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?
i think humility is easier said than done, in academia especially. i think about this a lot in my classrooms as my students, for the first couple weeks, always come to class trying to have something really valuable to say, but i dont see how this helps them learn at all. i often tell them i want to know what you dont know, and this oddly blows minds. to think of assignments as tools of learning rather than benchmarks, to see your professoor make a mistakes, changing university attendance policy so no one coming to class isnt doing their work- it seems like blasphemy, but it helps facilitate everybodys learning, including my own. i think this is important coming from a background in feminism. knowing how to balance step/step back is very important but inversing what people think of when they think of feminists on a soapbox is often just silencing myself. we can say we want to be humble and truly be open to learning but do we? that dissertation sounds like it would never get finished. were at a point in our academic careers where were supposedly specialists about a topic; i think theres a fine line there of being confident in your ideas and being able to challenge and mold them
Amy Jefferson: Humility in the area of teacher preparation research means being a realist. Being able and willing to be honest. In order to begin the process of research I think you need to start by identifying your own beliefs and where they come from. For example, I’ve been thinking a lot about research in the area of how preservice teachers are taught to implement formative assessment practices in the classroom and why there is such a disconnect between coursework and practice. In order for me to form deeper questions and determine methods for gathering data I need to be honest with myself in identifying my own experiences with assessment professionally and personally. Does assessment in general ignite a feeling of stress? Why? What experiences did I have as a student that led me to feel that way? What experiences did I have when going through teacher preparation that did or did not prepare me to effectively formatively assess my students? Only then would I be prepared to analyze data from others.
Elizabeth Severson-Irby: When I think about humility in the field of adult education, I think of humility the field should have, which then trickles down to individuals. As a whole, the way education operates in an adult’s life is often different than the way it operates in a child’s life. Adults are dealing with their own families, jobs, and other responsibilities, meaning that education is not always the sole focus. Too often I have seen teachers get after students about their attendance (or lack of) from the perspective that the student doesn’t care or is too lazy to come to class, not taking into account the other factors a student is dealing with. Having humility and understanding of where one prioritizes education is vital to helping them succeed, as each student may prioritize it differently.
I think this also carries over into research, especially when researching student motivation and retention (two hot-button issues). Bringing in one’s own bias or thoughts about how students “should” view and participate in education can limit the type and depth of research. By this I mean if the research is directed to look at how students should fit the model rather than looking at how the model can fit students, the field could miss out on some really vital knowledge.
Humility means you recognize that even after you have thoroughly researched a particular area you still don’t have all the answers. It means that you value all perspectives. Despite how much knowledge is acquired; humble educational researchers don’t overestimate how the world of education works. Understanding that you always hold a portion of ignorance can help you remain humble. In Teaching and Learning, recognizing the knowledge of practitioner as equal or more valuable allows for modesty to develop. In Teaching and Learning the practitioners and the students are the heartbeat. Without their experiences and perspectives, teaching and learning academics don’t have any ground to stand on. Understanding that there is always an opposing side to your arguments or knowledge base is also key in remaining humble. Education is about being a constant learner and the more you learn the more you realize you don’t know. Paul Ricoeur, exclaimed, “The purpose of THINKING is not to gain knowledge, but to LEARN to consider the world in light of our irremediable ignorance.”
Humility in educational psychology is listening to learn more than speaking to inform. It is also recognizing that if education practitioners are slow to incorporate or adopt research findings from educational psychology, the problem may not be with the practitioners but with educational psychology. Humility in practice for educational psychology, is constant disciplinary self-reflection and improvement. We may need to shift our focus from convincing practitioners that we are valid to establishing our validity through our utility. In short, humility is the ability to admit we could do things better as a discipline.
Throughout this class and this first semester of graduate school I have thought about humility in terms of the research I will do and others do. Humility in your own research is important. It means knowing that you will not have the perfect study and your research (or any) will not be applicable to all people or all contexts. I also think it means reflecting on the theory and methods you are using. Are these methods or theories applicable to the group you are focusing on? From my perspective humility can help to solve this problem by recognizing you need more perspectives, not only from "experts" in the phenomena being studied, but also from "experts" in the community or culture you want to focus on. This brings me back to humility in the generalization of research. Much previous research claims to generalize past the demographics of their study however this lack of humility is harmful to the nonWEIRD(white, educated, industrialized, rich, and democratic) samples being compared to the WEIRD samples that much foundation research has used. Lastly, I think humility means recognizing where your discipline has failed people and trying to move forward from there. While still having humility to know you are not solving the issues forever (context will change), and to listen and learn when the context does change.
