What I mean by the one-way knowledge flow paradigm is, simply, the belief that knowledge of what is good for us flows from people who have a high level of formal education, high status in society, (and maybe) long life and professional experience, etc. to those who don’t.
It is important to note that knowledge flow, in this case, as I state elsewhere, will encompass cognitive, emotional, spiritual and physical dimensions of our being.
As an aside, I believe that there is an element of two-way knowledge flow in almost every encounter. Sometimes we are aware that we are garnering knowledge from the other, sometimes we are not aware.
Now to all intents and purposes, most mainstream teaching/learning in our society is one-way.
In the educational paradigm that we are all familiar with, if we are teachers, we are not always aware that we are garnering knowledge – because the paradigm is designed so that the knowledge flow is explicitly one-way. (If we are open to being aware, there is a better chance that knowledge flow will be two-way).
For example, when I teach my child how to tie his shoelaces I am learning something about my child and also something about myself. The something-about-myself is gleaned from my child’s response to my efforts to teach him. This knowledge is usually transferred and absorbed unconsciously. (It could be knowledge about my child’s capacity to learn, or my own ability to be patient. Or it could be about my abilities as a teacher or instructor).
And – this is not an anti one-way knowledge flow rant. In many situations it is of vital importance in our journey through life. The next post will describe conditions for its success.