Knowledge Claim Analysis

The knowledge claim “There is no such thing as neutral question” suggest that neutral questions do not exist. It also implies that questions within the various areas of knowledge direct us in a certain way, and have a certain agenda or purpose. This means that the questioner always has a notion of what information or knowledge he/ she wants to gain form the asking a particular question; therefore the questions anticipate a certain response or elicit a desired response. My knowledge question relating to this prompt is: “Can neutrality contribute towards the growth of knowledge in various areas of knowledge?” In evaluating this knowledge claim, I will provide the definition of neutrality in the educational context and I will …show more content…
In the educational context of Lang &Lit for example, the questioner has purpose and perspectives and expects this from those that are questioned. A typical question in this area of knowledge is: “What do you think are the writer’s intentions?” This of course would be relating to a piece of literature work or article. This genre of question is frequently posed with the purposes of testing the students’ knowledge and of promoting understanding. It presupposes that the respondent –in this case the students- can identify and be able to interpret the writer’s intentions. Another example of a typical question in this area of knowledge is: “Is this an example of a good piece of journalism?” This question as well presupposes standards of judgements and is meant to test the students’ knowledge. This question clearly has a perspective and an intention, which is to lead to students towards deciding based on the standards of “good” journalism, whether the piece if good or bad journalism. In the process of answering these questions, the students might have different views and ways of interpreting. In answering these questions neutrally, there would not be any answer provided, because providing some would require a commitment or a decision. In other words, a neutral answer to these questions would be “I don’t know” or “I cannot provide and answer to …show more content…
Questions are asked in order to gain information, clarification, and explanation, promote understanding, or to test one’s knowledge. There is such a thing as a neutral question, and in order for a question to be considered neutral in the educational context, it must have a lack of purpose, perspective and commitment. Neutrality, however cannot contribute to the acquisition of knowledge, this is because questions in the areas of knowledge mentioned above cannot be answered neutrally. As proved with the examples on both areas of knowledge, no constructive or substantial knowledge can be gained when a question is answered neutrally. In order to find answers in our pursuit of knowledge, we must have