Humility is a critical trait that is often ignored in EFL (English as Foreign Language) learning. It can mean the difference between giving up and becoming fluent. If an English learner stays humble, he or she can keep learning more about this language with five, ten, or even more years. Many people, after some point, would stop learning when they think that they are “fluent enough,” which will reduce how much new information they absorb, and prevent them from becoming truly fluent. Learning a new language takes considerable effort and time investment. So stay humble would make the learning process faster. As a language teacher, it is necessary to understand and accept that there is still a lot to learn about the subject. You are not an expert, and on the contrary, you are still very much a student yourself. Jia
Jonathan Staylor: Humility is an idea that can really enhance the educational research process. Even though an educational researcher may be considered an expert in their field, this does not exclude them from the learning process. Humility allows for "experts" to be open to new information relating to their field. Also, cross-disciplinary approaches can be of use as well and can contribute to the overall effectiveness of the educational research. Within counselor education for school counselors, counselor educators need to be willing to collaborate with their students in order to progress their own profession. Supervisors need to integrate different theories into their own so that growth can be made within the school counseling profession. This takes a little humility to find the right balance in the supervisory relationship.
I can see how humility might be difficult for some researchers (educational researchers or otherwise) and that it plays into a whole host of other issues. Researchers who have problems with imposter syndrome may try to overcompensate and come across as not humble enough and be seen as arrogant and ungrateful. On the opposite end of the spectrum, if a researcher lets imposter syndrome take over they could be humble to the detriment of their research and not be given credit where it is due. In higher education/student affairs assessment, there is a strong relational piece to the work in this field that requires a bit of humility. Otherwise, folks are not going to want to work with or learn from “the assessment person.” However, assessment experts are typically few in numbers on a college campus and are often called upon to talk to upper administration about accreditation or student learning and retention. These professionals need to skirt the line of being humble while establishing themselves as the authority on student and university data. I think it’s easy for us to say “be humble”, but I think it’s tricky sometimes to be humble and confident. Or, perhaps it’s easy to be humble if you are truly confident and competent in what you know as well as what you don’t know…?
In the context of educational research, humility means understanding that while you may have lots of expertise in your field, there is still space to grow and learn. While one could be considered the expert in the field, it is critical to accept that your ideas and thoughts can be expounded upon and shifted to fit the field as it changes with age and time. It also means being open and accepting of new ideas from those who may be very new to the field or discipline. With humility comes a level of frequent self-awareness. It is my belief that as counselors, often living in self-reflection, humility can come more natural.
i think humility is easier said than done, in academia especially. i think about this a lot in my classrooms as my students, for the first couple weeks, always come to class trying to have something really valuable to say, but i dont see how this helps them learn at all. i often tell them i want to know what you dont know, and this oddly blows minds. to think of assignments as tools of learning rather than benchmarks, to see your professoor make a mistakes, changing university attendance policy so no one coming to class isnt doing their work- it seems like blasphemy, but it helps facilitate everybodys learning, including my own. i think this is important coming from a background in feminism. knowing how to balance step/step back is very important but inversing what people think of when they think of feminists on a soapbox is often just silencing myself. we can say we want to be humble and truly be open to learning but do we? that dissertation sounds like it would never get finished. were at a point in our academic careers where were supposedly specialists about a topic; i think theres a fine line there of being confident in your ideas and being able to challenge and mold them
ReplyDeleteAmy Jefferson: Humility in the area of teacher preparation research means being a realist. Being able and willing to be honest. In order to begin the process of research I think you need to start by identifying your own beliefs and where they come from. For example, I’ve been thinking a lot about research in the area of how preservice teachers are taught to implement formative assessment practices in the classroom and why there is such a disconnect between coursework and practice. In order for me to form deeper questions and determine methods for gathering data I need to be honest with myself in identifying my own experiences with assessment professionally and personally. Does assessment in general ignite a feeling of stress? Why? What experiences did I have as a student that led me to feel that way? What experiences did I have when going through teacher preparation that did or did not prepare me to effectively formatively assess my students? Only then would I be prepared to analyze data from others.
ReplyDeleteElizabeth Severson-Irby: When I think about humility in the field of adult education, I think of humility the field should have, which then trickles down to individuals. As a whole, the way education operates in an adult’s life is often different than the way it operates in a child’s life. Adults are dealing with their own families, jobs, and other responsibilities, meaning that education is not always the sole focus. Too often I have seen teachers get after students about their attendance (or lack of) from the perspective that the student doesn’t care or is too lazy to come to class, not taking into account the other factors a student is dealing with. Having humility and understanding of where one prioritizes education is vital to helping them succeed, as each student may prioritize it differently.
ReplyDeleteI think this also carries over into research, especially when researching student motivation and retention (two hot-button issues). Bringing in one’s own bias or thoughts about how students “should” view and participate in education can limit the type and depth of research. By this I mean if the research is directed to look at how students should fit the model rather than looking at how the model can fit students, the field could miss out on some really vital knowledge.
