Intellectual Humility

Intellectual Humility in the Education World Every teacher has their own bias. The people who write state standards and state tests also have biases. Students are biased on what they think they need to pay attention to in class. Teachers, state governments and students all believe that they know what is best for themselves or other people. None of these groups like to be told that they are wrong in the way they are teaching, writing and learning. However, it is still necessary to remain open to criticism because criticism may lead to an improvement down the road that one group could be thanking the other group for. This is called staying humble. Intellectual humility is admitting to not knowing everything in a field of interest but

Smith believing that I would not want a fancy Smart Board or an iPad to help me in my lessons. This opinion came from the facts on Smart Boards I was hearing in my classes. The only facts I heard were all the benefits of a Smart Board and I did not like how the teachers made it sound like technology was now the best route to go because of so many opportunities that came with it. I knew that there were other ways to be able to teach students depending on the student’s learning style. Technology would cost money and I was afraid that students would be discouraged from dreaming and learning big because technology could do everything for them. At this point, I had to be intellectually humble and recognize that there are people who think differently about this issue than I do. When it came time to do my research I chose to set aside my bias and look for how teachers actually felt about technology and the opportunities it could present for their classroom. I found one article where teachers used technology in science classes and noticed a new interest in learning because of the opportunities they were being given with the Smart Board. I also found an article where elementary teachers were concerned about the technology because of warranty even though they did recognize the usefulness of some of the material. Even though my opinion did not change, I am more aware about the uses technology can have in the classroom and how other people think about this issue. Intellectual humility says, “I may not know everything but I can do my research on the topic. If I change my opinion, I change my opinion. If not, at least now I know how to defend my