Segway to Oral Knowledge

As we began our unit on oral knowledge in class today, I couldn't help but think about how language itself is really a form of folk knowledge. And it's one of those things that we learn without even realizing that we're learning, tying it in perfectly with the discussion in Sam's post from Tuesday about how we just seem to automatically absorb some knowledge.

Who's an expert?

I wanted to make a quick post about a cool connection I made this evening.

When I got home from school, my housemate, Melissa, was making enchiladas for dinner group. She was running a bit short on time, so I suggested that she make enchilada casserole instead of rolling the individual enchiladas.

What does this have to do with anything??

I just made enchilada casserole for the first time last Sunday (with lots of guidance over the phone from my mom) and then here I was four days later showing Melissa how to do it! And I acted like an expert (which I had to, because compared to her, I was the expert)!

It reminded me of Dr. Burton's post about learning to crochet from an "expert" who had learned the day before.

The cool thing is that if I weren't taking this class, I don't think I would have thought twice about this process of suddenly becoming an expert through the process of sharing knowledge. It's exciting to recognize it happening in my everyday life!

Oh! As an extra tidbit: I don't use a recipe for the casserole my mom makes, but if you want to get an idea of how it's made, check out this link!

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