Humility is a word that has
been thrown around a lot during our time together. What does it mean to you in
the context of educational research and, more specifically how might it relate
to your field of study/discipline.
8 comments:
Anonymous
said...
In looking up the definition of humility, I ran across a Pinterest image that read: humility is not denying your strengths, but acknowledging your weaknesses. It’s important to delineate that humility does not mean we don’t know anything, but rather the probability that we don’t know it all. There are limits to our knowledge and our research, perhaps especially educational research. Humility requires openness to different perspectives and alternate explanations. It makes us all stronger. As a future researcher, my writing should reflect that my findings are not absolute (think: warranted assertability) and originate from just one perspective. Particularly I hope to keep in mind that even with strong and sophisticated statistical methods, my results may be “significant” but may not prove or be reflective of what’s really going on. In my practice as a counselor and supervisor, humility is essential to authentically reaching and understanding my diverse clients, as well as improving as a practitioner. Overall, should I have an extra few letters after my name at graduation, I hope this doesn’t translate into losing a sense of my fallibility and connection with the “lowly practitioners” outside the ivory tower. Humility is one important way I remain a lifelong learner.
Yingying- In Chinese culture, children are raised under lots of common moral/society skills from tradition like humility, filial piety… It is common for a Chinese girl responds to “You look good today” with “No, no, no…no...no…” It doesn’t mean she disagrees with you or she doesn’t have the confidence to agree that she looks good, however, under Chinese culture norm, people have to be “humble” and attribute “success” to “luck”, “a series of accidents”, “just evolution” or “opportunities”… I did learn that “humility” has different ways of expression here in the US. I guess I combined humility in two cultures and realize that the centerpiece of humility is self-awareness, to know what you really have, what’s your strengths and weaknesses and turn to help when you need it. And I guess when someone admits humility with you, you will offer help, your openness to him too. Similarly, when conducting educational research, researchers express humility involves a willingness to learn, to revise, but also retain their own perceptions and values. I guess it applies to participants, teachers, students, school leaders, actually everybody.
Hi, everyone. Cat here. I dropped the ball on this blog post. Because it's about something we've been focusing on all semester, I'd rather wait to say what I need to say about humility, particularly as it relates to the research we'll be doing. For the moment, I want to share two quotes from Simone Weil (an excellent mathematician, BTW):
"Real genius is nothing else but the supernatural virtue of humility in the domain of thought"
and ...
"Humility is attentive patience"
The quotes stand alone just fine, and relating them to professional humility is an interesting exercise. But when you know more about Weil's personal story (about how she really loved mathematics but was overshadowed by her brother, a famous number theorist) the bit about patience is heartbreaking in a way.
Maybe we will have a change to talk together one more time about humility before the break?
Humility is such a powerful attribute to have in society, yet alone in academia. I view humility as a skill. Inherently, it's not easy to admit you're wrong. It's also not easy to be aware of that in which you do not know. In law, there is a hypothesis to consider when looking at the facts of a case... is there a possibility that both parties in a disputed fact are telling the truth? The human mind is a vast and arguably misunderstood at times. Our paradigms, our memory, what we see and what we do not see are (whether we choose to or choose not to) are fallible. Therefore, our thoughts, research, and musings are also. Like the child who is obviously telling a lie to stay out of perceived trouble, the knowing truth at the time can be blurred by our abilities at the time (i.e. the child with watercolor paint all over them and evidence of painting all over the walls of a house who says vehemently that they were not the culprits.) The child has not learned the value and the importance of admitting a wrongdoing or a mistake both individually and as a greater impact to society. Humility is developed overtime, as such, humility in academia should develop overtime.
I think this goes back to Becker. Getting better as a writer requires the action of actually writing. To get better requires that the previous action was not as good. Some of the biggest life lessons are learned from failure and mistake. Obviously, no one wants to make a mistake in academic writing, but owning it can rectify a situation rather than never writing or not being humble enough to own the mistake in the first place.
Again, I go back to the Babe Ruth quote, “It's hard to beat a person who never gives up, every strike brings me closer to the next home run, Never allow the fear of striking out keep you from playing the game!”
