"Knowing With" in Preschool

I found Bransford’s and Schwartz’ analysis of “knowing with” as contrasted to “knowing that,” which he defines as replicative knowledge, and “knowing how,” which he defines as applicative knowledge, particularly interesting. “Knowing with” is described as the ability to approach new situations through the lens of all previous experience and knowledge whether or not the individual can dictate exactly when they acquired those experiences and knowledge. It is the most natural form of transfer.

 They then discuss two mechanisms that act as a platform for “knowing with:” associative and interpretive. The associative platform allows learners to connect their current experience with former experiences, objects, knowledge, and sentiments. The interpretive platform allows learners to place and organize their current situations or ideas into the context of those former experiences.

This passage illuminates everyday situations I observed in the preschool class I taught last fall. Because each child came from a different home with a different family culture and, for most children, this was the first year they went to school, every student approached situations in the classroom in very different ways. They brought with them all of their assumptions about authority, play, and what a daily schedule should look like and that previous experience and knowledge provided the lens with which they saw the classroom and everything in it. Oftentimes they were not able to dictate “why” they made the decisions they did, but after talking with their parents, it was clear that their past experience- relationship with their parents, amount of free time they are given, time they go to sleep- shaped the way they were evaluating situations in the classroom. My students constantly made us of their associative, and often illogical to others, mechanism of knowing. For example, a circle-time about the color red might remind one of my students about her dog without her knowing why. However, because of their age, my students often needed help with the interpretive mechanism of knowing. They could easily learn new concepts but would need our help to put those concepts in the context of the number of the day last week and the other animals at the zoo.