Director's thoughts...

This week I have something for you to ponder. This is part of an article written by John Edwards, a wonderful Australian thinker.

Have a read, what does it mean to you?

Personal practical knowledge (PPK) is the knowledge you own. It comes from your lived 

experience and your reflections on that experience. This knowledge is internal to the self.  

• Your PPK is unique to you. 

You are the only person to have done the things you have done and thought the thoughts you 

have thought. This makes each of us, teachers and students, a unique resource for any group or 

classroom we are in. It also makes you the most valuable resource for your own development. 

The critical resources for your growth lie inside you, not outside. 

 

• Your PPK is largely implicit and difficult to articulate.  

While most of us carry an enormous store of PPK, it is seldom in an explicit useable form. If I 

asked you to stand in front of a group and explain what it takes to do your job successfully, 

you would probably find it difficult to do. It is not that you do not know, but seldom are you 

asked to articulate what you know. Giving time for this, and helping students learn to do this, 

is critical for learning. 

 

• Your PPK is resistant to change.  

Your PPK is the store of experiential knowledge that has got you to where you are today. So 

obviously you will not be inclined to change it easily, nor should you be. This goes for every 

student in your classrooms. Their life has taught them! Respect for the lived experience of 

each child is a fundamental starting point for learning.  Roger Osborne and his team at the 

University of Waikato in New Zealand in the 1970's did wonderful research on the PPK of 

children through their Learning in Science (LISP) Project. They suggested that children 

construct their own knowledge, and they described the characteristics of the "conceptual 

change classroom". Constructivist philosophy is the current flavour in the U.S. and in many 

academic disciplines in our part of the world. 

 

There is a great undervaluing of the PPK of Australian workers and Australian 

students. From my experience it is the single greatest underutilised resource in Australian 

business and industry, and Australian classrooms. Jack Welch, the CEO of General Electric, 

(in Belasco: 1990, p.6) expressed it well: 

 

We have found what we believe to be the distilled essence 

of competitiveness, it is the reservoir of talent, creativity and  

energy that can be found in each of our people. 

 

This applies equally well to our schools and classrooms. Classrooms, schools and business 

workplaces are all impoverished when the skills of all are not used to the maximum. The 

results we have had in industry from setting free the PPK and creativity of workers has 

surprised experienced managers. 

Cheers

Daniel