Revised Open Letter to IHOM Group
Author: Art Costa, Bena Kallick, and Allison Zmuda
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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.
Firstly, I think that the video is fantastic, it certainly promotes discussion, thinking, and debate, and I agree with much of what you say.
In my journey, I have all but abandoned the ‘big rubrics’ for the very reasons which you have stated.
I personally believe that ‘small rubrics’ have enormous value and utility, and are indeed essential in reaching the next stage, which I also agree is to move towards personal and problem profiles.
I think the real challenge is that in order to achieve this, we have to be very clear about:
What complex and authentic problems it is we wish our students to solve.
What the HoM (across all 5 dimensions) actually look like within the context of the problem.
In a nutshell, I only see the HoM profile having true utility if a school has an extremely well documented and articulated curriculum which includes authentic performance assessments which spiral in complexity as students journey through the grade levels.
Otherwise, if we are not clear about what kind of problems it is that we wish the students to solve, a profile becomes somewhat aribrary based on the whims of what an individual teacher may choose to be assessing his/her students on at any given time.
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.
I have introduced the Four Elements of Personalized Learning to teachers in NYC. It really helps them to be more learner-centered. It is also nicely aligned to Zaretta Hammond’s Academic Mindset.
Perhaps this is the time to move education in the direction Art and Bena have envisioned for decades. There is a need to teach differently and it’s an opportunity we might seize.
I think it’s important to note the context of my provocation was given in the two para’s preceding those quoted. I wrote in my email to Art, Bena and Allison:
“I’ve been thinking deeply about this question, and pulling together threads of my thinking over the past few years… reflecting on things that have resonated, and things that haven’t…. As you know I’ve been asking why the Habits aren’t currently on the same level as Covey, Gardner, De Bono, Dweck etc.
If you, Art and Allison will allow me to be a little bit provocative, I’d like to challenge our why and take a different perspective that might make the Habits more attractive to a wider audience."
So my question is not so much what is the “why” of the Habits of Mind. But rather what is our customers why? What drives our customers? And how can understanding this help us better connect with them so they want to engage more with the Habits of Mind?
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.
The HoM are a journey. A journey that yields massive positive changes if taken earnestly and with committment. Personally I have felt myself change enormously over the past 6 years after encounterimg the HoM. I am at the stage where I think that they have almost spiritual power. Tools through which one can reach a sense of inner peace and connect with a higher power. I think that some interesting work could be carried out mappimg the HoM to religious texts across time and space.
I am not sure if the purpose should be to ‘sell’ the HoM to customers, but if it was, then I think ‘A set of life-enhacing tools’ would be the way to go.
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.
I think I’ve taken the reverse perceptive and might suggest that we develop and apply our Habits of Mind in order to have agency, and act upon the world. The Habits of Mind will always be valuable because they allow us to be efficacious in a changing world.
I have also been thinking deeply about the ‘why’ and I do think that there are a couple of contemporary issues which bring the HoM to the forefront and change the way we need to think about them.
They are slightly different but highly interrelated: Lack of viewpoint diversity and polarisation.
It is crystal clear that the world has in some sense lost the ability to have mature conversations on important matters. One perfect example is Covid-19. Essentially the world has polarised into two camps: 1) The collective trumps individual rights, aithoritarian measures need to be imposed as civilians cannot be trusted to exercise personal responsibility, and we need to force vaccinate our children.
2) The whole thing is some sort of hoax implemented to promote fear and increase government control.
Both camps are wrong.
“The deliberate removal of nuance is tyrrany” and this is what both camps are doing.
The HoM are needed to reach a balanced, rationale view of the situation.
Almost all of the HoM are relevant here, but perhaps most importantly:
Listening with Understanding with Empathy: What are the reasons that people hold these irrational views?How can we use what we know about that to connect with them?
Thinking Flexibly: How can we look at multiple perspectives to make informed decisions?
Thinking Interdependently: How can we work together, rather than against eachother, to find solutions which benefit all parties?
Collecting data through all senses: How can we actually use data and scientific methods to inform policy decisions as opposed to a pseudo-religious adherence to self-proclaimed voices of scientific authority?
Applying past knowledge: Pandemics are nothing new, so how can we apply what we have learnt from history to guide our thinking?
Metacognition: Why do I believe what I believe about the issue? Am I open to new data to change my thinking?
Thinking and communicating with clarity and precision: How can I sift through the waves of emotion to think rationally on the issue? How can I focus my thinking on the pertinent matters at hand rather than be distracted by tangents and gaslighting?
Striving for accuracy and precision: How can I accurately collect and analyse data to change my thinkng in a rapidly changing environment rather than cherry-pick data to support a political standpoint?
Question and Problem Posing: What are the questions that I should be asking? How can I formulate relevant, focused questions in order to collect useful data and information to inform my views and behaviours?
The other part of this is related to the phenomenon of people thinking it is somehow weak to change one’s opinion. People thinking that they have to entrench themself in a certain camp, rather than see pros and cons of multiple viewpoints. People thinking that there is right and wrong, good and bad, the right and wrong side of history, information and misnformation, and a multitude of clearly fallacious logical standpoints.
We need the HoM to create a new era where it is looked upon as a positive trait to change one’s opinion when presented with superior arguments and evidence.
This work needs to be done in K-12, and I am even thinking about implementing such a a statement as a schoolwide learner outcome.
In summary, this is a good example of how the HoM take new forms and importance based on the contemporary issues of the day.
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,
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