Expertise Archives - Page 3 of 3

Value added Interest

Every parent wants their kids to be something. Right?

When I was younger I asked my mother what will I be.
Will I be pretty? Will I be rich?

In my post about Athletic Expertise, I covered interest and its effect on activity and thinking. Where there is interest, there comes some pleasure and some level of choice that makes activities like practice and sacrifice enjoyable. One of the convoluting results of this is that those activities tend to go under-reported. The interested individual gains a reputation for brilliance early on and this influence has its effects as well–often detrimental but that is another discussion.

Parents and teachers show restraint when children demonstrate interest in activities, ideas, and pastimes. It probably sounds silly. Children take interest in lots of things. Some of these attract naturally due to a tacit gravity. Others come from immediate social or societal values. Nonetheless, it is common to allow them to explore the world before an investment of time and other resources is made in pursuit of an interest or interests.

Consider the result of a premature episode of value added interest. A child in the back seat of the car takes notice of a plane in the sky. Mom in the driver’s seat did not even notice it skating across the horizon.

That’s right, honey! An airplane. What is it doing?

It’s flying.

It sure is flying. It is full of people going out of town.

Seems innocent enough. Imagine, then, that this type of thing happens with a fair amount of regularity. It may even appear that the child has an interest in planes–even at that young age. Should the parent then make efforts to capitalize on this interest? Purchase airplane toys? Take trips to visit the airstrip or watch takeoffs from the concourse?

Bandura’s reciprocal determinism and later triadic reciprocality addressed the concept that influence is more than a one way street. Simply put–that which influences is, in return, influenced. The parent in the example above could latch on to a random act of the child and set in motion a perceived added value that could influence future choices. These choices may lead to competence. It is also possible that the parent’s choice to add value to this activity takes the child off course and away from future genuine interest and shipwrecks the possibility of Expertise.

Once interest has taken hold, what is the next influence that takes over in the life of a developing Expert? The value that the social context places on the interests of the individual.

Finding consonance or dissonance with the environment is the next decision point for the developing Expert.

How can we encourage exploration, risk-taking, and a variety of experiences without getting in the way?

Is it possible to be a guide without creating undue influence?

Will we know what genuine and lasting interests will be when we see them in our children?

Next step: Skill development with and without practice

Thoughts on Athletic Expertise

In discussing Expertise, practice, and the myth of talent it is inevitable that someone asks if they could be the next Tiger Woods or Michael Jordan. Is it possible, at their age, to drop everything and learn to be as good or greater than two of the most iconic players of our age. And they groan when I tell them yes. They stomp their feet and they clench their fists–that would explain the typographical errors. The disparity seems so distant when they compare their (self-assessed) non-existent skills with those of phenoms.

Why is it that these names are legendary?

Are they indeed Experts?!

HOW DID THEY GET THAT WAY?!

They are freaks of nature. NO. They are unnatural.

You see, if we attribute their skills to pedestrian ideas like

interest, practice, and coaching

then what you are saying is that anyone can do it.

Well, guess what?

You can.

Unfortunately, you cannot do it the way that you read about in newspaper articles and in books written by newspaper journalists.
You have to work at it. If you want to be like Michael Jordan or Tiger Woods or any of other wonderful male or female athletes in the world, you need to possess (or decide to possess) the one thing that put the needle on the record for these individuals. You need to have interest.

Interest is a key component to developing a level of Expertise in a field. It is the thing that sustains you through mistakes and failures. It is also the thing, strangely enough, that goofs up the retelling of that early story of more and more practice. Why? Because when you have interest, practice does not always feel like practice. Other activities that contribute to your skills seem less of a chore when you know that you will get to enjoy the object of your affection shortly thereafter.

Interest pays off, too. You see, when you are interested and the practice seems like fun and the supporting activities and decisions do not seem so bad and all the exercises come together in the moment of performance…

…bang goes the dynamite–you have gotten better and that feels really gooooooooood…

and the next time you practice, which is probably that night or early the next morning–assuming you are not practicing in your mental space while lying in bed–you cannot wait to get better again.

What will be the next great thing that appears?

When someone tells me that they’ve tried basketball or golf or singing or martial arts or visual arts or writing or whatever…
and they stink at it
and they “don’t mind admitting it”

my first thought is that they are not really interested. And my advice is to find your interest and pursue it.

Find that thing that feels like nothing at all and do that…

…do that really well.

And often.

Unshouldering the burden

Still wrapping up my thoughts from EdCamp Philly, I wanted to make sure that I put down a few thoughts that sprung to mind while in a session with Kevin Jarrett, Mary Beth Hertz, and Rob Rowe.

Flavio Canto, Judoka and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu black belt was speaking about his techniques, teaching, competing, and his drive to compete. The magazine interview has been long lost and the exact quote has long left my mind but the essence of his remarks were something like this:

I give away my techniques to my enemies in order to force myself to become better. I want to know that I am the best with no secrets and no excuses.

