Richard G. Tiberius

The Boston Group, drawing upon developmental and clinical research, has identified special moments in human interaction that they call “moments of meeting.” These moments occur spontaneously within the context of ongoing relational interaction and can effectively restructure relationships. We think of these moments of meeting as pivotal moments because of their potentially pivotal effect on relationships. In this chapter we briefly describe the theory underlying these moments of relational change, using examples from education. Then we suggest strategies that may help teachers participate creatively in such moments. Finally, we explore the implications of this theory for the concept of authenticity.

An historical review of the practice of educational development identified four belief systems about teaching and learning that shape the practice. Each system is characterized by an assumption about the teacher's role: content expert; performer, who makes learning happen; facilitator, who encourages learning through interaction; and helper, whose relationship with learners is a vehicle for learning. The good news is that even teachers who are limited to only one of these belief systems can be successful. On the other hand, developers must have an appreciation for more than one belief system if they are to be successful at helping teachers.

The beliefs that teachers hold about the appropriate roles and responsibilities of teachers shape the ways they teach and the ways they think about teaching. In this paper I describe four teaching roles based on a taxonomy that I've recently developed. Teachers who are guided primarily by the Content Expert Role view themselves as experts who serve as resources, like books or pictures. Teachers who are guided primarily by the Performance Role view themselves as agents who make learning happen by transmitting information or shaping students. Teachers guided primarily by the Interactive Role view themselves as guides who facilitate learning by interacting with learners. And teachers guided primarily by the Relational Role view themselves as engaged in relationships with learners for the purpose of helping them. Using examples taken from the health sciences I explain how each of the four teaching roles might succeed or fail depending upon the position that it occupies within a teaching± learning system. When teaching is viewed as part of a system, not as something a teacher does to a learner, teachers are successful if their particular contribution to the system is essential to the learning system. I also describe the process whereby teachers expand their belief system to include more roles. Such changes in belief systems are major shifts that qualify as ``perspective transformations''. Perspective transformations take place slowly and are typically attended by strong emotions. I end this paper with advice to teachers regarding ways they can harmonize with the educational system or face the challenge of perspective

The traditional remedies applied by medical schools to the perennial problem of teaching "caring competence" have been unsuccessful. Our purpose was to design and evaluate a simple and effective method for helping students maintain affective contact with their patients. Third-year medical students and pediatric residents were given the opportunity to talk informally with parents of medically ill children and reflect on the value of this experience for their learning. Trainees' opinions of the experience were measured with focus groups and a questionnaire. Trainees were delighted with the experience, particularly with the following aspects: the opportunity to hear a personally relevant story told in a sincere manner, the realization that they could have an authentic interaction "even" in a medical setting, and the usefulness of the information they derived from the conversation. We concluded that something unique to the conversational experience has educational value.

Over the last two decades cognitive theorists have learned that the development of expertise goes beyond the accumulation of knowledge and skills: expertise includes the development of pattern recognition and learned procedures that enable practitioners to deal with problems effortlessly or intuitively. Even more recently, theorists are distinguishing experts from experienced non-experts by how they use the bonus time and energy gained from solving problems intuitively. Experts invest it in tackling problems that increase their expertise rather than reduce problems to previously learned routines. Some implications of these different views of expertise for teaching and faculty development are discussed.