Education and Expertise

Expertise is beginning to receive more attention in the philosophy of education. These discussions are closely related to increasingly prominent debates about the nature of know–how in mainstream analytical epistemology. The relevance of expertise to professional education and practice is explored in this collection of original contributions from educationalists, philosophers and psychologists. Various conceptions of expertise are explored. It illuminates what is involved in professional expertise and the implications of a sound understanding of professional expertise for professional education practice, curriculum design and assessment. All the contributions are philosophically grounded and reflect interdisciplinary advances in understanding expertise.

Introduction– Mark Addis (Centre for the Philosophy of Natural and Social Science, London School of Economics and Political Science) and Christopher Winch (School of Education, Communication and Society, King s College London)
1. Activity Concepts and Expertise– Mark Addis (Centre for the Philosophy of Natural and Social Science, London School of Economics and Political Science)
2. The Role of Autonomy in Teaching Expertise– Irene Bucelli (Centre for Analysis of Social Exclusion, London School of Economics and Political Science)
3. Three Views on Expertise: Philosophical Implications for Rationality, Knowledge, Intuition and Education– Fernand Gobet (Department of Psychological Sciences, University of Liverpool)
4. Drawing on a Sculpted Space of Actions: Educating for Expertise while Avoiding a Cognitive Monster– Machiel Keestra (Institute for Interdisciplinary Studies, University of Amsterdam)
5. Two Social Dimensions of Expertise– Ben Kotzee (School of Education, University of Birmingham) and JP Smit (Department of Philosophy, Stellenbosch University)
6. Making Sense of Knowing–How and Knowing–That– Gerard Lum (School of Education, Communication and Society, King s College London)
7. Professional Knowledge, Expertise and Perceptual Ability– Christopher Winch (School of Education, Communication and Society, King s College London)
Index

Mark Addis is a Research Associate at the Centre for Philosophy of Natural and Social Science at the London School of Economics. He was Professor of Philosophy at Birmingham City University and a visiting professor at the Department of Culture and Society at Aarhus University. He has published in the areas of the history of analytic philosophy and the philosophies of mind and science.

Christopher Winch is Professor of Educational Philosophy and Policy at King s College London. He previously taught Philosophy and Education at the University of Northampton and worked as a lecturer in Further Education and as a primary school teacher in Yorkshire. He has worked on numerous empirical projects connected with vocational and professional education.