History and Past Activities
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History and Past Activities |
June Tolsby
Aalborg University, Dept. of Business Studies
Aalborg
Denmark
e-mail: jt@business.auc.dk
MOVING KNOWLEDGE AWAY FROM THE ESSENTIAL LEARNING PROCESS
This paper claims that the learning process is essential for discussions about knowledge. Viewing knowledge as a commodity deprives knowledge from its context, which is learning. Such a commodification manifests itself most strongly within an organisational setting. An experiential learning view, combined with a view on learning as a social process is used as theoretical foundations for defining learning. This theoretical framework is applied to a case study of 11 companies, to see how they talk about learning and knowledge. The paper demonstrates that firms talk about knowledge as a commodity that can be measured, collected, and distributed within the firm. By viewing knowledge as a commodity the firms move away from a critical reflection upon knowledge, and over the learning process facilitating knowledge creation. Such a commodification of knowledge fits well with a top-down management of the firms. It creates an unequal balance between those who have knowledge, and those who are able control the knowledge creating processes. Employees are reduced to recipients and distributors of knowledge, rather than being able to enhance their knowledge through critical reflections and conceptualisation with others. Thus the paper suggests that knowledge needs to be understood from a learning perspective. The concept of a "social room" is introduced as a space wherein the experiential learning process can take place, and create equal opportunities for "knowledge users" and "knowledge producers".
Sociology of Science and Technology NETwork - last update: April 2006