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An expert is someone who __________
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The Oxford Dictionary defines ‘expert’ as “a person who is very knowledgable about or skillful in a particular area”. At the other end of the spectrum, the Oxford Dictionary defines ‘novice’ as “a person new to and inexperienced in a job or situation”. Both are relatively vague descriptions as it is very difficult to make a judgement about whether or not someone is expert due to many factors. These could include the question of inherent knowledge, amount of time spent studying the field, the difficulties of subjectivity and objectivity and also the transition of noviceship into expertise. I will discuss three of the main methods identified as leading to expertise: the Model of Domain Learning, the traditional expertise approach and the expert-performance approach. I will also consider the effect deliberate practice on become an expert. By closely analysing these concepts, I will attempt to break down the expert/novice teacher binary and critique it from within with close consideration of current research trends, offering a deep and insightful explanation as to how novice teachers can become expert teachers.
Firstly, we must understand the differences that separate novices from experts. While it is somewhat impossible to declaratively state what makes and expert and what doesn’t, Glaser (1987, 1990; as cited in Berliner, 2001) identifies various skills attributed to experts that their less-practiced counterparts lack. For experts, this means more efficient methods of processing information, flexibility, automaticity and self-reflection and understanding.
The Model of Domain Learning (MDL) is one example of how a novice teacher may become an expert (Alexander, 1997; as cited in Alexander, 2003). The MDL is a generalised model ...
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...ng and Teacher Education, 15, 631-651.
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Ericsson, K.A., & Towne, T.J. (2010). Expertise. Advanced Review, 1, 404-416.
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Flick, L.B., & Lederman, N.G. (2001). The role of practice in developing expertise in teaching. School of Science and Mathematics, 101(7), 345-347.
Kreber, C. (2002). Teaching excellence, teaching expertise, and the scholarship of teaching. Innovative Higher Education, 27(1), 5-23.
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Marzano, R. J., & Brown, J. L. (2009). A handbook for the art and science of teaching. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
Marsh, C. (2010). Becoming a teacher: Knowledge, skills and issues. 5th Ed. Frenchs Forest, NSW: Pearson.
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Marsh, C. (2010). Becoming a teacher: Knowledge, skills and issues (5th Ed). Frenchs Forest: Pearson Australia
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It is expected that the profession of teaching embraces many qualities of any other professional practice. Teachers must possess a combination of many qualities beginning with a strong academic background and wide-ranging knowledge. The National Framework for Professional Standards for Teaching (2003) it is the knowledge of students, curriculum, subject matter, pedagogy, education – related legislation and the specifically teaching context that is the foundation on effective teaching, and a firm foundation on which to construct well educated judgments.
Shulman, L.S. (1986) Those who understand: Knowledge growth in teaching. Educational Researcher, 15 (2), p.4-14.
Marzano, R.J. (2007). The art and science of teaching. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
As I reflect on my experiences observing in three different classrooms over the last three months, I cannot express how much I have learned by being in the classroom. I began the Master of Science in Education last fall and previous to the practicum experience I had taken 8 classes. I read books, listened to the experiences of my classmates and instructors, reflected on my own education, and tried to imagine how this information was going to prepare me to face a classroom of elementary school students. While I learned theories and skills that should be known by any educator, these classes could not teach me what I most desired to know: what tangible steps could I take to correctly implement all of the correct ways of teaching.
Develop teaching expertise is the part of proposition from NBPTS, specifically knowing the subjects they teach and how to teach those subjects to students (1987). One of the methods is continue to pursue their professional development by joining a professional association or organization, attending a workshop, and reading a professional journal, website, or books. These ideas enhance teachers’ cognitive growth by enlarge information of the latest strategies or method, enhance cognitive growth, and learning to help the teachers to become expert in their teaching and influence on student learning.
Being a teacher is not an easy task as many people could think. To be a teacher does not only imply to know the subject to be taught, it also includes being willing to constantly improve oneself integrally, as much as updating the resources and materials one uses in teaching. Reflecting and analyzing over and over again the best way to teach to learn and how to make students to extend what has been learned. The many hours spend in the classroom will never be enough to plan lessons, prepare materials, review pupils tasks and exams, as well, all the administrative requirements one has to cover for whatever institution we work. Besides all this a good teacher, a professional one, will have to find the time to keep preparing to improve oneself.
In this course I experienced an important change in my beliefs about teaching; I came to understand that there are many different theories and methods that can be tailored to suit the teacher and the needs of the student. The readings, especially those from Lyons, G., Ford, M., & Arthur-Kelly, M. (2011), Groundwater-Smith, S., Ewing, R., & Le Cornu, R. (2007), and Whitton, D., Barker, K., Nosworthy, M., Sinclair, C., Nanlohy, P. (2010), have helped me to understand this in particular. In composing my essay about teaching methods and other themes, my learning was solidified, my knowledge deepened by my research and my writing skills honed.