Toward an Epistemology of Practice

Higher and postexperience education in many parts of the world have unfortunately overlooked what practice can contribute to our knowledge base interactively with and distinctly from classroom education. Ultimately, we need a synthesis of theory and practice if we are to prepare thoughtful practitioners. Using conceptual and practical approaches from constructionist thought borrowing such tools as tacit knowledge, critical reflection, and mastery, I propose a means to effect such a synthesis. Needed is a new epistemology of practice that adds praxis to classroom education in order to help learners deconstruct the structures and systems that embed their social environments. I also examine the outcomes and particular competencies that emanate from a practice-based learning. Implications for teaching by learning from this practice epistemology are discussed.