Comments on: The Myth of the Knowledge Economy http://ipseity.blogsome.com/2006/11/24/the-myth-of-the-knowledge-economy-2/ Norm Friesen: 1. pron. Himself; truly himself; in his right mind. (OED) Sun, 03 Jan 2010 04:01:59 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=1.5.1-alpha by: Carl Bereiter http://ipseity.blogsome.com/2006/11/24/the-myth-of-the-knowledge-economy-2/#comment-84 Thu, 08 Feb 2007 16:27:50 +0000 http://ipseity.blogsome.com/2006/11/24/the-myth-of-the-knowledge-economy-2/#comment-84 Since Scardamalia's and my work is cited several times as exemplifying the "myth of the knowledge economy," I make bold to recommend a book edited by Barry Smith, Liberal Education in a Knowledge Society (Open Court, 2002). In it, two economists, Edwards and Ogilvie also challenge the "myth" with evidence and argument, concluding that there is a shift from manufacturing to service jobs but not a shift to knowledge work. The book also contains my reply (pp. 234-236). I make two points: first, that census-type data can't demonstrate a shift to a knowledge economy the way they could demonstrate a shift from an agricultural to a manufacturing economy; second, that support for claims about a knowledge-based economy <blockquote cite="consists mostly of cases in which companies, large and small, are reorganizing in ways that make knowledge creation and innovation more central to their business. These companies are not claimed to be typical but to be front-running and therefore likely to force other companies to follow suit in order to remain competitive."> Also, we never claim economic considerations are the sole or even the main reason why students should be on a trajectory leading to mature knowledge creation. Homer-Dixon's books The Ingenuity Gap and The Upside of Down provide a much more comprehensive argument, one that rests on the increasing complexity of the problems societies must deal with. Scardamalia's and my views on these matters are most fully elaborated in our chapter in the new edition of the Handbook of Educational Psychology.</blockquote> Since Scardamalia’s and my work is cited several times as exemplifying the “myth of the knowledge economy,” I make bold to recommend a book edited by Barry Smith, Liberal Education in a Knowledge Society (Open Court, 2002). In it, two economists, Edwards and Ogilvie also challenge the “myth” with evidence and argument, concluding that there is a shift from manufacturing to service jobs but not a shift to knowledge work. The book also contains my reply (pp. 234-236). I make two points: first, that census-type data can’t demonstrate a shift to a knowledge economy the way they could demonstrate a shift from an agricultural to a manufacturing economy; second, that support for claims about a knowledge-based economy
Also, we never claim economic considerations are the sole or even the main reason why students should be on a trajectory leading to mature knowledge creation. Homer-Dixon’s books The Ingenuity Gap and The Upside of Down provide a much more comprehensive argument, one that rests on the increasing complexity of the problems societies must deal with. Scardamalia’s and my views on these matters are most fully elaborated in our chapter in the new edition of the Handbook of Educational Psychology.

]]>