EXPERT BEYOND EXPERIENCE

H. G. Widowson uses this quote from a poem by T.S. Eliot as moto for teaching education. In this case, he is focusing on the foreign language teaching. 

During his article, "Expert beyond Experience" (Widowson, H.G. 2003), he is developing some issues for been considerate. The main point is to focus on what does a foreign language teacher need. Even there is an unconditional requirement as having linguistical competence, there also exist some factors that must been kept in mind.  In that way, the author refers to the need to have been a foreign language learner. From this aspect, Widowson rejects the generalized idea that people have about the native speaker. He thinks that a person who also have been a learner of a foreign language may understand better what his or her students are passing through. In that what, it is a combination of competence in the language, pedagogic competence, and experience as a foreign language learner.

All this will give the teacher some experience in which he/she will learn from it and to develop expertise on it. From the moment the teacher is carrying through the learning process, he/she is getting experience and knowledge about how his/her job needs to work. Therefore, it is needed to theorise and have competence in the field. From that point emerges the idea of theory. When Widowson talks about that concept, he is referring about how things work, how to design activities that are going to work… and how it is proved.

Where does this theory come from? Even there are a lot of resources that experts have written in a lot of books, the theory can be developed by yourself during you are experiencing as a teacher. Here you can find some examples:

• Based on you experience as a learner, how kids would learn better.
• Knowing certain activities about useful pedagogies (ideas, resources, strategies...)
• Attempt the diversity to know why you tecah this or that way.

All those thoughts and ideas are going to be your theory in use. It is something intuitive. They are your beliefs about teaching and education, the theoretical concepts. Once you have achieved the theory, the next step is to theorize about it. Theorizing means to learn from those experiences, to think about them, and questioning yourself about why or why not you have chosen it.

The main idea is to put on practice the theory and theorize about it, in order to accept, modify or reject it.

But the theory must be used in an appropriate way, therefore here you need to develop critical reflection and not to take on trust everything. How can I be critical and analyse myself?

• Observing myself and recording my actions.
• Analysing the student's results.
• Asking my students to get feedback.
• Thinking about what I have done.

From the moment you are questioning yourself and your work as a teacher, you are becoming an expert. As I was telling you at the beginning, a foreign language teacher becomes an expert not only for his/her linguistical competences. Your experience and the theory you get from this is making you improve. But also, the critical reflection that you made in your practice. Since you can do all this, you would become an expert.

Cristina Francisco