Chapt. 6

In Chapter 6 of Why Don’t Students Like School?, Willingham focuses on how experts think differently from novices. His key point is not that all students must become experts, but that expert thinking depends on a large base of knowledge and extensive practice over time which can be something unrealistic for a lot of students. Instead, the goal should be helping student’s approximate expert thinking in limited areas, not fully reach it.

I think that expecting students to become experts in subjects at school is unrealistic. Expertise requires a lot of practice and knowledge collection. I think as teachers we should be focusing on helping students build a firm foundation of skills that allows them to learn and gain knowledge that is right for them now. This could result in expertise later down the road, but I don’t think it is needed for students in school to be become experts in the subjects at school. School shouldn’t be a place that focuses on producing experts, but a place where a path begins for students to become experts in the future if they choose.