Tacit Knowledge is a type of knowledge that is difficult for any person to transfer to another in the form of writing or verbalizing it. It is also called implicit knowledge, which is opposite to formal, or explicit knowledge.
The idea of Tacit Knowledge can be attributed to a well-known academician and senior researcher of Merton College, Oxford (1958) – Michael Polanyi.
For example, New York is in the USA; it is explicit knowledge. Anyone can pass on this knowledge to another person. However, the nuance of different languages and the true meaning of poetry are difficult to transfer even if a person translates the same using words that are closest to the original word. This is implicit or Tacit Knowledge. It is because it cannot be transmitted to another person with the help of a document or through verbal communication or some other sources of knowledge.
Every human being, including the students and teachers, possess this Knowledge from their day to day activities. However, there are some issues in its application in the education sector – the lack of awareness about the Knowledge among lectures, improper infrastructure for gaining this Knowledge, lack of staff training for understanding Tacit Knowledge in lectures, etc.
Some of the key benefits of gaining the said type of Knowledge include effective communication, effective knowledge management, boost up productivity and innovation, and more importantly, developing an environment for constant learning.
