I was listening to a podcast this morning and wanted to share their message. The H2H (Hearth to Heart) podcast has short podcasts (under 15 minutes) for those who are leading in education and want to make a real difference. The podcast I was listening to this morning was entitled, “Modeling Intellectual Rigor and Courage for Students, Staff, and Peers”. In this podcast, authors,  Robert C. Roberts and W. Jay Woods join David Bloomfield and Jill Berkowicz discuss some of the critical intellectual qualities that are required for life long learning. In their book, Intellectual Virtues: An Essay in Regulative Epistemology, Roberts and Woods describe these virtues in more detail.

The 6 Intellectual Virtues that were discussed in this podcast include:

1. Love of knowledge
2. Firmness of hold over knowledge
3. Courage and caution – facing fears/taking risks
4. Intellectual humility
5. Intellectual autonomy
6. Intellectual generosity

As adults, teachers, and leaders in education, modelling these virtues for students, staff and colleagues is essential in our changing education system and our ever-changing world.

While I agree that it is important to think for oneself and have the ability to develop and present your perspective, I’m not sure that we want intellectual autonomy alone in education.  In my experience, I have learned so much more throughout my career by collaborating with my colleagues, both near and far. So, maybe we should include Intellectual Collaboration in this list of Intellectual Virtues.  What do you think?

How are you going to hold true to these virtues to help your students, staff, and peers learn to be or continue to be lifelong learners?

What do you think of this list? Are there any virtues you would add? Delete?