Habits of Mind
We lean on Riverdale’s Habits of Mind and Heart as we continue to improve our school culture and practices. Habits of mind are a set of thinking characteristics that help people develop their critical and creative thinking skills. They are the characteristics of what people do about problems whose resolution is not immediately apparent. That is, these are the mental habits individuals can develop to render their thinking and learning more self-regulated.
As explained by expert Arthur L. Costa, "Educational outcomes in traditional settings focus on how many answers a student knows. When we teach for the Habits of Mind, we are interested also in how students behave when they don't know an answer."
He asks: What behaviors indicate an efficient, effective thinker? What do human beings do when they behave intelligently? Vast research suggests that effective thinkers and peak performers have identifiable characteristics, referred to as the Habits of Mind, which can be taught, cultivated, observed and assessed. We want students to learn how to develop a critical stance with their work: inquiring, editing, thinking flexibly and learning from another person's perspective.
The Habits of Mind are performed in response to questions and problems, the answers to which are not immediately known. Each Habit of Mind is a pattern of intellectual behaviors that leads to productive actions. In essence, a composite of many skills, attitudes, cues, past experiences and proclivities that help determine how best to react to a particular situation with which one is faced.
To learn more about developing the Habits of Mind and a Growth Mindset, consider reading “Mindset” by Carol Dweck and “Learning and Leading with Habits of Mind” by Arthur L. Costa and Benna Kallick.