Dana Brookover- Research can be an awesome tool to make strides in client's and student's lives, however, when it comes to educational/counseling issues, as Dewey would say (or I think he would anyways), there is no capital "T" Truth. Humility speaks to this idea. It can be very exciting to get that p<.05 significance level :), but there is always another perspective or question to be researched. I found humility in my work as a school counselor everyday. Adults often assume they know best, but children/ students taught me so much I did not know before. Humility is an essential part of counseling in that empathy requires stepping outside of your own worldview and accepting someone else's worldview IS correct, even if different from yours.
Humility means knowing you don’t know everything. Should I become a faculty member, or even an education researcher, I will constantly be asking questions, or be expected to answer them. Education research requires humility because we will constantly be in search of something. The field of education constantly changes, as do the answers to long-asked questions. Inquiry requires humility; people who know everything rarely ask questions. Though I’ve been inundated with the importance of publishing, I think it is simply this: questions must always be answered, and they must always be asked. That is part of our contribution.
I really like the quote that Rachel came across on Pinterest. I think it is so important to understand and acknowledge our weaknesses. I personally think it is important to have humility in every aspect of your life, especially when you hold immense racial, social, educational, or economic privilege. We need to acknowledge not only our weaknesses but also our privilege, because for me personally, these two traits go hand in hand. Once done with our PhD, we will hold immense educational privilege that many do not have access to. As we move about the world in our professional and personal life, it is critical that we remember to advocate for those with less than we have ourselves. The only way to do that is to make sure to maintain humility in all aspects of your life.
As I read through all these comments, I am just struck by how thankful I am to be working with other scholars who express the importance of humility so eloquently and courageously. I think an important aspect of humility is gratitude and an appreciation for the work that others are doing. Being part of a community of scholars means that no one of us will know everything or have all the answers, but if we trust and appreciate that others are doing hard, important work, we are more able to do the hard, important work in our own field. Even though it is often difficult, I believe that if we can respect and be grateful for others and others' viewpoints, we will be on the right path to humility.
I am grateful for you all, and I respect each of you immensely. Thank you for journeying on this path of inquiry with me this semester.
8 comments:
In looking up the definition of humility, I ran across a Pinterest image that read: humility is not denying your strengths, but acknowledging your weaknesses. It’s important to delineate that humility does not mean we don’t know anything, but rather the probability that we don’t know it all. There are limits to our knowledge and our research, perhaps especially educational research. Humility requires openness to different perspectives and alternate explanations. It makes us all stronger. As a future researcher, my writing should reflect that my findings are not absolute (think: warranted assertability) and originate from just one perspective. Particularly I hope to keep in mind that even with strong and sophisticated statistical methods, my results may be “significant” but may not prove or be reflective of what’s really going on. In my practice as a counselor and supervisor, humility is essential to authentically reaching and understanding my diverse clients, as well as improving as a practitioner. Overall, should I have an extra few letters after my name at graduation, I hope this doesn’t translate into losing a sense of my fallibility and connection with the “lowly practitioners” outside the ivory tower. Humility is one important way I remain a lifelong learner.
-Rachel Regal
Yingying-
In Chinese culture, children are raised under lots of common moral/society skills from tradition like humility, filial piety… It is common for a Chinese girl responds to “You look good today” with “No, no, no…no...no…” It doesn’t mean she disagrees with you or she doesn’t have the confidence to agree that she looks good, however, under Chinese culture norm, people have to be “humble” and attribute “success” to “luck”, “a series of accidents”, “just evolution” or “opportunities”…
I did learn that “humility” has different ways of expression here in the US. I guess I combined humility in two cultures and realize that the centerpiece of humility is self-awareness, to know what you really have, what’s your strengths and weaknesses and turn to help when you need it. And I guess when someone admits humility with you, you will offer help, your openness to him too. Similarly, when conducting educational research, researchers express humility involves a willingness to learn, to revise, but also retain their own perceptions and values. I guess it applies to participants, teachers, students, school leaders, actually everybody.
