How might a nurse in a critical care unit practice wisdom? How could a university administrator apply wisdom to improve academic performance? How can an artist engage with wisdom in their gallery showing? These are possible scenarios tackled in the new book Wisdom in practice: Conceptions, perspectives, and development. This open access book is edited by Stephen Billett of Griffith University, Brisbane, Australia and by Hannu L. T. Heikkinen, Päivi Tynjälä, and Maarit H. Virolainen of the Finnish Institute of Educational Research (FIER), University of Jyväskylä, Finland. Their book is divided into four parts and presents findings from the four year Wisdom in Practice (WiP) program funded through the Research Counsil of Finland intended to inform pedagogical approaches for enhancing wisdom.
Wisdom in Practice:
The editors noted the intent and goals of both the book and the WiP program are targeted towards critical environmental and social goals which they view can best be addressed through wise practice informed by individuals collaborating with knowledge situated in a broad set of localised and strategic understandings and capabilities with a firm sense of personal values and making judgements based upon socially justifiable premises. It is through addressing these goals in ways that consider both the strategic and long-term outcomes, with micro processes at the local level that are most likely to be effective.” Their work covers a breadth of topics including how experts develop wise practice, how philosophical traditions inform developing wisdom in working life and higher education, and how various disciplines can relay wisdom attributes in different fields. The sections are based on the elements of the WiP program: i) contemporary imperative, current concepts and development; ii) historical perspectives; iii) empirically driven perspectives; and iv) developing wise practice.
The book is downloadable by chapter through Springer Nature and includes work by a variety of scholars on the WiP project team. These include chapters such as Wisdom in Practice: Imperatives and Purposes contributed by the editors which frames wisdom in practice, its purpose, and how it might best be developed. The chapter titled The Philosophical Origins of Wisdom in Practice: Phronēsis and Sophia Grounded in Moral Virtues written by Anu S. Virtanen and Eeva K. Kallio focuses on contemporary wisdom and its philosophical origins. Learning to Be Wise in Practice and Exercise Wisdom in Practice written by Stephen Billett, Maarit Virolainen, Päivi Tynjälä, and Anh Hai Le discusses how wisdom arises through a range of educative experiential learning. Education and Wise Practice: Practitioners’ Perspective by Maarit Virolainen, Anu S. Virtanen, Päivi Tynjälä, Ella Pitkäranta, Stephen Billett, and Anh Hai Le closes the book and delves into how tertiary education can support capacities for wisdom.
Ultimately, the progress of the work and the open access book demonstrate how we all might take steps towards practicing wisdom in daily life and in our work. Their work and the book is not esoteric and only for the few but advances wisdom research and its applications, as Dr. Billet stated “so it is not the old wise man sitting in the cave dispensing wisdom, but rather the individual who is embedded within and engaging collaboratively and situationally to address complex problems.”
You can find out more about the Wisdom in Practice program by visiting the University of Jyväskylä projects page and read the full book online at Springer Nature.
