1. New Mental Models
What are the ideas about
knowledge, mind, and
learning that inform your
current thinking about how
you teach and how schools
should be organised?
Ref: Jane Gilbert (2005)
Catching the Knowledge Wave - NZCER
2009 Derek Wenmoth
2. Knowledge
• Knowledge is “stuff”
• It can be stored - in minds, books or other
kinds of databases
• Knowledge is true, correct, “the facts”
• It is something stable that accumulates slowly
over time; new knowledge builds on older
knowledge
• It is built up by people, and people can “have” it,
however, it exists objectively, independently of
people
• There are different branches of knowledge
called disciplines or subjects
• Each discipline has its own way of doing
things
2009 Derek Wenmoth
3. Minds
• Minds are like containers (filing
cabinets or databases), they store
knowledge
• Minds also process knowledge; they
take it in, organise it and represent it
• Minds are the places where thinking
and learning happen
• Some minds have more capacity than
other minds for storing and
processing knowledge
• The mind is located in the brain, but its
activities are distinct from the brain’s
other functions
2009 Derek Wenmoth
4. Learning
• Learning is the process by which knowledge
gets stored in minds
• Learning is an individual activity: it takes place
in individual minds
• Learning is an activity that happens in more or
less the same way in all individuals
• Learners of the same age (or stage of
development) will be ready for the same kinds
of knowledge at the same time
• Learning is easier if the knowledge to be
learned is broken down into parts and
introduced as a series of steps.
2009 Derek Wenmoth
