NVC and Kinds of Knowing

Know How

Know That

Practical knowing,
e.g. knowing how to ride a bike or how to paint a landscape

Factual knowing,
e.g. that the sky is blue or that Joe Biden is the president.

Know That

Know Why

Know About

Knowing the reasons for doing something, e.g. why we have elections, or why we wash our hands before eating.

Knowing the reasons because something happens, e.g. flowers grow because of nutrients in soil and water from rain.

Knowing narratives, e.g. knowing about art history, or about your partner's life.

Know How

Tacit

Explicit

Procedural, e.g. coding, or cooking with a recipe. Can be put into words. Execution is evidence of learning.

Difficult to put into words, more about feel. e.g. music or art. Execution + mastery of metaphors for key components ("this drawing works", "this dress makes a statement") is evidence of learning.

Socially
Constructed

All Knowledge is...

Mediated

Situated

Provisional

Pragmatic

A product of coordinated human activity

by means of communication and systems of authority

Within time, place, context and community

Subject to change, adaptation, and revision

Purposive, action-oriented.

How does this help us make better games for kids?

• Having a map of NVC skills and knowledge can help in designing activities, levels, and learning objectives.

• Keeping in mind the conditions of knowing can help us anticipate use cases and plan interactions in ways that will support the creation of knowledge.

Proposed NVC Knowledge Map

Know How

Know That

NVC

Why

About

Tacit, learned primarily through practice & evaluated by "feel".

Understand how words and actions function as causes of attitudes, emotions and behavior in others.

Understand how individual & group experiences shape narratives and frame understanding.

Social
Construction

NVC Games might include...

Mediated

Situatedness

Provisionality

Pragmatism

How NVC contributes to more and better shared knowledge.

Strengths and weaknesses of communication modes (e.g. chat vs. face to face)

How time, place, context and community should be taken into account

Reasons why certain words and behaviors became unacceptable.

The efficacy of NVC for getting things done.