I’ve noticed that the word “expert” has a bad connotation in our field sometimes. When we talk about professional learning, expert can imply someone from outside a school swooping in to offer, for a fee, his or her wisdom from on high. In the most exaggerated versions of this image, the expert doesn’t adapt messages to fit particular contexts or consider other points of view. While this is certainly a caricature, there’s a reason we often hear the word so-called in front of the word expert: “We had a so- called expert here last week telling us what we’re doing wrong.” Fortunately, as we shift our understanding of what makes a real difference for schools, we can reclaim the word “expert” as a useful one. When we talk about