Title: Knowledge building in collaborative learning: towards enhancing the response of primary schools to the impacts of HIV/AIDS

Authors: Tahir G. Billo

Addresses: University of Joensuu, World Learning, PO Box 16981, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Finland

Abstract: Schools have an overall responsibility of preparing learners for life, where HIV/AIDS has become a development challenge, fulfilling this responsibility is even mandatory. Yet this has never been an easy task for schools. Learning and knowledge building are complimentary. From the perspective of knowledge building, learning is seen as a by-product of knowledge building effort and that schools need to be knowledge building organisations than just educational service delivery institutions. This requires a shift in the role of schools. This paper presents a theoretical view of schools| role transformation with the goal of advancing the frontier of schools| knowledge in responding to the impacts of HIV/AIDS. A necessary condition for collaborative knowledge building is that learners bring individual prior knowledge into the learning situation and clarify differing views and opinions in the course of interactions. This new knowledge emerges neither naturally nor spontaneously and needs to be fostered based on understanding of how new knowledge emerges in social interactions.

Keywords: collaborative learning; HIV; AIDS; prevention education; knowledge building; primary schools; social interaction.

DOI: 10.1504/IJCEELL.2008.018833

International Journal of Continuing Engineering Education and Life-Long Learning, 2008 Vol.18 No.3, pp.298 - 304

Published online: 19 Jun 2008 *

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