Humility means you recognize that even after you have thoroughly researched a particular area you still don’t have all the answers. It means that you value all perspectives. Despite how much knowledge is acquired; humble educational researchers don’t overestimate how the world of education works. Understanding that you always hold a portion of ignorance can help you remain humble. In Teaching and Learning, recognizing the knowledge of practitioner as equal or more valuable allows for modesty to develop. In Teaching and Learning the practitioners and the students are the heartbeat. Without their experiences and perspectives, teaching and learning academics don’t have any ground to stand on. Understanding that there is always an opposing side to your arguments or knowledge base is also key in remaining humble. Education is about being a constant learner and the more you learn the more you realize you don’t know. Paul Ricoeur, exclaimed, “The purpose of THINKING is not to gain knowledge, but to LEARN to consider the world in light of our irremediable ignorance.”
ReplyDeleteHumility in educational psychology is listening to learn more than speaking to inform. It is also recognizing that if education practitioners are slow to incorporate or adopt research findings from educational psychology, the problem may not be with the practitioners but with educational psychology. Humility in practice for educational psychology, is constant disciplinary self-reflection and improvement. We may need to shift our focus from convincing practitioners that we are valid to establishing our validity through our utility. In short, humility is the ability to admit we could do things better as a discipline.
ReplyDeleteCatina
Throughout this class and this first semester of graduate school I have thought about humility in terms of the research I will do and others do. Humility in your own research is important. It means knowing that you will not have the perfect study and your research (or any) will not be applicable to all people or all contexts. I also think it means reflecting on the theory and methods you are using. Are these methods or theories applicable to the group you are focusing on? From my perspective humility can help to solve this problem by recognizing you need more perspectives, not only from "experts" in the phenomena being studied, but also from "experts" in the community or culture you want to focus on. This brings me back to humility in the generalization of research. Much previous research claims to generalize past the demographics of their study however this lack of humility is harmful to the nonWEIRD(white, educated, industrialized, rich, and democratic) samples being compared to the WEIRD samples that much foundation research has used. Lastly, I think humility means recognizing where your discipline has failed people and trying to move forward from there. While still having humility to know you are not solving the issues forever (context will change), and to listen and learn when the context does change.
ReplyDeleteHumility is a critical trait that is often ignored in EFL (English as Foreign Language) learning. It can mean the difference between giving up and becoming fluent. If an English learner stays humble, he or she can keep learning more about this language with five, ten, or even more years. Many people, after some point, would stop learning when they think that they are “fluent enough,” which will reduce how much new information they absorb, and prevent them from becoming truly fluent. Learning a new language takes considerable effort and time investment. So stay humble would make the learning process faster.
ReplyDeleteAs a language teacher, it is necessary to understand and accept that there is still a lot to learn about the subject. You are not an expert, and on the contrary, you are still very much a student yourself.
Jia
Jonathan Staylor: Humility is an idea that can really enhance the educational research process. Even though an educational researcher may be considered an expert in their field, this does not exclude them from the learning process. Humility allows for "experts" to be open to new information relating to their field. Also, cross-disciplinary approaches can be of use as well and can contribute to the overall effectiveness of the educational research. Within counselor education for school counselors, counselor educators need to be willing to collaborate with their students in order to progress their own profession. Supervisors need to integrate different theories into their own so that growth can be made within the school counseling profession. This takes a little humility to find the right balance in the supervisory relationship.
ReplyDeleteI can see how humility might be difficult for some researchers (educational researchers or otherwise) and that it plays into a whole host of other issues. Researchers who have problems with imposter syndrome may try to overcompensate and come across as not humble enough and be seen as arrogant and ungrateful. On the opposite end of the spectrum, if a researcher lets imposter syndrome take over they could be humble to the detriment of their research and not be given credit where it is due. In higher education/student affairs assessment, there is a strong relational piece to the work in this field that requires a bit of humility. Otherwise, folks are not going to want to work with or learn from “the assessment person.” However, assessment experts are typically few in numbers on a college campus and are often called upon to talk to upper administration about accreditation or student learning and retention. These professionals need to skirt the line of being humble while establishing themselves as the authority on student and university data. I think it’s easy for us to say “be humble”, but I think it’s tricky sometimes to be humble and confident. Or, perhaps it’s easy to be humble if you are truly confident and competent in what you know as well as what you don’t know…?
ReplyDeleteIn the context of educational research, humility means understanding that while you may have lots of expertise in your field, there is still space to grow and learn. While one could be considered the expert in the field, it is critical to accept that your ideas and thoughts can be expounded upon and shifted to fit the field as it changes with age and time. It also means being open and accepting of new ideas from those who may be very new to the field or discipline. With humility comes a level of frequent self-awareness. It is my belief that as counselors, often living in self-reflection, humility can come more natural.
ReplyDelete