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.
Allison on Humility: From Latin humilis 'low, lowly,' from humus 'ground.' I interpret humility to be an acknowledgement that I am a limited and fallible human being. I also interpret humility as respectful consideration of all human beings. In educational research we conduct research to benefit people. We respect other people's rights and dignity. We also serve the public good. Humility encompasses the Belmont Principles and applications for research: Respect for Person's, Beneficence, and Justice.
To me, humility in educational research means understanding your own limitations. No researcher has all the answers. It is ok to seek help and answers from others in or out of your discipline. You cannot possibly be an expert at everything. I think it also means accepting that your findings have limitations. And that sometimes, your research does not produce amazing findings. Humility is knowing that the work you do is one small piece of a larger research puzzle.
My thoughts on humility are very similar to Sam's. Humility is the understanding that you and you're work are not perfect. The word humility has the beginnings of the word "human", which emphasizes our imperfect nature. Taking the humility approach involves understanding your imperfections and their effects on your work and contributions to the field. Like Sam, I think researchers need to understand their work is a small piece of the big picture. By being humble, you can continually strive to improve your work in an effort to making it a more meaningful part of the bigger picture.
It means knowing what you know, and acknowledging what you don't. And like Brittany said, understanding your role in a larger world, so having an eye on the perspective of a situation. It's all a part of a journey which has no definitive end point, or winner.
Similar to what Melissa said, humility is understanding and accepting what you do and do not know, its better to admit you do not know something rather than try to fake it. It is also understanding, no one, nothing is ever perfect and accepting mistakes and growing from them. In ed research, I think it means finding your place and where you fit into the big picture while learning from others both in and out of your specific discipline.
In general, humility is about being open to the possibility that you might be wrong, and is related to the Socratic mantra "I know nothing," because the more you know, the more you realize how little you know.
In specific context of educational research, I experience a need for humility in my use of critique or methods that we are learning and applying those to other research. In other words, there's a temptation to strike down other people's research work by pointing out threats to validity, mistakes in analysis, incompleteness of data, lack of control variables, etc. But, because ed research is housed in "quadrant III," where it is both soft and applied, it is always vulnerable to attack.
Allison on Humility: From Latin humilis 'low, lowly,' from humus 'ground.' I interpret humility to be an acknowledgement that I am a limited and fallible human being. I also interpret humility as respectful consideration of all human beings. In educational research we conduct research to benefit people. We respect other people's rights and dignity. We also serve the public good. Humility encompasses the Belmont Principles and applications for research: Respect for Person's, Beneficence, and Justice.
ReplyDeleteTo me, humility in educational research means understanding your own limitations. No researcher has all the answers. It is ok to seek help and answers from others in or out of your discipline. You cannot possibly be an expert at everything. I think it also means accepting that your findings have limitations. And that sometimes, your research does not produce amazing findings. Humility is knowing that the work you do is one small piece of a larger research puzzle.
ReplyDeleteMy thoughts on humility are very similar to Sam's. Humility is the understanding that you and you're work are not perfect. The word humility has the beginnings of the word "human", which emphasizes our imperfect nature. Taking the humility approach involves understanding your imperfections and their effects on your work and contributions to the field. Like Sam, I think researchers need to understand their work is a small piece of the big picture. By being humble, you can continually strive to improve your work in an effort to making it a more meaningful part of the bigger picture.
ReplyDeleteIt means knowing what you know, and acknowledging what you don't. And like Brittany said, understanding your role in a larger world, so having an eye on the perspective of a situation. It's all a part of a journey which has no definitive end point, or winner.
ReplyDeleteSimilar to what Melissa said, humility is understanding and accepting what you do and do not know, its better to admit you do not know something rather than try to fake it. It is also understanding, no one, nothing is ever perfect and accepting mistakes and growing from them. In ed research, I think it means finding your place and where you fit into the big picture while learning from others both in and out of your specific discipline.
ReplyDeleteIn general, humility is about being open to the possibility that you might be wrong, and is related to the Socratic mantra "I know nothing," because the more you know, the more you realize how little you know.
ReplyDeleteIn specific context of educational research, I experience a need for humility in my use of critique or methods that we are learning and applying those to other research. In other words, there's a temptation to strike down other people's research work by pointing out threats to validity, mistakes in analysis, incompleteness of data, lack of control variables, etc. But, because ed research is housed in "quadrant III," where it is both soft and applied, it is always vulnerable to attack.