Knowledge

Every once in a while you hear or read something that sticks in your head. This summer, when I was teaching a class to heads of school on working with parents and boards of trustees, I referenced a quote that remains stuck in my head. Here is what I shared with my colleagues:

In an article that I wrote for the quarterly publication Montessori Life, "Heading a Montessori School," I quoted from a talk head of school Bodi Brizendine gave to a group of heads in 2003. She was quoting from 19th Century philosopher and author George Eliot on how she categorized knowledge:

"The lowest level of knowledge, opinion, is readily available, and then fact is the next level in the hierarchy of knowledge; but the third and highest level of knowledge — and the most difficult to achieve — is empathy."