Knowledge Transfer and Reading: Implications of the transactional theory of reading for research and practice

Knowledge transfer literature treats the transfer of explicit knowledge ‘embodied’ in documents and the like as unproblematic. No empirical grounds are given for this assumption, and some authors have recently expressed reservations suggesting that complex cognitive and social process are involved. Reading theory and research is an obvious place to turn to for further insight. The transactional theory of reading, described here in some detail, presents reading as a process whereby someone constructs meaning from a text influenced by their situation, past experiences and prior knowledge, and the text. The view that reading is a complex process, and therefore that transfer of explicit knowledge is not simple nor easy, us supported. ‘Transfer’ of explicit knowledge is an inherently indeterminate process.