Four questions are posed: (1) Is knowledge utilization a rhetorical evocation? (2) Is the conjunction of knowledge with utility part of a cultural system of common sense? (3) Is utility a normative or a descriptive concept? and (4) How does the concept of knowledge utilization figure in the specialized discourse of social scientists? This paper…

The tentativeness of knowledge is a safety catch that a pretension to usefulness tends to remove. The problematic concept of knowledge utilization defeats the purposes of both knowing and action, for it overestimates the certainty of knowledge and underestimates the range of valid practical concerns. Thirty-seven references are provided.…

This paper aims to accomplish several purposes through conceptual analysis, story telling and interpretation, excursions into philosophy, and recent studies of teachers' professional development. First, the paper identifies limitations and confusions in current conceptions of teachers' professional thinking: equating teacher thinking with planning…

In considering the questions of what sense teachers make of their professional education and what they learn during teacher preparation, two case studies are presented, based on an analysis of interviews across the first year of teacher preparation. The first student was enrolled in an academic-learning program which emphasized the importance of…