Five components of expertise.
Begin with the end in mind
There is only one end that a good teacher should have in mind. Make yourself obsolete. Learners should make the leap from novice to expert and overtake you.
Expert but not in being an expert
Many experts lack a true awareness of what it is that makes them an 'expert'. Ask them 'how they know what they know' and you'll get a range of responses ranging from the puzzled "I just know" to long, articulate and persuasive, but ultimately fictional, rationalisations. To test this, simply ask a native speaker of English what the difference between 'may' and 'might' is. Or 'will' and 'shall'. Or virtually any question on 'grammar'. (Even better just watch these Most Ridiculous Instruction videos for proof.)
(Of course, there are some experts who know why they know. Teachers, Knowledge Management people, psychologists, philosophers, for example. Whether they agree why they know what they know is another matter...)
What's a novice?
One way to unpick the mysteries of expertise is to look at what makes somebody not-an-expert. eLearning Coach has a useful description of novices:
"Compared to an expert, a novice will have a limited network of mental structures or schemas related to the subject, a reduced ability to make relevant perceptual discriminations, fewer paths for recalling information and inaccurate or fuzzy mental models resulting in less competent problem solving."
- Schema
- Discrimination
- Recalling information
- Mental models
- Problem-solving
Final note on experts
Experts are often called Subject Matter Experts, particularly in training departments. This helps to separate them from 'experts in training'. Dave Ferguson's post SME? Not for me makes a persuasive case for the term 'Expert Practitioner'. And, as with all the posts at Dave's Whiteboard, is well worth a read.
What do you think is missing from this description of expertise?
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