoretisk kunskap. Förslag till vidare forskning är att försöka utveckla</p><p>och specificera termen och förstå de bakomliggande processerna bättre med syftet att utbilda och stödja sjuksköterskan i hennes professionella utveckling.</p>

<p>Vi har genomfört en kvalitativ studie i ämnet konflikthantering. Vi har valt att utforma den med hjälp av fem lärare som vi har intervjuat. Konflikter kan man inte undvika, varken i livet eller i skolan och där är det lärarens uppgift att hantera dem. Därför tycker vi att det är viktigt att belysa och förstå kunskapen om konflikthantering.</p><p>Förr hanterades inte konflikter och bråk i skolan som idag. Fram till 1958 var det fortfarande tillåtet att bestraffa elever med aga. Det var genom aga och skäll som man hanterade konflik¬terna istället för att som idag prata med eleverna. Skäll existerar fortfarande men framförallt hanterar lärarna konflikter med hjälp av att kom¬municera med eleverna. Idag är idealet att kommunicera väl; lyssna, tala och känna empati. I konfliktsituationer agerar läraren ofta medlare mellan eleverna.</p><p>För att ta reda på hur kunskapen om konflikthantering i skolan ser ut tar vi hjälp av begreppet tyst kunskap. Eftersom tyst kunskap har många olika tolkningar för vi en diskussion kring begreppet. Att vi använder oss av just detta begrepp beror på att tyst kunskap i alla olika tolk¬ningar ändå anses vara en praktisk kunskap. Så är, menar vi, även fallet med konflikthan¬teringen i skolan eftersom den är kopplad till lärarens vardagliga arbete. Därför kopplar vi samman kunskap om konflikthantering med tyst kunskap.</p><p>Vi har kommit fram till att hur lärare hanterar konflikter beror mycket på vilka ideal som råder just då. Lärarna i våra intervjuer inhämtar kunskapen om konflikthantering till största delen i sitt arbete och de anser alla att det är viktigt att aktivt förebygga konflikter för en fungerande undervisning och ett gott klassrumsklimat. Kunskapen om konflikthantering är situationsbunden och personlig men detta räcker inte för att vi ska kunna sluta oss till att det är tyst kunskap, detta beror helt på vilken definition man utgår ifrån. Vi vill poängtera att våra resultat inte på något sätt försöker vara generaliserande.</p> / <p>We have done a qualitative study about conflict-handling. The purpose of this study is to understand conflict-handling and prevention of conflicts in the classroom from a teacher’s perspective; how does teachers develop their knowledge of conflict-handling and is that knowledge tacit? How can teachers handle conflicts and quarrels in the classroom and how can they prevent them? Those are our questions at issue. To get information we interviewed five different teachers and studied relevant literature. We have chosen to restrict this study to conflicts between pupils or teachers and pupils, grade 4-6 in the Swedish school.</p><p>Conflicts or quarrels are things that can’t be avoided and it is the teacher’s job to handle them, this is called conflict-handling. In former times the conflict-handling in schools meant corporal punishment or telling the pupil off. Telling-off still exists in our schools today but the way conflicts are handled is now mostly by using communication and the teacher will in most cases become the mediator between the pupils.</p><p>To elucidate conflict-handling we chose to use the concept of tacit knowledge. This concept has many different interpretations but all of them are saying that tacit knowledge is practical. Therefore it is interesting for us to connect conflict-handling, which is a part of the teacher’s daily tasks, with tacit knowledge.</p><p>We have compared the interviews with each other and with the literature and found that the conflict-handling depends on what the current ideals are. The teachers in our interviews learn conflict-handling mostly in their work and they all think that it is important to actively prevent conflicts for a functioning education and a good atmosphere in the classroom. In the matter of deciding if conflict-handling is tacit knowledge or not it all comes down to which definition of tacit knowledge you rely on. The results we found are only specific for the teachers we interviewed and for our study.</p>

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Chicago, Dept. of Sociology, December 2003. / Includes bibliographical references. Also available on the Internet.

<p>In this thesis we will discuss the importance of human resource development in smaller companies and if it will change from when the Swedish economy was in an economic boom and later on came to be in a recession. We choose to use a more qualitative approach for this research in order to conduct a more in-depth study of five smaller sized companies located on Gotland, Sweden. In order to limit our research we had as an ambition to answer these following questions:</p><p>• What obstacles are there when it comes to human resource development and knowledge transference within smaller sized companies?</p><p>• What can simplify or enable human resource development and knowledge transference within smaller sized companies?</p><p>• Does the teaching process change to a more tacit human resource development between co-workers when there is less room for conventional human resource development?</p><p>The result of the research came to show that the biggest barrier, when it comes to competence development within smaller companies, is time. However, our research also showed that a majority of the companies has changed from a more external educational plan to a more internal educational plan which focuses on keeping the human resource development within the company. This in turn makes it easier for the companies to manage time and integrate the learning process into a usual workday for employees.</p>

