BECOMING AN EXPERT IN NOT KNOWING - REFRAMING TEACHER AS CONSULTANT

This article begins with a story which alerts us to the terrible anxie ty experienced by both clients and consultant (students and lecturer) when forced to stay in the present and face their own unknowingness. T raditional models of teaching operate without acknowledging the extent of this anxiety and offer little insight into the ways in which teach ers unconsciously collude with their students in their attempt to esca pe from it. Reframing the teacher role as consultant is one way of con fronting and working with that anxiety productively and differently. I t means developing a different type of expertise, an expertise in not knowing, and helping the student to stay with it. Taking on the consul tant role in this way, rather than conforming to the expectations of t he system which craves consultant or teacher as 'expert', is one way o f not taking part in this collusion against learning. Mobilizing the c onsultant role enables one to see and stay in contact with the reality of the work that must be done. This article presents strategies for h arnessing anxiety productively such that it can be contained and a spa ce made for real learning.