Differentiated With Knowledge, so Too

¶ … differentiated with knowledge, so too must the different aspects and meaning of understanding be differentiated from each other. One of the basic differences, as anyone who has ever studied one the Romance languages is aware, is between the intellectual and interpersonal meaning of the word, which is made explicit by the use of two separate words in French, Spanish, etc. Though the meanings are related, it is important to understand their different implications and applications. This allows for a full understanding of...understanding, and leads to better methods and practices for determining the efficacy of a given lesson or course. Evaluation of understanding can't really occur before understanding itself is defined, after all.

The chapter breaks understanding into six basic facets, each of the comprising a part of the whole that is "understanding." When someone truly understands something, they can explain it, interpret it, apply it, allow it to influence their perception, empathize with it, and apply self-knowledge/allow self-knowledge to be enhanced by it. The authors acknowledge that these facets of understanding necessarily overlap, and that they are almost always (and ideally always) integrated with each other in a comprehensive understanding of a subject, person, or process. At the same time, it is far easier and more practically useful to consider each of these aspects of understanding in their own light, independently from the others. In this way, multiple perspectives of understanding can be developed and brought to full cognition, and can then be integrated into a comprehensive understanding.

Explaining is the first facet of understanding that the chapter addresses, and is also one of the more basic. At the same time, it requires the ability to draw inferences as to why and how something is the way it is, and not simply a surface explanation. Being able to support these explanations, and knowing what makes for good support, is also an essential element of this first facet of understanding. This relates to interpretation, the second facet of understanding, in that it transforms meaning and understanding to a degree, placing a concept or assertion in a context where it can be supported. Interpretation through storytelling can also be an effective way of explaining the subject to others, as well as having the possibility to lead to deeper understandings and more varied perspectives on the issue than an initial or standard explanation might have allowed for.

Application, the third facet of understanding, is all about placing information in its appropriate context, allowing it to be useful. As an explanation for what is meant by this, William James is quoted as saying that there must be "knowledge of the concrete situation" in every teaching circumstance rather than just an understanding of the theoretical concepts being taught. This is what a truly practical application of understanding means. The perspective that true understanding implies, the fourth aspect of understanding, must necessarily be dispassionate and impersonal, allowing for truly open thinking. It is not simply that biased perspectives must be reduced in order to facilitate true understanding, but also that learners (and educators) must be able to engage with multiple perspectives. This allows understanding to be more comprehensive and deeply interwoven.