Study On The Acquisition Of Expertise

Heidegger said so in a correspondence that philosophy might have uncovered the fact in the most intense and persistent fashion that a person is always a novice. The philosophical exploration, after all, implies that the seeker is just a beginner. In this sense, people are all novices who are seeking for the true meaning of life while being towards death. Thereby, the exploration of how a novice grows up into an expert is full of challenges, delights and significant values. The expertise emerges during the problem-solving process, which shows how people start from the scratch line and reach their destination through hardships and trials.A study on the acquisition of expertise has special significance for technical and vocational education and training (TVET), whose ultimate purpose is skill training. Unlike other vocational skills, expertise has its own distinctive features. This dissertation begins with a thorough analysis on the connotation of expertise describing its basic features, mental features and action features, then moves on to distinguish the different function orientations of expertise and other vocational abilities, and finally attempts to reveal the development of expertise from the following perspectives.The first is the culture and career perspective. The inherent social attributes of expertise decide its reliance upon culture. If expertise is examined against the cultural background, a multitude of different social values could be identified. Meanwhile, the acquisition of expertise is also dependent on the individual's career development. Since expertise is acquired throughout the course of career development, major projects in career development determine the starting point, direction and even the final achievement for the acquisition of expertise. Therefore, in order to gain a more comprehensive understanding, it is necessary to examine the acquisition of expertise from the integrated perspective of "culture" and "career".Next is the knowledge perspective. The dissertation analyzes an expert's knowledge structure and its changing process based on theories of the essence of knowledge and the occurrence of knowledge, pointing out that there is an internal connection between implicit knowledge and expertise, especially the close relationship between the body perception and the internal feedback in practice. Then, the thesis identifies a variety of difficulties that might arise when the structured expert knowledge faces practical problems. These difficulties could be overcome through continuous practice.The third perspective is practice. The simple accumulation of knowledge itself does not lead to the acquisition of expertise. After listing out various bottlenecks in the growing up of a novice, the dissertation elucidates the values of practice in the acquisition of expertise and how practice promotes the transformation from knowledge to experience. Deliberate practice, with its complexity and delicacy, is emphasized as a key factor in the acquisition. In addition, simulation practice spurs the acquisition by creating a favorable environment of people, technology and the world.Last, the acquisition of expertise is examined from the perspective of reflective practice. Reflective practice is one of the core elements for the sublimation of expertise. Reflection urges expertise to start again at the finish line for further development. Hence, factors that influence reflective practice have more practical significance. The dissertation suggests that the factors can be categorized into companion group, individual characters, reflection trigger and the environment. The exploration of these factors would promote a more effective reflective practice which facilitates the acquisition of expertise.Culture, career, knowledge, practice and reflective practice form a multidimensional perspective for the examination of expertise. While culture and career are the prerequisites for the acquisition of expertise, knowledge is the foundation and practice and reflective practice are important boosters for expertise to be further integrated and sublimed.The conclusion part reflects upon the maturation of students in vocational schools from the above mentioned perspectives. Technical and vocational education and training, with skill training as its ultimate mission, certainly should pay attention to the inherent rules of the acquisition of skills. Vocational education in schools, which are the major platform for TVET in China, should take more consideration of the rules and reflect upon the existing training modes. The acquisition of expertise focuses on the development from a novice to an expert and influencing factors in that process. For vocational schools, students are novices. Therefore, the education quality in those schools could be further improved through a multidimensional examination upon the students' skill acquisition from culture, career, knowledge, practice and reflective practice perspectives.