Stage | View of knowledge | Concept of Justification | Consequences | Level |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | "What I have seen is true" Knowledge is absolute and predetermined. | Beliefs need no justification. | Failure to understand that 2 people can disagree about something | |
2 | Knowledge is available through the senses or via authority figures. Knowledge is absolutely certain or certain but not immediately available. | Beliefs are unjustified or justified by beliefs of authorities | Dogmatic and naïve views - belief in right and wrong answers | Pre-reflective thinking |
3 | Knowledge is absolutely certain or temporarily uncertain (future data will demonstrate the truth). | Predominance of personal opinions in areas of temporary uncertainty. Reference to authorities' views in areas of certainty. | Confusion when asked to make decisions about problems for which no absolute answers exist. | |
4 | Knowledge is understood as an abstraction. Knowledge in certain fields will never be certain. Knowledge claims are idiosyncratic to the individual. | Arguments and choice of evidence for justification of beliefs are idiosyncratic. | New tolerance of alternative perspectives. | Quasi-reflective thinking |
5 | Knowledge is contextual and subjective because it is filtered through a person's perceptions and criteria for judgement. | Justification by rules of inquiry for that context. | Different views are seen as potentially legitimate interpretations of issues. What is missing is the ability to compare and contrast evidence across contexts. | |
6 | Inadequacy of purely contextual and subjective knowing becomes apparent. No understanding of larger system of knowing in which comparisons are embedded. | Justification by comparing evidence and opinions and construction of solutions (based on weight of evidence, utility of the solution,...) | Conclusions remain limited and situational. | Reflective thinking |
7 | Belief that while reality is never a given, interpretations of evidence and opinion can be synthesized into epistemically justifiable conjectures about the nature of the problem. (recognition of its temporary character) | Beliefs are justified probabilistically on the basis of a variety of interpretive considerations. | Possession of a general framework about knowledge and justification. Conclusions are defended as representing the most complete, plausible or compelling understanding of an issue on the basis of the available evidence. |