ABSTRACT
This chapter explores what the practice of referencing and the monitoring of plagiarism as practices actually do, both in a positive and a negative sense. The role of prior knowledge in constructivist learning theory is well established: it is crucial that the learner's present understanding is taken into account and incorporated into the new learning. As Tshediso's words imply, the practice of referencing is perhaps working against learning, in shutting out prior knowledge, and even encouraging students not to seek knowledge which is outside of the prescribed reading list, a direction which few academics would want their students to take. However, the task of this particular Social Sciences discipline to the world that students come from is a particularly difficult one. So the first impact of the practice of referencing, or rather an obsession with this practice, and with the policing of plagiarism, is that students' other sources of knowledge are shut out.
