Saturday, April 23, 2011

Lessons of a Broken Window

The other day, my 11 year-old son, who was home for Spring Break, called me at school and said "Mom, I was playing outside, practicing my throwing, and I broke one of the garage door windows." I've been down this road before with my son. We had a broken insulated, double pane window on the front of the house last spring, and we still have a broken window on the back side of the garage from the fall. You might wonder about my son's ability to throw a baseball, but believe me, if I ever wanted to learn how to throw a curveball or a slider, he'd be my man. In spite of his 11 years and his occasional misses, I consider him an expert in many respects when it comes to throwing a baseball. I think his team from last year, who referred to him as "The Closer", would agree. Is he an expert because he never misses? Of course not, and frankly, to call an 11 year old an expert probably seems pretty strange. But compared to me, he is an expert. He would be my go-to guy when and if I wanted to learn. He already knows a tremendous amount about the form and techniques of being a pitcher. More importantly, he is always working on his skills. In spite of the occasional broken window, he has a strong, accurate throw.



Similarly, the other day, I was part of a discussion about the word "expert". Is it okay to refer to someone as an expert even if he or she doesn't know everything there is to know about a given topic or tool? For example, one of my colleagues, likes to use the word to describe teachers in our community who have a special expertise or knowledge, and by this I mean beyond their content area (for example, someone who has learned to use a cool, new tool or technology that might be of interest to others in the community). But what if that teacher "expert" doesn't know all the ins and outs of that cool, new tool? Is it still okay to call her an "expert"? Is it okay for an expert to still be learning and making mistakes? Can an expert and a newbie learn alongside one another? I like to think the answer to these questions is yes. I like to think that by saying yes, you demonstrate that it's okay to not always have the answers, while at the same time feel confident about what you do know. And it's okay to share what you know even if you are still learning. In fact, I would say it is vital to the survival of your expert status to be an expert who is continually learning.

7 comments:

  1. "...it's vital to the survival of your expert status to be an expert who is continually learning..." is one of the best descriptions of being an expert I've ever read. You raise important questions at a time when sharing what we know with one another is how we learn and grow. Great food for thought, Chris!

    ReplyDelete
  2. This past in-service day our Tech Ed director asked several of us to give mini workshops to our peers. He asked me to talk about creating a PLN, I looked at him and said "what?". I don't think I am an expert at all. But he said, talk about your igoogle page, the blogs you follow there, your explorations of twitter and your participation in a few Ning groups. So I did. I didn't present myself as an expert and the 15 other faculty members who joined my session, didn't mind. In fact, we had some great conversations about PLNs virtual and real. It had been a while since I had added a blog to my igoogle page so I temporarily forgot how to add new blogs. No one minded, in fact I think it was reassuring to a few that the presenter still had a ways to go.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Margaret, that is wonderful that you shared your expertise (hiccups and all) with your colleagues. My colleague, Renee, who commented ahead of you, is the person to whom I refer in my post. She uses the word "expert" with the faculty. She encourages us to share what we know and to look to one another for help as we strive to learn new things. With much credit to Renee, our school has had three very successful teacher-led PD workshops, with teachers teaching teachers. It was wonderful to be a part of this. It has helped us to see our community in a whole new light. We now know we are a community of experts, with different talents and knowledge. And I think you are so right when you say that it is reassuring to those of us that are new to a topic or tool when the presenter shows that she is still learning. In fact, I think it is far more helpful to someone who is learning to see how an expert who doesn't have all the answers goes about findinig a solution to an unknown.

    Thanks for sharing your story!!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Those are great questions. I often say that I have knowledge about several topics, but I'm a master of none. An expert could simply be a person who someone looks to until they are comfortable themselves with the topic/skill.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I think three of the most powerful words that a teacher has are "I don't know". As education has changed, the perception of the teacher as the sage on the stage should also evolve. It is great to say "I don't know" and then learn together.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Martha took the words out of my mouth. We need to be open to learning all of the time! By assuming expert means the door is closed, then learning is over. I hope that experts always keep learning and I assume they do.

    Thanks for a great post, Chris.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I agree with all of you. Teachers need to be able to say "I don't know." I think it is imperative that we let our students know that we don't always have the answers. We need to model what it looks like when you seek the answer. What are the steps, what do you do, whom do you ask? They also need to see that sometimes there just isn't an answer. Thanks for sharing.

    ReplyDelete