The value of experience, in a world where we have access to endless information and instruction, is

the difference between thinking you can do something and actually being able to do it because of
prior training or firsthand experience.

Experience as an unequivocally good thing it represents adeptness, strength and style.

Meanwhile, in many of todays narratives about education, a premium seems to be placed on

younger teachers with fresh ideas. This is a bit of a clich that is often used to gently conjure up
an opposing stereotype: the experienced, older, out-of-touch and burnt out teacher (Beuller
anyone?). While there have always been teachers who live up to each of these stereotypes, I think
the binary opposition they represent is fading these days. Urban schools are flooded with
new teachers, who often (and understandably) experience burnout as they take on too much too
quickly, and find they are not necessarily as in touch with students needs as they expect to be
(depending on the amount of prior experience they have with the age group or specific population of
students). More experienced teachers often hold down the forts at their schools and are often the
ones students turn to for support. (I'm now drawing a counter-stereotype, which also has
exceptions.)

Beyond these teacher archetypes, Id like to ask the question, is experience necessarily a good
thing? Can it be a bad thing? And, can you be experienced and fresh at the same time?

Experience as a concept is probably neither good nor bad, but it has the potential to be a teacher.
Experience should be a teacher. As long as we reflect on and learn from our experiences,
experience is a good thing. With practice and critical thinking we learn to be better and better at what
we seek to doteaching, for example.

Teachers who continually learn from each experience will be prompted to try new things in response
to new questions that come with each group of students and changing times. This is how we remain
fresh.

Critical thinking, then, is the key to learning from our experiences, so that becoming experienced is a
good thing. I find the website criticalthinking.org and these stages of critical thinking described there
to be a fascinating and helpful framework for understanding critical thinking, both personally, and as
a teacher and learner.