Mark Sample and What it Means to Teach

Reading Response 2:
Sample, Mark. “The Question of Expert Learners.” In Learning Through Digital Media: Experiments in Technology and Pedagogy.

In “The Question of Expert Learners,” Sample asks teachers to return to a fundamental question: What do we mean by teaching? I find this to be a useful rhetorical move because it asks teachers to bring their own practices to light alongside Sample’s sharing of experience. Or, in other words, reimagining teaching by reframing learning. The overall argument is simple: if pedagogical decisions are based on theories of learning as a process/skill, a teacher is far more likely to succeed in teaching something. That’s it.

But I think that’s a complicated notion. Sample identifies intentionality, reflection, and accountability as principles for guiding learning. Essentially, if one’s authorial moves can purposefully engage these principles then learning will unfold in the process itself. Sample prefers to think of it as “guided inquiry or cognitive apprenticeship,” where the teacher or other students may guide one another from beginning learner to expert learner. This path, Sample argues, offers a classroom many in roads to learning and development.

I find this essay to be highly pragmatic and applicable to any classroom setting. Those who study art forms know that the processes involved in learning a skill or art are often compatible, if not directly translatable to another skill or art. And the reason for this: we all share some degree of commonality in how we learn, even if our idiosyncrasies differ. Such knowledge can help build strong teachers in my book.