Explain the Role Mindset has in Shaping the Role of Teaching
Expert teachers have extensive knowledge of how they organize, interpret, and represent information in towards students. In effect, expert teachers have the ability to notice distinct features and meaningful patterns of information that cannot be noticed by novice teachers. Brown, Donovan, and Pellegrino (2000) explain that the difference between expert and novice teacher mindsets is that the knowledge of expert teachers is more than just a simple list of formulas and facts that relate to their field of study, instead, they organize their knowledge around the main concepts that shape their particular industry. In comparison, novice teachers mainly rely on basic knowledge that is obtained from recalling, memorizing, and manipulating equations to get answers. For this reason, the mindset of expert and novice teachers highly influences their problem-solving skills and their organization of knowledge when teaching.
How Would a Novice or an Expert Teacher View Teaching, Curriculum, Assessment, and Learning?
Expert teachers tend to categorize most assessments using conceptual understanding to explore the limits of historical knowledge when giving student assessments. In comparison, novice teachers lack the ability to understand concepts deeply in order to formulate reasoned interpretations. In this regard, the author implies that expert teachers expect that the school curricula should be organized in a manner that enables students to organize knowledge meaningfully rather than just focussing on the superficial coverage of facts. Brown, Donovan, and Pellegrino (2000) argue that focusing on the superficial coverage of facts is redundant in preparing students for future learning and work.
Moreover, expert teachers have conditioned knowledge, which makes them identify the relevant knowledge required to complete a certain task. They employ the concept of conditioned knowledge to help students understand the subject matter by identifying real world problems that require the use of the concepts taught in class. (Brown, Donovan, and Pellegrino, 2000). In addition, due to their experience, they are able to identify problems the students are likely to encounter, and can use the knowledge the student already has to help him or her navigate a certain solution. Experienced teachers are able to monitor and nurture a student’s academic progress by identifying where a student is likely to fail before due to their deep familiarity with the subject matter, and helping the student navigate through the problem by taking advantage of the student’s weaknesses and strengths.
References
Brown, A., Donovan, S., and Pellegrino, J. (2000). How People Learn. Brain, Mind, Experience, and School. United States National Academy of Sciences’ National Academies Press.
