May 4…Humility and Educational Research
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.
To me, humility in my discipline means acknowledging that I am nowhere close to being an expert. I am in a unique situation where my discipline over the last 10 years is not the same as my current discipline. I am new to my discipline, and am just learning a lot of the background information that I will need in order to begin to understand the discipline in its entirety.
ReplyDeleteIn the context of educational research, the idea of humility leads me to quote a professor that I had in a Master’s course - “Possibly wrong, and definitely incomplete.” He said this quote regularly about making changes to education. Any time we suggest a change in the attempt to make educational practices better, we should take the stance of “possibly wrong, definitely incomplete,” to acknowledge that others will likely have insight/information to add that we have not considered. There is a good chance that the educational research that I have been a part of (and will be a part of) has a positive impact on someone, somewhere. However, there is also a good chance that the conclusions that I made through that research (and will continue to make, for that matter) are possibly wrong, especially in the eyes of someone with a different background. Finally, any research findings anywhere, when taken out of the context of educational research as a whole, are definitely incomplete. There is always more to the story than what data (or theory) can explain, and remembering that throughout my work will help me to maintain humility.
-Chelsea
Kori Mosley
ReplyDelete5/3/20
Oh, I am humbled for sure. I have always felt humble as an educator - how can one not? But I do think that I once had what felt like a more secure, lest I say “prideful,” grasp on what I was doing (and how/why) within my discipline. I mean, I did it for 27 years… and I wasn’t twiddling my thumbs. What felt like constant practice, nonstop learning, and rigorous reflection resulted in a carefully honed, “practical pedagogy” - one that put into place much of what, I felt, “the textbook” did not account for. I question now, however, how much of this was “ignorant bliss”… how much did I not know that I did not know?… and how much more should I have considered? Having a better understanding of what doctoral study is - and what it is for - has been helpful in (re)considering the impact and timing of its eventual results - and what those results “look” and “feel” like in terms of both academia and the “real world.” Research, educational or otherwise, is far more uncertain than I originally thought. In one way that makes it seems less powerful but in another, it is more so; recognizing the grand(er) scheme of things and all that there is yet to consider - and knowing that there are folks (not me) who are game to do the research - leaves me even more humbled.
How I've internalized the idea of humility is linked to the conversations around the paradigms as capital T truth. While we're using theory and working to create a better and more nuanced understanding of the problems we're studying, recognizing what are finding is (say it with me) contestable. This humility also comes into play when we're in critique with our peers and critiquing our peers, how do we operate in good faith to improve an idea or argument with the knowledge that we could very well be wrong.
ReplyDeleteCurrently, I foresee myself working in teacher education and humility will be central to how I frame my research. Valuing teacher experience and their construction of knowledge and understanding in the classroom must be central to my work in order to be useful. Regardless of prior studies, narratives, or assumptions entering the work, how do I center the participants of the research and do right by their story? How can I have my research be used in service of the teachers, as opposed to the teachers be used in service of my research?
This is a small thing, but I also need to work on not using humility as too much of a crutch from making an argument or claim. I think the idea of "we can't possibly know anything" is an easy escape hatch from getting in the arena and making a claim for fear of being wrong. It's definitely more important to use humility to prevent a Type 2 error in our work, but we also have to find the balance to avoid making Type 1 errors. Humility probably need to be balanced with the "get it out the door" philosophy to ensure that our work has nuance and texture but is ALSO able to be read by other people.
I honestly feel in some ways liberated by the aspect of humility in educational research. For me it is closely aligned to being stewards of educational research and mindful that we are part, a small part, of a bigger research picture and that is okay. I define my discipline as social justice from an educational lens, and there is no way one piece of research, my research, can undo an entire system of injustices and inequalities. But by adding to the research pool, we/I can continue to peel back and better understand what these injustices look like, how they impact the individual's at the center of these injustices, and most importantly, how we can positively redirect these injustices. One person, one piece of research cannot overhaul an entire system, but as researchers and a learning community, we can continue to chip away at this system. Humility is embracing our limits while realizing and embracing the contributions of others, within and outside of our own theoretical lens.
ReplyDeleteI truly enjoyed reading your own interactions with humility and how they are completely enmeshed with your identity as an educational researcher. As you put it, working together can create change, not just working as a sole researcher.
