Review_Author: Polly Steenhagen
Book_Author: Carl Bereiter and Marlene Scardamalia
Book_Title: Surpassing Ourselves: An inquiry into the nature and
implications of expertise
Reference: 1993, Chicago, I Issues of novices and experts - what are
they, how do novices become experts, what are the characteristics of experts, is
expertise situational - are prominent in many of the writings of the 1990’s
that span from classical psychology to sociology to anthropology to education.
Bereiter and Scardamalia have written a book on expertise that begins with a
bang and ends with an idealistic whimper. It is worth a read by anyone who
is interested in expertise, as the reader will find both insightful concepts
about expertise and recommendations that seem a bit implausible if not
inordinate. L: Open Court
Date: 4/21/2002
Time: 3:02:43 PM
Remote Name: 67.28.73.237
Issues of novices and experts - what are they, how do novices become experts, what are the characteristics of experts, is expertise situational - are prominent in many of the writings of the 1990’s that span from classical psychology to sociology to anthropology to education. Bereiter and Scardamalia have written a book on expertise that begins with a bang and ends with an idealistic whimper. It is worth a read by anyone who is interested in expertise, as the reader will find both insightful concepts about expertise and recommendations that seem a bit implausible if not inordinate.
Bereiter and Scardamalia begin their book with a very useful discussion of the types of knowledge experts have and use. These include formal knowledge (school learning) and various types of informal knowledge and hidden knowledge. They look at expert creativity, a topic that is not discussed very much elsewhere and for which the authors have some very perceptive observations. They distinguish, however, between expert-like behavior and expertise based on whether an individual is solving “routine” problems or problems that constantly challenge the expert. An example of this difference would be car drivers. There are individuals who have been driving for many years who have perfect driving records (no accidents or tickets) who could be considered “experts.” Bereiter and Scardamalia argue that these individuals are only exhibiting expert-like behavior. Expertise would require that these drivers always strive to go beyond their abilities, as a racecar driver would do. They term this striving “progressive problem solving.”
The authors continue by comparing expert and nonexpert approaches to learning. They conclude that the goals of the learners distinguish the kind of learning they do. Some students, for example, have as a goal “finish the assigned task.” These students have no concept of why they are doing a particular task; to them school is just work. Expert learners, on the other hand, have more grandiose goals which Bereiter and Scardamalia term “knowledge-building schemas.” Nonexpert learners just see the trees, while expert learners always have the whole forest in view. They also comment that some learners just seem to be expert learners naturally, an observation that lacks usefulness.
Where this book goes off on a flight of fancy is in the last chapters, in which Bereiter and Scardamalia discuss how to improve schools and our society in general. They envision schools as knowledge-building communities in an expert society in which quality rules the day. This view is obviously Utopian and unrealistic. But where is the compromise. Our society already has many experts. What should they do differently? How many more experts do we need to make society better? What exactly should their role be?
I would certainly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in the question of expertise. The first few chapters of the book are fine discussions about expert knowledge and how experts process knowledge. The chapter on creativity is very engaging. I personally do not agree with the authors’ distinction between expert and expertise (I think most experts usually do what to them are routine performances but they have the ability to attack greater problems from time to time), but the ensuing discussions are informative. You certainly do not have to agree with every point in a book to find