Academic Workshop

On July 9-13, 2012, ten leading scholars in virtue epistemology, philosophy of education, and educational theory and psychology convened at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles to reflect on and discuss the role of intellectual character formation in education. The workshop was run by Project Director Jason Baehr, Associate Professor of Philosophy at LMU.

Participants included:

Heather Battaly, Cal State Fullerton

Melinda Bier, University of Missouri, St. Louis

Karen Bohlin, Montrose School

Catherine Elgin, Harvard University

Steve Porter, Biola University

Wayne Riggs, University of Oklahoma

Ron Ritchhart, Project Zero, Harvard University

Emily Robertson, Syracuse University

Stephen Sherblom, Lindenwood University

Harvey Siegel, University of Miami

The main themes or questions of the workshop included:

1. What exactly are intellectual character virtues? How do they differ from moral and civic virtues? What is the nature/structure of individual virtues like curiosity, open-mindedness, intellectual courage, and intellectual humility?
2. Where does the goal of fostering intellectual character virtues figure relative to the aims and goals proper to education?  Should this be the primary goal of education? Is it secondary to other goals? How does it stand relative to educational goals like critical thinking, metacognition, or teaching for understanding?
3. How can intellectual virtues be fostered in an educational setting? How, for instance, might curriculum, pedagogy, and assessment be designed so as to promote this goal? What does existing research on character education and related approaches suggest? What additional methods or strategies can be identified?

The objectives for the workshop included:

1. To provide a relaxed and refreshing environment for leading scholars who have done work in the neighborhood of an intellectual virtues educational model to read about, reflect on, and discuss the theoretical and practical role of intellectual character formation in education;
2. To foster connections and relationships between scholars working in areas related to the workshop theme with an eye toward stimulating fruitful interdisciplinary research on this theme (e.g. research that integrates insights from virtue epistemology, philosophy of education, and educational theory/psychology);
3. For each workshop participant to identify a paper topic that he or she will present at the academic conference on intellectual virtues and education to be held at LMU in the summer of 2013.