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Postings from August 2009
Hi all, Paul Johnson wrote: > On Mon, Aug 17, 2009 at 04:09:34PM -0400, Uri Guttman wrote: >>>>>>> "I" == Ian <pcs305@gmail.com> writes: >> I> Unfortunately I'm not an expert. I just read a few books and this list etc. >> >> a couple of things. it is good that you are offering to help but as you >> claim not to be an expert, it can hurt more than help. there are plenty >> of experts on this list who can help and fixing up weak code offered >> from beginners makes our work even harder. feel free to jump in with >> ideas and questions but until you are sure of your skills, it is best to >> not offer coding solutions. > > I'm afraid I disagree with this. Ian's first reply said: I also agree with Paul on this. I see your point, Uri -- that someone who isn't an expert can do more harm than good. However, several times in my life, I've had teachers who were experts in their field, but they couldn't explain what they knew if their job depended on it. On the other hand, I've had teachers who (honestly) knew just a bit more than the students they were teaching and surprisingly did a fantastic job. As it turns out, the reason was because it wasn't that long ago when they were in the same situation; so they were able to remember how to teach it. Non-experts can undo the work that experts do, but it could be they just call themselves "non-experts". It's a subjective label, after all. And, honestly, if every question on this list was left just to the experts, they would be exhausted. Once or twice, a non-expert's reply would cause more grief; in the long run, I think it's good for the list... Teachers become expert teachers only by teaching... (But yes, we all hope that *we* aren't their initial guinea pigs! :-) ) RayThread Previous | Thread Next