Part 6 - Making of an expert teacher
How Experts Differ from Novices
Whole - Parts - WHOLE
Experts are experts because they can “see” or “hear” more than Novices. In simple words, they “know” more implicitly and explicitly.1
One of the biggest differences between an expert and a novice is that an expert can see the world from the “Whole - Parts - WHOLE” sequence.
Let me elaborate.
Experts have this “unique” ability to understand things/problems/issues from a higher abstract level, then they can break them down into smaller concrete parts, and look at them again from the higher and abstract level.
You can also call the sequence “Abstract - Concrete - ABSTRACT” or “Meaning - Details - MEANING”.
Experts can go up the Abstract level to understand the bigger meaning around the context, then come down to Concrete/Details level to explore more on the reasons/connections/correlations of each minute details with the bigger meaning. Then they go up again to validate/confirm the bigger meaning.
They are able to easily zoom out - zoom in - and zoom out again automatically, unconsciously, intuitively.
Let’s imagine an English language teacher teaching basic structures of a persuasive essay to the students of Grade 8.
As an experienced teacher with domain expertise, the teacher can immediately understand if a persuasive essay makes sense and whether the essay is persuasive.
He can then go down the concrete level and check the structure, the components (topic sentences, evidences, reasons, examples), strategies (claim, counter claim, rebuttal), use of rhetorics (appeal to emotions, appeal to ethos, logic), grammar rules (use of modal verbs, conditional sentences), vocabulary (keywords, jargons, definitions, multiple meanings) and the overall shape (intro paragraph, body, closing paragraph) of a persuasive essay.
And finally the teacher can go back up the abstract level and reconfirm whether the essay is persuasive for sure.
The teacher is “capable” of doing all these things relatively efficiently and effectively because he is an expert at this.
However, the students don’t see all these clearly because they are not there yet. They will have to learn (get taught) each of those concrete components and hopefully master them all.
Like, being able to write a topic sentence. They will have to gain these knowledge: What is a topic sentence? What is not a topic sentence? How to write a topic sentence? Good example. Bad example. What mistakes to avoid when writing a topic sentence? Why do we need a topic sentence? Do we always have to write a topic sentence?
Yes, all these.
Interestingly, if the students had never heard about the concept of “topic sentence”, they would not even see topic sentences while normally reading any essays. This would not even get registered in their attention system (memory system).
Out-of-context Example:
Larnell Lewis - drummer extraordinaire for the jazz fusion band Snarky Puppy - is given a challenge.
Lewis has to listen to a song he’s never heard before, figure out the drum parts, and then perform the whole song.
And to make the challenge harder, the song is from a completely different genre - metal.
Abstract:
He actively listens to the whole song just once and then figures out the larger structure of the song. The form. The tone. The time signature. The tempo. The progression.
Concrete:
Then Lewis meticulously breaks down the song into different parts. The intro. The verse. The chorus. The lead guitar part. The outro. He also notices small yet important details like the upbeat on the crash cymbals, the build, and open hi-hats. The kick-snare push. The surprising tempo changes during the pre-chorus.
One of the most interesting part of his active listening is that he also acknowledges the “pitfalls” where he might mess up. The half-beat part before the main chorus of the song.
And he does this simply by listening to the song. (Alright, let me know bore you with the details.)
Abstract:
Eventually, he stitches together each section of the song and performs it as a whole.
What Lewis ends up doing is super crazy.
First, unlike most regular or pop songs, this song has several tempo changes and shifting drum parts. (Even though, in the heavy metal genre, compared to other Metallica songs, Enter Sandman has one of the simplest structures ever.)
Second, he is a jazz drummer who is used to smooth, swingy, and non-aggressive music. He pulls off the appropriate aggression any metal music requires.
Third, his explanation while breaking down the song. I’ve heard this song so many times for so many years as a Metallica fan but never heard any commentary from a drummer’s POV.
How does a teacher become expert?
In short, know more.
In details, master at least these four components:
a. Content/Domain knowledge
b. Domain specific Pedagogical knowledge
c. Understanding “how learning happens” and “how teaching happens”
d. Understanding Levels of interaction in a classroom
Check these earlier posts:
“Experts see the world differently. They see things the rest of us cannot. Often experts do not realize that the rest of us are unable to detect what seems obvious to them.”
The Power to See Invisible, Chapter 10, Sources of Power: How people make decisions, Gary Klein, 2017.