level 1 level 2

Mike Cole (mcole who-is-at weber.ucsd.edu)
Tue, 28 Sep 1999 10:37:31 -0700 (PDT)

Peter asked:

So my question is, what's really at stake in this discussion? Are we really
saying that background knowledge doesn't matter? Or that background
knowledge as embodied in rigid stage theories is misguided?

Peter

Peter-- There is a general principal involved here, but without
getting deep into the issues, what I was referring to were curricula
(for example) that insist on kids learning to decode before they
read for meaning. There is a general "bottom-up" bias to a lot of
pedagogy that makes the larger goals and contexts of relevance obscure
to those who do not know what they are from early enculturation.

The evidence that "background knowledge mattters" is overwhelming.
mike