Hi, everyone. Cat here. I dropped the ball on this blog post. Because it's about something we've been focusing on all semester, I'd rather wait to say what I need to say about humility, particularly as it relates to the research we'll be doing. For the moment, I want to share two quotes from Simone Weil (an excellent mathematician, BTW):
"Real genius is nothing else but the supernatural virtue of humility in the domain of thought"
and ...
"Humility is attentive patience"
The quotes stand alone just fine, and relating them to professional humility is an interesting exercise. But when you know more about Weil's personal story (about how she really loved mathematics but was overshadowed by her brother, a famous number theorist) the bit about patience is heartbreaking in a way.
Maybe we will have a change to talk together one more time about humility before the break?
Humility is such a powerful attribute to have in society, yet alone in academia. I view humility as a skill. Inherently, it's not easy to admit you're wrong. It's also not easy to be aware of that in which you do not know. In law, there is a hypothesis to consider when looking at the facts of a case... is there a possibility that both parties in a disputed fact are telling the truth? The human mind is a vast and arguably misunderstood at times. Our paradigms, our memory, what we see and what we do not see are (whether we choose to or choose not to) are fallible. Therefore, our thoughts, research, and musings are also. Like the child who is obviously telling a lie to stay out of perceived trouble, the knowing truth at the time can be blurred by our abilities at the time (i.e. the child with watercolor paint all over them and evidence of painting all over the walls of a house who says vehemently that they were not the culprits.) The child has not learned the value and the importance of admitting a wrongdoing or a mistake both individually and as a greater impact to society. Humility is developed overtime, as such, humility in academia should develop overtime.
I think this goes back to Becker. Getting better as a writer requires the action of actually writing. To get better requires that the previous action was not as good. Some of the biggest life lessons are learned from failure and mistake. Obviously, no one wants to make a mistake in academic writing, but owning it can rectify a situation rather than never writing or not being humble enough to own the mistake in the first place.
Again, I go back to the Babe Ruth quote, “It's hard to beat a person who never gives up, every strike brings me closer to the next home run, Never allow the fear of striking out keep you from playing the game!”
Dana Brookover- Research can be an awesome tool to make strides in client's and student's lives, however, when it comes to educational/counseling issues, as Dewey would say (or I think he would anyways), there is no capital "T" Truth. Humility speaks to this idea. It can be very exciting to get that p<.05 significance level :), but there is always another perspective or question to be researched.
I found humility in my work as a school counselor everyday. Adults often assume they know best, but children/ students taught me so much I did not know before. Humility is an essential part of counseling in that empathy requires stepping outside of your own worldview and accepting someone else's worldview IS correct, even if different from yours.
Humility means knowing you don’t know everything. Should I become a faculty member, or even an education researcher, I will constantly be asking questions, or be expected to answer them. Education research requires humility because we will constantly be in search of something. The field of education constantly changes, as do the answers to long-asked questions. Inquiry requires humility; people who know everything rarely ask questions. Though I’ve been inundated with the importance of publishing, I think it is simply this: questions must always be answered, and they must always be asked. That is part of our contribution.
Erin Hanley
Andrea Moreau-
I really like the quote that Rachel came across on Pinterest. I think it is so important to understand and acknowledge our weaknesses. I personally think it is important to have humility in every aspect of your life, especially when you hold immense racial, social, educational, or economic privilege. We need to acknowledge not only our weaknesses but also our privilege, because for me personally, these two traits go hand in hand. Once done with our PhD, we will hold immense educational privilege that many do not have access to. As we move about the world in our professional and personal life, it is critical that we remember to advocate for those with less than we have ourselves. The only way to do that is to make sure to maintain humility in all aspects of your life.
As I read through all these comments, I am just struck by how thankful I am to be working with other scholars who express the importance of humility so eloquently and courageously. I think an important aspect of humility is gratitude and an appreciation for the work that others are doing. Being part of a community of scholars means that no one of us will know everything or have all the answers, but if we trust and appreciate that others are doing hard, important work, we are more able to do the hard, important work in our own field. Even though it is often difficult, I believe that if we can respect and be grateful for others and others' viewpoints, we will be on the right path to humility.
I am grateful for you all, and I respect each of you immensely. Thank you for journeying on this path of inquiry with me this semester.
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