As consultants who infuse the “Habits of Mind” into schools, the authors explain how spreading these habits through school can increase the whole school’s well-being and feed teacher efficacy. They list seven factors that can create a “culture of efficacy” that draws on these 16 habits (thinking dispositions at the core of social, emotional, and cognitive behaviors). 

Building a Culture of Efficacy with Habits of Mind

Arthur L. Costa

Bena Kallick

Allison Zmuda

Building a Culture of Efficacy with Habits of Mind (thumbnail)

1121_Costa_CIENPIES DESIGN_SHUTTERSTOCK_1963837612

Professional development / learning

Capacity building

Teamwork

School improvement and reform

School and district leadership

School climate and culture

Habits of Mind

Whole Child

Supported (whole child)

Social-emotional learning

Professional Learning

Students need specific thinking—or Habits of Mind—to engage with problems and become self-directed learners, write Arthur L. Costa, Bena Kallick, Jay McTighe, and Allison Zmuda. A curricular approach based on enhancing students' understanding of conceptually significant, transferable ideas can help schools teach these dispositions.

Dispositions by Design

Jay McTighe

Dispositions by Design thumbnail

0320_54-59_ANA_CECILIA

Critical thinking

Understanding by Design

Instructional Strategies

"We might view the movement rom teacher-directed to student-driven learning as a set of controls, much like the controls on an audio sound board," write Bena Kallick and Allison Zmuda. For each element of personalization, the teacher can turn the volume up or down, amplifying or reducing the amount of student agency depending on the subject matter and students' needs. In this article, Kallick and Zmuda show how seven elements of personalization (goals, inquiry and idea generation, task and audience, evaluation, feedback, instructional plan, and cumulative demonstration of learning) change as teachers move toward greater student control.

Orchestrating the Move to Student-Driven Learning

Orchestrating the Move to Student-Driven Learning thumbnail

0317_m_shutterstock_230533051_DL

Challenged (whole child)

People use various terms to refer to traits and tendencies connected to social-emotional behavior and ways of thinking or approaching problems—from 21st century skills to mindsets to habits of mind. Such traits are also often called soft skills or non-cognitive skills. The authors contend that these latter terms imply that these traits and abilities are less cognitively challenging, less measurable, and less important to teach students as we prepare them for life. They discuss how the terms soft, non-cognitive, and even skills don't do justice to the qualities and the importance of practices like drawing on past knowledge and empathizing or traits like resilience. Claxton, Costa, and Kallick argue for using the term dispositions to refer to these essential learnings and discuss both questions and strategies connected to teaching students such dispositions.

Hard Thinking about Soft Skills

Hard Thinking about Soft Skills- thumbnail

shutterstock_424758337

Communication

Collaboration

Creativity

21st century learning

How to Listen with Empathy

Listening and speaking

How to Listen with Empathy (thumbnail)

Costa_Aug26

Establishing a Three-Way Relationship in Service of Deeper Learning

Giselle Martin-Kniep

Formative assessment

Deeper Learning

Establishing a three-way relationship in service of deeper learning (thumbnail)

Kids raising hands to answer in an elementary school class; Shutterstock ID 388667407

shutterstock_388667407

Classroom Management

Four Attributes To Grow a Personalized Learning Culture

Student Voice

Student engagement and motivation

Four Attributes To Grow a Personalized Learning Culture - thumbnail

Engagement

Nurturing Habits of Mind in Early Childhood: Success Stories from Classrooms Around the World (Print Book)

Soft Cover

Print Books

Nurturing Habits of Mind in Early Childhood: Success Stories from Classrooms Around the World

Cultivating Habits of Mind (Print Book)

Quick Reference Guides

Cultivating Habits of Mind

Cultivating Habits of Mind (Quick Reference Guide)

Personalizing Learning in Your Classroom (Print Book)

Personalizing Learning in Your Classroom

Personalizing Learning in Your Classroom (Quick Reference Guide)

Students at the Center: Personalized Learning with Habits of Mind (Print Book)

Students at the Center: Personalized Learning with Habits of Mind

Habits of Mind Across the Curriculum: Practical and Creative Strategies for Teachers (Print Book)

Habits of Mind Across the Curriculum: Practical and Creative Strategies for Teachers

Learning and Leading with Habits of Mind: 16 Essential Characteristics for Success (Print Book)

Learning and Leading with Habits of Mind: 16 Essential Characteristics for Success

Author

bena_kallick

Bena Kallick

About

Expertise

Articles by Bena

Building a Culture of Efficacy with Habits of Mind

Dispositions by Design

Orchestrating the Move to Student-Driven Learning

Hard Thinking about Soft Skills

Blogs by Bena

Arthur L. Costa & Bena Kallick et al.

How to Listen with Empathy

Bena Kallick & Giselle Martin-Kniep et al.

Establishing a Three-Way Relationship in Service of Deeper Learning

Bena Kallick & Allison Zmuda et al.

Four Attributes To Grow a Personalized Learning Culture

Books by Bena

Write for ASCD

To process a transaction with a Purchase Order please send to member@ascd.org