The walking teacher: saints, heroes, and sages ‘in potential’

Abstract

Traditionally, exemplarism has been considered one complex and controversial educational strategy. In recent years, there has been an increasing interest in modeling due to Linda Zagzebski’s Exemplarist Moral Theory. Since then, considerable attention has been given to the contribution that the theory of exemplarism can provide to virtue acquisition. One of the current discussions in the topic concerns the model or exemplar, his or her ideal character, the distance or closeness from the novice to provide an effective methodology which enables to complete the exemplarist dynamic. In the field of education, this issue is applicable to the relationship between the educator and the student, where the educator is the exemplar and the student the novice who can admire or be inspired by the model. In the pages that follow, I attempt to propose the best possible model for the educational context which I describe as the walking teacher in which humility as a virtue is distinguished.