How to promote intellectual humility in classrooms.

I like being around people who know a lot, but I like it even better when they are also open and honest about what they don't know. This quality is called intellectual humility, and it is a virtue. Intellectual humility is one's (1) awareness of the limits of one's knowledge, (2) recognition that they are fallible, and (3) that other people have valuable knowledge. Such humility seems increasingly rare, particularly in online forums where, often, people can hide behind an alias and flex their internet muscles. However, research has elucidated a promising way to promote intellectual humility in classrooms, via mastery goal structures (i.e., classrooms where teachers stress learning and growth over performance, and then instruct and assess in ways that reinforce that message).

Porter and colleagues (2022) conducted a year-long study with 547 middle school students in 26 classrooms, taught by 17 teachers. Each student filled out surveys on their intellectual humility and their perception of the classroom goal mastery structure in the Fall and Spring of Year 1 and again in the Fall of Year 2. Between the Fall and Spring of Year 1 surveys, trained researchers observed each classroom from one to seven times (the mean number of observations was just over 4, the mode was 5), rating it for mastery-oriented teaching practices. Overall, they found teachers' use of mastery-oriented teaching practices predicted students' perceptions of a mastery-oriented classroom goal structure, which in turn predicted increased intellectual humility in both the Year 1 and Year 2 classroom. Huzzah for ongoing effects on a delayed posttest!

I appreciate the longitudinal nature of this study, and the focus on actual (multiple!) observations of teaching practices. This study illustrates the importance of developing a positive mastery-oriented classroom motivational climate, in this case helping students feel more comfortable embracing a positive intellectual humility. It's great when people know things, it's even better when they know the limits of their understanding, and are open to the ideas of others.