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Volume 3 ~ November 2011 ~ PreviewISSN # 2150-5772 - This article is the intellectual property of the authors and CIT. If you wish to use this article in your teaching or in another format, please credit the authors and the CIT International Journal of Interpreter Education. |
Developing Expertise Through a Deliberate Practice Project
Trudy Schafer
[1]
Northeastern
University
Abstract
Ericsson (2001) defines expertise as follows, “Expert performers can reliably reproduce their performance any time when required such as during competition and training” (p. 194). Merely practicing a skill repeatedly will not result in expert performance. However, “deliberate practice” can improve performance. Deliberate practice is defined as “…tasks that are initially outside of their current realm of reliable performance, yet can be mastered within hours of practice by concentrating on critical aspects and by gradually refining performance through repetitions after feedback” (Ericsson 2006, p. 692). Mindset effects deliberate practice. Dweck (2006) describes two types of mindset: fixed and growth. A fixed mindset perceives intelligence and ability as static despite effort. A growth mindset embraces effort as a means to improve ability. Closing the gap between graduation and certification may be facilitated by deliberate practice. This action research project describes the introduction of deliberate practice and mindset in an interpreter education program.
Keywords: expertise; deliberate practice; mindset; action research; graduation–certification gap