Today we are living in a knowledge-society where knowledge sharing is of utmost importance for companies in order to keep their competitiveness. Therefore, it is a much debated issue - in both the academic and the corporate world - in what way one should handle the knowledge which continuously is created within companies. The aim of this study is to describe how practitioners share tacit knowledge within a large knowledge company. By that we aim to get an answer to how the chosen theoretical models regarding tacit knowledge relate to the empirical world. In this study we will focus on tacit knowledge in contrast to explicit one. Further we will not study knowledge sharing between organisations but concentrate on this process within them. We chose to approach the purpose of this study in a qualitative way by conducting interviews within a large knowledge-firm. The company was Systems Integration within the Ericsson-group where we held interviews with four persons familiar with knowledge. Furthermore, we have perceived that theories concerning the knowledge-sharing process are relatively fragmented. Therefore, we have built a model which links the different theories together in order to give a better overview of the whole process. Having conducted the study, we found that the case company to some extent handlesknowledge in line with the theories chosen. Furthermore, we came to the conclusion that some modifications in the model are necessary in order to achieve a successful knowledge-sharing process.

“There is no need to reinvent the wheel” – a cliché, often told when you want to come up with something new that in someway can be connected to something that already exist. This study shows the opposite – that inventions emanate from what is given. It can be a detail, a problem in a thing - a wheel - or a situation that catches the inventor’s attention. It is something that seeks a solution or something that generates an idea, a hint or a clue of something new and useful. The art of invention emerges from the ability and skill to broaden the seeing and put thinking, substance and tradition into motion. An old radio dial generates a new ergonomic steering wheel. The connection of memories between a chestnut, a cello and an early morning at a water pump creates three works of art. The epistemology of this study is based on a dialogue between voices from different times and traditions. Some voices are normative examples, drawn from a dialogue between Swedish inventors. The others are those of philosophers from the Age of Enlightenment, fetched from their original writings. Through that dialogue, perspectives and ideas of inventors and classical philosophers meet and are compared. A deeper understanding thus emerges that shows the essence of invention and in fact the essence of all creative work: i) Freedom – in thought and in action ii) Dialogue - to test and try new ideas and things in the ever changing circumstances. iii) Doubt - not taking established fact and assumptions for granted iv) Action – testing and breaking established praxis and rules. The study also illustrates the need for an alternative scientific form and expression concerning studies in the fields of invention, innovation and other practical work. Invention can not be captured or shaped by exact measurements, concepts, definitions or abstract models. It takes place in the borderland between fact and fiction, where technique, aesthetics and philosophy are one working entity. The strive for knowledge is endless and without limits and it is nurtured by wondering, searching and ambiguity. With inspiration from the dialogue seminar method used within KTH Advanced Programme in Reflective Practice – this study point out the actuality and vitality in using the classical philosophical writings, dialogue and analogical thinking as a scientific method within higher education.

“There is no need to reinvent the wheel” – a cliché, often told when you want to come up with something new that in someway can be connected to something that already exist. This study shows the opposite – that inventions emanate from what is given. It can be a detail, a problem in a thing - a wheel - or a situation that catches the inventor’s attention. It is something that seeks a solution or something that generates an idea, a hint or a clue of something new and useful. The art of invention emerges from the ability and skill to broaden the seeing and put thinking, substance and tradition into motion. An old radio dial generates a new ergonomic steering wheel. The connection of memories between a chestnut, a cello and an early morning at a water pump creates three works of art. The epistemology of this study is based on a dialogue between voices from different times and traditions. Some voices are normative examples, drawn from a dialogue between Swedish inventors. The others are those of philosophers from the Age of Enlightenment, fetched from their original writings. Through that dialogue, perspectives and ideas of inventors and classical philosophers meet and are compared. A deeper understanding thus emerges that shows the essence of invention and in fact the essence of all creative work: i) Freedom – in thought and in action ii) Dialogue - to test and try new ideas and things in the ever changing circumstances. iii) Doubt - not taking established fact and assumptions for granted iv) Action – testing and breaking established praxis and rules. The study also illustrates the need for an alternative scientific form and expression concerning studies in the fields of invention, innovation and other practical work. Invention can not be captured or shaped by exact measurements, concepts, definitions or abstract models. It takes place in the borderland between fact and fiction, where technique, aesthetics and philosophy are one working entity. The strive for knowledge is endless and without limits and it is nurtured by wondering, searching and ambiguity. With inspiration from the dialogue seminar method used within KTH Advanced Programme in Reflective Practice – this study point out the actuality and vitality in using the classical philosophical writings, dialogue and analogical thinking as a scientific method within higher education. / QC 20100826