Cultivating Good Minds: A Philosophical & Practical Guide to Educating for Intellectual Virtues

By using this resource guide, you will:

• Learn about 9 foundational intellectual virtues.
  
• Gain practical insight to test in your own classroom.
  
• Learn the mindset of educating for intellectual virtues.
  
• Discover new ways to form your students' growing minds.
  
• Explore principles & tips to optimize student performance.
• Grow as an effective teacher or administrator.
  

About this ebook:

Philosopher Jason Baehr presents a comprehensive resource guide for educators who are passionate about having a deep and lasting impact on the minds of their students.

Spanning 562 pages and 34 chapters, the guide presents both the philosophical principles and practical strategies at the core of an intellectual virtues approach to education. Special attention is given to 9 foundational virtues -- curiosity, autonomy, humility, attentiveness, carefulness, thoroughness, open-mindedness, courage, and tenacity. These are the same virtues at the heart of the Intellectual Virtues Academy, a successful charter middle school in Long Beach, CA. IVA was co-founded by Baehr and is systematically implementing an intellectual virtues model of education. 

Chapter List:

PART 1. WHAT ARE INTELLECTUAL VIRTUES & WHY ARE THEY IMPORTANT?

1. What Are Intellectual Virtues? 16

2. Why Educate for Intellectual Virtues? 26

3. Objections to Educating for Intellectual Virtues 44

PART 2. A CLOSER LOOK AT 9 KEY VIRTUES

4. Curiosity: Asking Good Questions 57

5. Intellectual Autonomy: Thinking for Yourself 70

6. Intellectual Humility: Admitting Your Limitations 79

7. Attentiveness: Looking and Listening 93

8. Intellectual Carefulness: Avoiding Errors 104

9. Intellectual Thoroughness: Going Deep 117

10. Open-Mindedness: Thinking Outside of the Box 126

11. Intellectual Courage: Taking Intellectual Risks 139

12. Intellectual Tenacity: Embracing Struggle 150

PART 3. FOSTERING INTELLECTUAL VIRTUES OUTSIDE THE CLASSROOM

13. Framing Principles 164

14. Purpose 185

15. Culture 204

16. School Leader 223

17. Teachers 234

18. Other Stakeholders 245

19. A Virtues-Based Advisory 258

PART 4. FOSTERING INTELLECTUAL VIRTUES INSIDE THE CLASSROOM

20. A Safe and Supportive Classroom Environment 274

21. Strategic Use of Time and Space 291

22. Direct Instruction 305

23. Self-Knowledge 336

24. Value and Meaning 351

25. Integrating Virtues Language Into Instruction 362

26. Creating Opportunities to Practice Intellectual Virtues 373

27. Deep Understanding 391

28. Ongoing Feedback 407

29. Authentic Modeling 423

30. Intellectual Therapy 436

31. Mission Mindfulness 451

32. Risk-Taking 460

33. Motivation and Feelings 474

34. Identity 485

APPENDICES

A. Varieties of Character: Moral, Civic, Performance, and Intellectual 497

B. Two Classifications of Intellectual Virtues 513

C. Intellectual Character Education: Roles and Responsibilities 519

D. Assessing Intellectual Character Growth 524

References 543

Acknowledgements 556

About the Author 562