Delete-Aliza
As an educational ethicist by discipline, I think that humility is a battle of perception for me. Choosing as a practitioner (or researcher) to ask hard questions about ethical decisions or organization values is difficult, and I don't think "humility" would be the phrase used by those in power to describe this kind of work. But from my lens, and in my experience thus far, all inquiry requires a sense of feeling unprepared or unclear about what you might find. I can definitely understand how this gets swept up in a researcher's excitement about a study or hypothesis, or possibly muddled by less-than-honest intentions in research practice. As we've discussed, there is a difference between being passionate about your subject and entering true-knowledge generating research with an agenda in mind.
ReplyDeleteI think my understanding of humility has become more layered in the context of academia, especially research. Some of this is privilege talking, but there were manners in which to be conscious and humble that I was not aware or conscious of. I guess that's a convoluted way of saying I had thought about things too simply when it comes to my research and others. My first lesson in this, in our course at least, was the article review, in which I had to discover and dial in my method for constructive criticism with the goal of helping the research as a whole.
ReplyDelete- Peyton B.
Humility is something that I think about often in the field of counselor education and supervision. A lot of what we are getting trained to do in our program is to educate and supervise future counselors. With this, we are also tasked with doing research that is relevant to the field and honors our own interests. I think humility mostly comes into play when thinking about voice and clients. Honoring clients’ voice and what they have to say while means we must remain humble as researchers. I think our role in this discipline is to be able to pivot. If something isn’t representing our clients and what they have to say, then it is up to us to find research that fits that. For example, I work with individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Many assessments and inventories are not normed on people with disabilities. There are a few that exist, and it is up to me to utilize these instruments.
ReplyDeleteI think humility in research means we realize we don’t have the research study that is the “end all be all”. Always being unsatisfied, will keep us humble, will keep us changing our questions that we ask, and changing the methods that we use
-Aliza
I think humility is so important personally, professionally, and academically. Science itself seems based on the idea that we can get it wrong. Things can change. We can find new answers, better answers.
ReplyDeleteWe can all bring unique insights, tools, skills, and knowledge to our fields. I think there's an aspect of empowerment here, in that we have to be willing to advocate for ourselves, to bring those tools to the table, and to share them in the first place, but any attitude that we are right, or we have the answer, just seems foolish to me.
I really value humility, and I feel like I am a person who doesn't excel at advocating for myself. I've been working on it more, and making sure when I can, I chip in, and I try and make contributions. I'd like to empower myself more academically and professionally, but I think it's always healthy to remember ours isn't the only voice.
Meagan
There is no honor without humility. This is a statement that was instilled in me as a child. Humility to me is the knowledge that your work is to serve the benefit of others. Having humility in educational research means that your work should serve the purpose to further humanity (in whatever discipline) by at least 1%. It means that you understand that your work is only a contribution to and not to be the holy grail of your discipline. It is recognizing that there were researchers and writers before you who worked diligently toward enhancing new knowledge. You should respect their works/findings and find your place to compliment them to further the discipline together. You should be humble in your writing, understanding that your individual agenda/bias should take a backseat to the larger goal of furthering your discipline and providing practitioners with tools to be successful.
ReplyDeleteReading about everyone's experiences with humility above my post, and reflecting on my own, it is refreshing to see commonalities about how we perceive the importance of humility while pursuing a doctoral degree. Artis wrote that "your work should serve the purpose to further humanity" and I agree. A part of humility is honesty, and in this field you have to be honest with yourself in order to produce genuine research which would further humanity. Meagan wrote that "I think it's always health to remember ours isn't the only voice" and I COULD NOT AGREE MORE. When you're in a good place, and your ideas seem fresh and important, it's easy to get wrapped up in sharing them, but it's always important to pay attention to the feedback, or the responses that stem. Humility can allow your idea to flourish with others input.
ReplyDeleteHumility creates a safe space for me to learn and grow in educational research without the fear of perfectionism, because I have already acknowledged myself that I am a novice in this field.
^ Maggie Brocklebank
DeleteAs a teacher and researcher, humility is essential to growth. We have to understand all the ways in which we fall short in order to learn what is needed to get better. Recognizing that you are not an expert - in pedagogy, in your field, or even in your self-crafted discipline is the only way you will actually find the answers you are ultimately looking for - I mean, why look if you're so great as is?
ReplyDeleteAs an action/solutions-oriented person, I'm usually looking for THE answer. A huge realization for me this year was that one solution probably isn't going to come - there's too much politics, and variation by state and locality for one sweeping policy to really change anything. So I'm humbled by the realization that I can only do so much and I need to focus that energy in one small place and hopefully, others will do the same to create big change.