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Knowledge Forum as a catalyst for fostering knowledge-building communities

We describe how many of the classrooms using Knowledge Forum, developed by Scardamalia and Bereiter (1991 and 1994), embody the characteristics of communities that are known for their creative innovations, such as Ionia in early Greece where science first developed, Cremona Italy in the middle ages where the art of violin making was perfected, and Silicon Valley in modern America where the technology revolution blossomed. We examine the underlying mechanisms used to foster knowledge creation in Knowledge Forum classrooms. We describe two particular schools where Knowledge Forum has been used extensively, and how the teachers are using Knowledge Forum as a tool to foster knowledge creation among their students.