Completed: Teaching for Wisdom

Principal Investigators: R. J. Sternberg and E. L. Grigorenko
Project Coordinator: Linda Jarvin

Description: Many students and, indeed, adults, are intelligent but not wise. They may have admirable records in school and even on the job, yet make poor judgments in their own lives and for the lives of others. For example, they may be egocentric, taking their own needs into account but not the needs of others. In this project, we will be testing Sternberg's balance theory of wisdom by applying it to instruction at the middle school level. In particular, the question addressed is whether students who are taught their regular subject-matter knowledge with infusion of the balance theory of wisdom show increased wisdom-related skills relative to students who are taught in conventional ways. All students will be pre-tested and post-tested on measures designed to assess their wisdom and wisdom-related skills. We will be looking in particular at their ability to use their intelligence in the service of a common good, balancing their own interests with those of other people and of institutions. We expect to find that wisdom can be taught, and that the students who are taught for wisdom show greater increases in wisdom and wisdom-related skills from pre-test to post-test than those who are taught in conventional ways.

Funding Agency: William T. Grant Foundation
IRB Approval by: Yale University Faculty of Arts and Science Committee on Research Involving Human Subjects. This project is approved and exempt under 45 CFR 46.101b1.
Funding Period: September 1, 2000 - August 31, 2004
Award Amount: $309,265