A New Taxonomy of the Positive Sides of the Human Being – Inspiration for Pedagogy and Educational Psychology

This overview gives an account of the work of specialists conducting research on positive phenomena in teaching and psychology. Using selected examples it illustrates some directions in Czech educational research into positive characteristics of teachers and pupils. The core of the account is a new taxonomy of the strong sides of human strengths that has been created by a team of American psychologists led by C. Peterson and M. E. Seligman (2004). The account first draws attentions to the problems associated with defining and ordering the strengths of the human being. It then presents the taxonomy itself, which contains six basic human vir-tues: 1. Wisdom and knowledge, 2. Courage, 3. Humanity, 4. Justice, 5. Moderation, and 6. Transcendence. These virtues are then elaborated into 24 strong sides of the human character. The study then presents four diagnostic methods for identifying the strengths of human character, including the VIA-Youth questionnaire intended for children and adolescents. The study draws attention to the potential applications of the new taxonomy not just in educational psychology, but above all in theoretical fields of education and in teaching practise.