Why Habits of Mind?

Our thinking interdependently story to date

By Art Costa, Bena Kallick, and Allison Zmuda

In the spirit of the Habits of Mind, we always enjoy a provocation that pushes us to deepen and clarify our thinking. James’ email exchange and YouTube video served as just such a provocation. He asked the question that was troubling him — Why Habits of Mind? He developed his thinking by framing the why as a way to be successful in solving problems.

I’m feeling like we might all be a little too close to the Habits. We are "Habit-centric", if you will. We (nearly) always start with the Habit. We say the Habits are important because they help us... - acting intelligently, growth potential, create a thoughtful world, produce feelings, attributes for employment, living productively etc

Put bluntly, it’s too altruistic. It doesn’t connect easily to the student or the individual. Ask most people what they want, and although they might care about the why’s we list, it’s not the problem they are trying to solve. Most people want to be able to solve their problems. Not other people’s problems. Not problems generally. Their. Specific.

Problems.

But we come along and say “I want to tell you about the Habits of Mind…” when perhaps we should be saying “I want to tell you how I can help you solve your problems…” Perhaps we should play with the idea of not being the “Institute for Habits of Mind” but rather be “The institute for solutions”.

Something a friend told me a while back, that I may have share with you already, really struck me. He said "the Habits of Mind are a solution looking for a problem”. I think that’s a powerful insight.

The Habits of Mind are timeless, because they’ll always help you solve your problems. But they’ll be valuable when people know they’ll help them solve their specific current problems.

As we considered this over the past several weeks, we found two aspects of his thinking that sent us off on our historic pathway to clarify what we believe to be the why for Habits of Mind. The two key distinctions are: (1) we believe that HOM does not always lead to successful solutions, but it is likely to lead to more effective problem solvers and (2) problem solving and posing

problems are only one of our habits out of 16. We find immense value as well in how the other 15 continue to deepen thinking and grow the potential for a more thoughtful world both now and in the future. This is the way we would describe our “why”:

● human capacities for thinking and acting intelligently which, when developed and applied, produce feelings of confidence, positivity, self-efficacy and hope;

● the capacities as dynamic with growth potential

● capacities that answer the question—who does the thinking?

● desirable attributes for employment and success in reaching life goals.

● attributes necessary for living productively in a complex future world.

To help us challenge and clarify our perspectives, we took an historical journey through the past 40 years. This first was borne out of Art Costa’s work on Intelligent Behaviors (Costa, 1981). In the 1980’s, the national educational emphasis was on mastering subject area content as measured on achievement tests. This concerned him deeply as there was limited focus on the capacity as educators to develop intelligent behaviors of students. Additionally, during this time IQ tests were still thought to be valid as a marker of intelligence; investigation was limited to microfiche, physical card catalogs, and encyclopedias; and teachers with the resources they identified were the basis for inquiry. Art was clear about the need to think critically and creatively as central to their growth as problem solvers and finders. Art put together Developing Minds (ASCD, 1991) where he brought together philosophers, cognitive psychologists, researchers who were all focused on the development of thinking. As he studied what all of the contributors were saying, there was a real pattern in thinking and initially naming the 16 habits began to clarify the skills, behaviors, and dispositions central to growing efficacious thinkers.

When Bena partnered with Art and brought her work with group dynamics and alternative assessments in the mid 1980s, the interplay of their ideas became the basis for honing the intelligent behaviors into 16 Habits of Mind which turned into our first book Assessment in the Learning Organization (ASCD, 1995). Our collaborative work became so generative through teaching and learning in the field as well as through many collaborative conversations as we proceeded to write many more books and articles. Our influence opened up a broader network of international educators. When we were asked by Tom Guskey and Bob Marzano to write a book in their assessment series, we established a position for self-direction and self-assessment.

Many of our books included chapters from practitioners from the field because we always wanted to give an opportunity to have voice and inspire others through their work with students. We were the first presenters with ASCD to invite students to present with us. We were always concerned about bringing students to the center of our work which led Bena to discover enormous synergy with Allison Zmuda and her work with personalized learning. Developing

Students at the Center: Personalized Learning with Habits of Mind started the collaborative journey with Allison. Our Habits of Mind work has become strengthened by her thinking and is now so synonymous with our mission and continued development as an Institute that we invited her to join as a co-Director.

Over the years during many social, political, scientific, and economic changes, the 16 Habits of Mind still stand and the application in practice has grown our thinking. The Habits of Mind are adaptive given the context and circumstances of the world. The language of the dispositions is (and has always been) intentionally framed in positive, growth-oriented language. Each states a positive behavior and each starts with a verb that ends in “ing” to signify that it is always a behavior we can get better at and grow with.

We have never lost our passion as we continuously observe the power of the Habits of Mind. The growth is a result of our own observations deepened by our connection to the field. We have seen Habits of Mind in schools over the past 30 years and we have evidence of what it has done for teachers, students, and parents. That is the continuous learning journey that we have been on and we encourage others to join us. We are hopeful that as we age, Allison will bring the next generation of thinkers into the work. It is not a program but an on-going, dynamic set of relationships that are dedicated to the Habits of Mind as critical dispositions for thinking.

In conclusion, the answer to the question why Habits of Mind? would be different in each stage along the road of maturity. At the beginning, yes, it was for better more thoughtful problem-solving. However today, we see that it is even more powerful than that. It’s a way of thinking that, when confronting tasks or making decisions, it slows us down to consider alternatives, to consider other people, to consider history, and the situation. It is the act of better discovery learning: about surfacing and resolving problems, appreciating others, sensing situations, and most importantly, deepening self-awareness, self-control and self-understanding.

Aristotle said that what distinguishes us as human beings is our capacity to think and be rational. We believe that is why the HOM will always be important although they may be interpreted in light of the world in which they are being acted upon.

References

Barrett, L F., 7 ½ Lessons about the brain. New York: Houghton Mifflin 2020

Claxton, G. (2002) Building Learning Power: Helping Young People Become Better Learners)m

Costa. A. (1981) “Teaching for intelligent Behaviors.” Educational Leadership v39 n1 p29-31 Oct 1981

Kallick, B. & Zmuda, A. (2017) Students at the Center: Personalized Learning with Habits of Mind .Alexandria, VA: ASCD,