Actualizing Wisdom, Compassion, and Courage in Our Classrooms: A Self-Study of Human Education

Abstract

As teacher educators, we examined through collaborative self-study our teaching practices in world language and educational leadership courses. Using Japanese educator Daisaku Ikeda’s notion of ‘human education’ – a holistic cultivation of intellect/wisdom, emotion/compassion, and will/courage – as the framework, we asked: How can we as teacher educators educate more holistically using the framework of human education? How does using Ikeda’s human education as a framework for our teaching change the way we see ourselves as teacher educators? The primary data consisted of journal entries and dialogic reflections with each other as critical friends. In addition, we examined syllabi, course materials, and formal and informal student feedback. Through thematic analysis, we present the data that best represent our understanding and change in our practice of cultivating intellect/wisdom, emotion/compassion, and will/courage. We also reflect on how this self-study using Ikeda’s human education helped us grow as teacher educators by considering our responsibilities more broadly. As one of the first studies to empirically examine the manifestation and embodiment of human education in teacher education practices, it introduces a non-Western perspective rooted in Buddhist humanism to the S-STEP community. We hope our vignettes make practical a holistic approach that cultivates the whole student and provide other teachers and teacher educators examples of using a non-Western perspective to guide their teaching practices.