CHAPTER TWO LITERATURE REVIEW
2.3. The attributes of an expert-teacher
17 2.2.4.3. Expert supervision
Expert supervision according to Stoelinga and Magin (2011) is a way of improving teaching practice. It is also a way of monitoring progress because it promotes professional dialogue about the subject curriculum material within the school context. As a process, knowledgeable teachers uses their expertise to advise others about teaching practice (Stoelinga and Magin 2011). For McMillan (2007), expert supervision is a way of improving teaching competencies which often result in more effectiveness within the classroom.
Networking, scholarly dialogue and expert supervision are important approaches for developing expertise in teaching practice. Working within clusters and through professional peer relationships provides a depth of understanding, greater knowledge and better skills that would otherwise be impossible to achieve.
2.2.5. Synthesis
The literature reviewed above sheds important light on the range of knowledge and skills expert-teachers possess. Furthermore, it offers a complex understanding of knowledge categories and how expertise is used to enhance what is taught (depth of knowledge), how it is taught (repertoire of strategies and approaches) and where (contextual and situated). The viewpoints presented here are important to this present study in that they explore the everyday professional lives and educational experiences of expert-teachers. Not only that, but they are relevant in foregrounding the different knowledge categories that expert-teachers develop and utilise in their classrooms so as to make their teaching and learning approaches contextually- relevant and situated.
18 2.3.1. The expert-teacher as an agent of change
Scholarly debate indicates that teachers must be agents of change in a school. In order for teachers to be agents of change, they need to be humble and exemplary in nature so as to be accessible to other teachers. Furthermore, teachers must understand more about teaching and learning in order to assist in a given teaching situation (Ono, 2010). For Stoelinga and Maggin (2011), expert-teachers should be able and willing to assist in the situation where they work.
This means that a good teacher is able to assist by charting the way forward during a time of uncertainty. A lead-educator with exemplary skills must be accessible to other teachers for professional advice. Lead-educators are expected to gain peer trust based on their activities in a given school situation. It follows that teachers who trust lead-educators will seek advice and assistance. In other words, an expert-teacher is able to be consulted by other teachers based on the expertise s/he possesses. An expert-teacher assists by helping to solve the educational problems of their colleagues (2011).
2.3.2. A passion for teaching and learning
Scholars indicate that passionate teachers are able to do well on the field of education. In turn, a passion for teaching and learning leads to teachers developing a winning mentality (Day, 2007). For Hattie (2003), a passionate teacher has a sense of identity and self-belief that can make a meaningful contribution to the learning and achievements of their learners. This means that in whatever situation, a passionate teacher will be able to function with confidence. In other words, a passionate teacher will be always be a passionate teacher irrespective of the situation (2003). Accordingly, a passionate teacher is forced into the duty of teaching, but is driven by a passion to teach and learn.
As Day (2007) suggests, a passion for one’s learners enables a teacher to manage a number of tensions and dilemmas related to the ever-changing demands of their work. In other words, passion gives teachers an inner drive to function effectively irrespective of the situation.
Accordingly, Day (2007) defines passion:
As any kind of feeling by which the mind is powerfully affected or moved. It is a driver, a motivational force emanating from strength of emotion. Being passionate generates energy, determination, conviction commitment and even obsession in people. Passion makes teachers to be always competitive in all
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spheres of education life, as they have got a driving force in their mind which is passion.
For Evertson and Poole (2008), the term “classroom management” must be broadened beyond student behaviour control so as to include the actions teachers take to create an environment that supports and facilitates both academic and social-emotional learning. This means that an expert-teacher must be good in communicating with learners and managing relationships across differing contexts so that they can convey academic activities to them properly. Accordingly, Evertson and Poole (2008) view the teacher as one who is able to convey knowledge about the norms, expectations and routines of the classroom. The ability for a teacher to create an environment that both supports and facilitates academic and social-emotional learning in relation to differing contextual realities in their work in an important attribute of what it means to be an expert-teacher.
2.3.3. Qualities of leadership
For Baron (2008) teachers as leaders who are expected to create a good atmosphere for teaching and learning using their leadership qualities. Baron (2008) goes on to argue that teachers must also engage in the process of creating enabling conditions for teaching and learning as leaders in the classroom.
Similarly, Hattie (2003) maintains that teachers must possess leadership qualities that enable them to create a healthy atmosphere for teaching and learning in the classroom. A leader is able to influence learners in a certain direction (Hattie, 2003). For Grasha (1994), an expert-teacher makes informed decisions about teaching and learning.
2.3.4. Synthesis
The literature reviewed under this section has indicated that expert-teachers are agents of change in the environment where they work. Expert-teachers are able to coach other teachers in situations and contexts where teaching and learning is difficult. Furthermore, expert-teachers according to the literature are humble by nature and exemplary in regards to their professional acumen. These qualities make them accessible and sought after by other teachers for their expertise and advice. Expert-teachers also possess more knowledge about the science of
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teaching and learning, which makes it easier for them to contribute meaningfully in the classroom (Ono, 2010).
The passion for teaching and learning is an important attribute that drives teacher-experts irrespective of their contextual situation. Passionate teachers work for better results irrespective of the situation as a result of their inner-drive to achieve desirable outcomes. The literature has shown that passionate teachers are always looking for better results irrespective of the situation or work context (Day, 2007). This means that passionate teachers are able to get good results, even in difficult contexts (Kruger and Prinsloo, 2008) Passion as an important teaching attribute becomes a motivating factor that keeps expert-teachers going in the field of education irrespective of the situation or context.