Humility in the classroom: On questioning the Sage on the Stage Approach

Abstract: Humility manifests in a recognition of self-limits. While scholars have demonstrated the importance of humility for servant leadership and employee empowerment, and have linked humility to job performance in care-oriented roles, little work has explored the role of humility in the classroom to encourage student learning. While the traditional “sage on the stage” approach may discourage humility in the classroom by pinning student learning on the expertise of the lecturer, experiential approaches may require a humble facilitator as these approaches place the student’s experience at the center of learning. In this roundtable discussion, participants will explore the benefits and limitations of humility in the classroom and will share their experiences with overcoming barriers to displaying humility.