The Story of the 25 Year Beginner
Posted on Jul 2, 2009 by Paul Schempp
Beginners. Those are people new to the job, right? Not always.
We traditionally think of beginners as people with limited experience. Consequently, they bring few and undeveloped skills to the job. They hold a limited perspective on how things are done. With experience they will improve as they grow wiser. Not so fast. Doesn’t always happen like the script says it is suppose to.
Contrary to what you might think, experience alone will not make you more knowledgeable or skillful. The reality is that some beginners stay beginners for a lifetime.
This story was brought home to me one early fall afternoon while serving on the faculty at the University of Oregon. At the time I was supervising student teachers in public schools. It was an enjoyable duty, as it afforded the opportunity to witness bright enthusiastic young teachers instructing bright, enthusiastic young students.
During a visit to one of our more promising student teachers, the mentor teacher informed me that he was having problems with this teacher-in-training. “She shows no respect for my experience,” he told me. The three of us met after class and the mentor was quick to air his concerns about the student teacher’s lack of reverence for his time in the teaching business. The student interjected, “but there are more contemporary ways—” She was quickly cut off with the mentor’s loud proclamation “I’ve been teaching 25 years!” The student teacher revealed more grit than savvy when she quickly retorted “No! You taught one year, and just repeated it 24 times!” It wasn’t tactful, but she did have a point. The mentor teacher was appreciated and revered in his school for being reliable and a nice person, but no one considered him a potent pedagogue. Despite the experience, he demonstrated little skill or knowledge as a teacher. His program looked like it had been developed a quarter of century earlier, and the few books on his shelf were dust covered and older than the student teacher. To everyone’s satisfaction, we quickly transferred the young teacher to a more conducive environment.
Interestingly, years later that student teacher was named Teacher of the Year in one of America’s largest states. But I doubt little had changed in the classroom of the 25 year beginner. Experience is a great teacher, but we have to be receptive to her lessons.
Tagged: management skills, leadership skills, listening skills, process improvement, productivity