Reflection and revision are the result of knowledge, experience, and the willingness to risk; they are essential, says Wilhelm, to "play[ing] out the big possibilities" in "something as complex and intensely human as teaching." Even as a contributor to the national standards project, various literature anthologies, and reading and composition programs, Wilhelm strongly believes that teachers are the only experts on their own students, and they must be able to and allowed to adapt programs based on their own knowledge and experience.