Toward a Theory of Negative Knowledge: Almost-Mistakes as Amplification-Motor for Remembering

• In Event: Roundtable Session 33
  In Roundtable Session: Errors and Their Potential for Learning in the Professions

Abstract

Over the past decade, theoretical research on the phenomenon and function of Negative Knowledge (NK) has advanced substantially. Educational psychologists (Dörner, 2003; Bauer, 2004; Oser & Spychiger, 2005; Zapf et al., 1999; Osten, 2006; Meyer, Seidel & Prenzel, 2006; Harteis et al., 2005) as well as educational philosophers (Koch, 1955; Heid, 2010; Benner, 2005), researchers in the field of pedagogical content knowledge and practitioners in education (Blanck, 2001; Gebauer et al., 2004; Kahl, 2000) made attempts to circumscribe and operationalize this construct. Most of these oeuvres do however not address how NK is retrieved and actualized in a new, similar situation, even though actualization seems to be a key issue related to the concept. To date, the reconstruction of NK can only be understood by using special situational elements like the fear of committing the same mistake again and/or the hunch of suffering from consequences of similar mistakes.
In this article we explore the phenomenological possibilities on NK and introduce the concept of almost-mistakes (nearby-mistake or near-miss) and its nonlinear relationship to NK as a new important dimension. For the purpose of discovering some of its characteristics, we carried out a qualitative small pilot-study in which we asked subjects to remember what kind of almost-mistakes they experienced, what they learned from them and how they felt about them. We used a semi-standarized questionnaire to interview children, adolescents and adults. In addition, we designed a special internet platform where people, especially medical staff, talk about their nearby mistake-situations without any risk of feeling ashamed, blamed or alike. As we know from experience in the health sector, any mistake can have fatal consequences. For nursing staff and doctors it is not easy to talk about their mistake, even if it is “only“ a near-miss. If a platform gives them the possibility to discuss their concerns while remaining anonymous, this might help them the reluctance to discuss these negative experiences.

Authors

• Fritz K. Oser, University of Fribourg

• Catherine Naepflin, University of Fribourg