Knowledge vs. Wisdom

Knowledge vs. wisdom. Wisdom vs. knowledge.  The never-ending debate.  They certainly are not synonyms.  Knowledge is the lowest level of understanding in Bloom’s Taxonomy; just below comprehension. Knowledge is the accumulation of facts and data that you have learned (possibly memorized) about or experienced.  Knowledge is really about simply being aware of something but that’s as deep as it gets. People at the knowledge level in their learning are excellent Trivial Pursuit players who know that Moby Dick is a classic novel about a big fish and a guy with a funny name, but have never read it.  Wisdom, on the other hand, is the ability to discern which aspects of knowledge are right and applicable.  Wisdom is the ability to apply your knowledge to the bigger picture.  Wisdom is deeper; it’s about knowing the “why”.  If knowledge is information, then wisdom is the understanding and application of that knowledge.  Here’s a great way to remember the difference:  Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit; wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.

Wisdom vs knowledge.  It is vital that teachers go deeper in the levels of understanding with their students.  Let’s look at the “old” Bloom’s Taxonomy. You remember, the ascending levels of UNDERSTANDING.  Knowledge is the lowest level of understanding.  This is followed up the ladder with comprehension-application-analysis-synthesis-evaluation.  Wisdom isn’t specifically named, but if it were, wisdom would be on the snowcaps of the mountain.  We talk a lot about increasing the critical thinking skills of our students.  Mark this down – critical thinking doesn’t even begin until the analysis level.  I’ll use the childhood story of Goldilocks to show the differences.  Knowledge = What are some things in the bear’s home? Comprehension = Why did she like the little bear’s chair?  Application – If she came to your house, what are some of the things that she would have used?  Analysis = What parts of the story could not have happened?  Synthesis = How would the story be different if she visited the home of three rainbow trout? Evaluation = Was Goldilocks good or bad and why do you think so?  While it is true that you have to have the base levels to move up in understanding, we often spend too much time at the base levels.  If we truly want to get our kids to be better critical thinkers, then we have to teach at the three highest levels.  Yes, that instruction has to be intentional.  Ramp it up!  My personal view is that Goldilocks was a drug addict looking for a place to crash.  Who else would stay at a bear’s house?