Have you ever thought about the potential for unintended
consequences in acquiring disciplinary expertise? While one might assume that you see the
rewards as worth the risks, this might not be the case, as some of you might be
in the program more for the post-credential opportunities than for a genuine
desire to become an “expert.” How does all of this relate to your situation and
also to the current state of Doctoral
Education in Education?
kurt here...zd.fhjadflgad;lgj;dflkj
ReplyDeleteWell said :) aslkdfja;lskdjf right back at cha
DeleteThis topic makes me think of a concept I read about in a book called Made to Stick called the "curse of knowledge". The idea is that once you learn a great deal about a topic you actually can become worse at communicating about that topic because you can incorrectly assume that those you are communicating with have the background knowledge to understand your point. One unintended consequence of acquiring disciplinary expertise could be that "curse of knowledege".
ReplyDeleteChad, I kinda love this idea of the, "curse of knowledge." It can be like you are speaking another language. My partner and I are always learning each other's language when it comes to our subject matters. Mine being research and counseling and his being engineering and patents. I had made a mental glossary so that we are speaking the same language and I get confused sometimes.
DeleteThis comes up in many areas outside of academia too. "Talking shop" happens in most fields. I am also reminded of the elevator speech that we are supposed to have as doctoral students and when interviewing. If that person is out of our subject matter or wheel house, we need another version of that speech so that we can communicate better. -NA
I also worry about the other side of it too... Will I become a know-it-all and be unable to talk with individuals that may not have the same education or understanding as me, but can still bring a lot of knowledge to the discussion? Will I try to lecture everyone I talk to?
DeleteSometimes I feel that way now when it comes to politics or social issues, and even television shows. As I said last semester, my background and passion is in sociology. As sociologists, we talk at length about the impact of socioeconomic status or race or gender or geographical area on various aspects of life or media or education. I catch myself ruining my husband's favorite shows or his story telling interjecting my based-on-research and therefore no fun viewpoints. Can I stop myself from being a jerk even in my daily life? Haha... They say ignorance is bliss!
I haven't really thought about the risks of gaining knowledge. I am curious if gaining a lot of knowledge in one area and becoming an expert in that role can be like pigeon holing yourself into a particular area. This reminds me of the debate about if, as researchers, we should pick one or two subject areas and publish on just topics related to those areas, or if we should take opportunities to work on different subject areas. I suppose there are pros and cons to both. If you are seen as an expert in one area, people might come to you with more opportunities, but those opportunities would liking be related to just that one subject. If you are "well rounded" in your research, you may go unnoticed or appear to be speaking outside of your knowledge base.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if the work becomes easier as you stay in one subject matter because you know the articles to cite and the ins and out of the subject. I can see potential for not stepping outside of your comfort zone even in your own subject or having blinders because you may not interact much outside of yours subject. this would be kind of like not being able to see the forest for the trees. -NA
I find it interesting, however, that you stated "you might be in the program more for the post-credential opportunities than for a genuine desire to become an 'expert.'” In my mind, how might you obtain post-credential opportunities unless you are/become an expert in your field? My worry is quite the opposite, I believe, that I may not learn enough or do enough to be considered an expert and will therefore miss out on future employment.
ReplyDeleteIn relation to my current situation, I see those benefits you allude to, but also the potential consequence that Nika describes, of being pigeon-holed into becoming solely an academic. While this is not undesirable, I would also like the flexibility to make necessary life/career changes. - Lindsay
Lindsay, you and Nika bring up great points... How do we become experts enough to be taken seriously in our field without limiting ourselves in life and career?
DeleteIt's one reason I have a hard time narrowing down what I might want to do for a dissertation or other doctoral research. Will I be married to it after the doctoral program? How can I do important research without digging myself into a hole?
I like your idea of being flexible for career changes. I have been thinking on how to diversify my areas of research, that way I am not restricted to only one area.
DeleteOn the other side how do you become an expert in an area? does it mean narrowing your interest areas?
Counseling is an interesting field of education programs to ponder this question. I feel that for awhile, especially in the beginning of my Master’s program, I chose to focus on rewards since these credentials are required for the profession. Then I found what I wanted to change in the way graduate programs were formatted, so I focused on applying for a doctorate, since this could contribute to “expertise” in this specific discipline. For the beginning stages of the application process, I continued to ignore the idea of risks again. It wasn’t until I was accepted to this program and had to decide whether to work or continue in academia. I was definitely worried that it would pave a narrow career path for me. Others have referred to this as “pigeon holing”. While I want to be the “go to” person for understanding mental health in student-athletes, I also was scared that this would limit potential opportunities upon graduating. I was especially aware of this risk because I was continuing straight through education since undergrad, and am young. I had to develop trust in my decision that this was an opportunity that would lead to more opportunities than I even knew of at that time. I think it was an important to go through that period of doubt, and ponder the risk, to make a fully informed decision to pursue a doctorate.
ReplyDelete-Michael Deitz
As a counseling student in the School of Education, I think that I'm reminded of the importance not getting "stuck in the weeds". A lot of the other tracks in the School of Education are seemingly unrelated to counseling. However, when I hear my colleagues in other fields discuss problems they are passionate about in their tracks, I realize that we all have similar issues in our profession and attack them several different ways. I think that one of the dangers of being an expert in your field is forgetting to tackle the issues from multiple different perspectives. I agree with some of my cohort members comments about not wanting to limit myself professionally. Finding a balance between practice and expertise is important to me throughout my doctoral journey.
ReplyDeleteI'm late to this, I fully acknowledge however I wanted to "catch up" & see what sorts of thinking my current peer group may have in regards to the topic. Good reads, admittedly. In response to proposed questions/topic, I would offer up that the idea of "expert" for me is a false term. Skilled and experienced, certainly but as the world is ever changing and society shifts are coming increasingly quickly I even more so believe "expert" is a term I'd refrain from using (sorry!). I'm not in this for credentials - I have a firm belief in lifelong learning for the betterment of students, teachers & society overall. My skill set surfaced incidentally/accidentally and because of the variety in my background it is often "misused" by my superiors, as in I'm called upon to fulfill more than just the role of my current job, thereby becoming a jack of all trades sort of person. While that's probably highly advantageous for my employer & for me as a person (seeing things from many vantage points) it's may or may not be altogether helpful as a researcher. Narrowing down a field of research when you see things from so many angles can be overwhelming if not frustrating. On the flip side, it's extremely helpful if long-range problem solving is required in a school setting. The odds that this will be read are perhaps slim but this was a nice opportunity to "vent" while hopefully responding to the topic proposed. - P.
ReplyDelete