In my book, Beyond Virtue: The Politics of Educating Emotions (Cambridge University Press 2021), I discuss ‘emotional virtues’—emotions and emotion-related dispositions which have moral importance—from psychological, philosophical, cross-cultural, and political perspectives. As I show, the nature of virtue differs according to these views, unfolding into different implications for education. In this seminar, I focus on the virtue of humility. Humility is often dismissed in western society given the priorities of confidence, competitiveness, and equality. However in many other cultures, such as in Chinese society, humility is highly valued. While the value of humility is worth questioning in educational contexts, so too is the value of confident knowing given the limits of personal knowledge.
Liz Jackson is Professor in the Department of International Education at the Education University of Hong Kong. She is also the Immediate Past President of the Philosophy of Education Society of Australasia and Former Director of the Comparative Education Research Centre at the University of Hong Kong. Her most recent books include Beyond Virtue: The Politics of Educating Emotions (2021), Contesting Education and Identity in Hong Kong (2021), and Questioning Allegiance: Resituating Civic Education (2019).