Teaching for Intellectual Humility: A Grounded Theory Analysis of Tenured Faculty Pedagogy
Keywords:
Intellectual Humility, Faculty, Pedagogy, Grounded TheoryAbstract
Intellectual humility, an awareness and ownership of one’s intellectual limitations, is argued as a fundamental component of undergraduate education that influences how individuals process new information, remain open to new experiences, and admit the fallibility of their thinking. This study presents a grounded theory analysis of intellectual humility as described by tenured faculty in the liberal arts and sciences. The author analyzed 33 interviews from arts and humanities, sciences, and business professors to empirically investigate how faculty teach for intellectual humility. A process for the facilitation of intellectual growth in undergraduates emerged consisting of: (a) an ownership of intellectual limitations, (b) an acceptance of discomfort, and (c) a love of learning. An empirically based model of growth via intellectual humility is presented and its implications for pedagogy discussed.
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