When I read that interview, I remembered something that had happened to me years earlier. I was recently out of undergrad and working in a bookstore’s database department on South Street. One of my coworkers was a writer and invited me to a writers’ get together in South Philly. Being a composer and fan of creative speak, I went along to this open house.

The small home was abuzz with talk of ideas, character discussion, critiques of plots and dialogue, and in a small crowd in the middle of the living room attention turned to me. “So what do you do?” I told them that I’m a composer and started telling the group about a piano piece that I was writing. Thinking that this would be a sympathetic crowd, I shared my current problems regarding the piece. I told them that I was “writing this piece for piano and I am in love with the thematic material.” They leaned in, eager to hear about my process and I was encouraged to continue. Sure that they would understand, I confessed “I like the material so much that I haven’t finished it for fear of ruining it in my mind. It’s really great and I don’t want to destroy the purity of the theme while exploring the development.”

They looked at me like I had three heads. Three ugly heads. With “I hate writers” tattooed on my eyelids. One of them spoke, “Who do you think you are?” I stared back at him. “It’s not yours. I might need that piece and you do not have the right to keep it.” The growing crowd (really, it grew and I think that someone turned the heat on) nodded in agreement. “You need to go finish that piece,” someone said. “I can’t believe you haven’t finished it yet,” said one of the throng. A few people walked away. “How long have you been letting it sit?” someone asked. I didn’t have an answer.

This experience is fresh in my mind. I can still feel the tension. It drives me, though. I think of Flavio Canto. I think of that weird Woody Allen-esque dude in South Philly. I think about how silly I am thinking that I own any of the ideas that come out of my head.

I become protective of my research, of my classroom management strategies, my course design, and my methods of increasing achievement. We all do. We have our pets. We have things that we share when asked. We plan those moments carefully so we do not give away all of our secrets. Why?

Feeling plugged up in your classroom approach? Could it be that you are shouldering a burden that is too great to bear? Education, I am finding, is something that demands to be given away. The same way that a quality story must be read and good music demands participatory listening, education requires action–and not simply the execution of the lesson. It requires sharing, grooming, perfecting, adapting, and giving away of all that you have so that it may reach its potential–without you. Your brilliant ideas will develop and become epic without you…yes, it’s true. Someone will do it better. Be proud. Now do it again. And again.

We think that we own it. Foolish, isn’t it? We protect it like a jealous love or a protective parent. Worse is when we think that it’s not that big a deal, that’s it’s not worth sharing. Also foolish. What are your confessions?

EdCamp Philly reflection 1

Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Willing is not enough; we must do.

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

On Friday night, I was considering sleeping in and skipping EdCamp Philly completely. I’m secure. I can be honest. It would require waking up at work time and putting on some respectable clothes. Then Dan Callahan told me that I could wear jeans and a t-shirt. I’m not quite sure if that was the turning point, but it was part of the turning–so much easier to get out of bed when it involves sensible clothing.

Let me cut to the chase–EdCamp was well worth the effort and alarm clocks (plural). I will get to the sessions in my next post but I thought that I would share a few survey thoughts. Obvious kudos to the organizing team and participants. The UNconference was well run and the attendees played by the rules of engagement and, honestly, demanded that this was the type of conference that they would want to attend. Connections were made–folks with whom I am sure to become longtime friends. Many of us scanned each room looking to see who else cared enough to attend; who else was fighting for their professional lives.

I presented on Expertise and–like many other presenters–never got to the end because the attendees had other questions and other ideas for the session. Not a problem. My only regret is, now knowing what to expect, that I would like to have decided upon my topic upon arrival as a few people had done. In the words of W. S. Burroughs, “Nothing like adding a modicum of challenge and danger to everyday life.” Now I know what to do next time.

Closing for now to say that these types of get-togethers are critical. How many times we have all felt alone in our zeal. In our love or hatred of technology, we have not found a sympathetic ear or understanding response. In our desire to learn and develop, we have been willing to be wrong and in the minority simply to produce quality conversation to no avail. In a metropolitan area of millions, there were attendees in the hundreds. Few of us were from the same school or even the same district. Such a great success this was, but we cannot allow the next one to come and go so easily. We must become activists and evangelists–fools for learning. What would we be willing to do and how far is too far if it means that our selves, our colleagues, and more importantly our students would benefit. Can you draw that line in the sand?

The excitement will wear off. The conversations will become less frequent. That is, unless we make decisions today about our behavior. Bringing this back to Expertise: What will you do in terms of improving in your own domain? From whom will you seek mentoring? To whom will you provide mentoring? How will get get practice in your area?

Make decisions. Make them soon. Stick to them. More to come.

more information at EdCampPhilly