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phases of the teaching framework. This feedback For effective learning to occur
spiral is very important as it provides a vehicle for the
consolidation and enhancement of the Habits of Mind in classrooms teachers need to
and their component attitudes, skills and behaviours. consider what to teach and how to
5. Demonstrated Performance. The fifth phase, teach it in a meaningful way.
demonstrated performance, refers to situations in
which students are provided with the opportunity
to apply their Habits of Mind in the completion of Rich tasks are one avenue for teaching disciplinary and
meaningful tasks. These opportunities can occur transdisciplinary knowledge and processes in meaningful
in a part of a classroom lesson or can last several contexts. They provide a means for ‘opening’ up
weeks and use a variety of learning experiences and the curriculum, catering for differentiation in learning
assessment methods. and creating connections. Rich tasks respond to the
research conducted by Anderson et al. (1994) that calls
For example, in preparation for a high stakes test for teachers to teach important concepts and processes
a teacher may deliberately develop the students’ to greater depth rather than teaching more content (less
capacities in being persistent, striving for accuracy is more).
and communicating with clarity and precision. The
students may be given in the preparation phase a A rich task is concerned with the core ideas of the
number of times to demonstrate their performance in discipline, including subject specific knowledge,
“trial” papers, and receive feedback and reflect upon thinking processes and Habits of Mind. It develops
their performance in addition to performance on the student understanding by focusing on the learning
final test. Alternatively, students may be assessed and application of these central ideas in a meaningful
in their ability to use one or more of the Habits of context. A rich task should capture the spirit and
Minds in the completion of an assignment task at the essence of what the discipline and topic is about, why
end of the unit, with a part of the assessment criteria it is important and how it is used, as well as develop
focusing on students’ use of the Habits of Mind. generic thinking processes, skills and Habits of Mind
that are necessary attributes in learning across discipline
Is This Different? areas. Identifying the key parts of a topic requires
looking beyond traditional pedagogy that is linked with
At first glance it may be reasonable to ask if this the development of facts and skills to explore how it
framework is any different from what good teachers do can be used in the ‘real world’. Through the use of
in their classrooms. In fact, the common sense nature a rich task students and teachers are challenged to
of the framework is an inherent strength, but also the actively engage in the learning process and explore
greatest danger to teachers’ thinking about the teaching the application of knowledge and the epistemology of
of the Habits of Mind. the discipline. By being embedded in a meaningful
context, a rich task should make the topic accessible by
While teachers have always sought to intuitively connecting to real life. By being accessible, a rich task
develop the kinds of intellectual behaviours that the can also be motivating. A rich task, no matter whether
Habits of Mind describe, the extent to which these it is expressed as a question or a phrase, should ask
intellectual behaviours are deliberately developed is students to gain, refine, extend and apply knowledge,
less common. For instance, a science experiment, a develop learning processes and attend to the growth of
historical investigation or a poetry analysis can all be their Habits of Mind.
engaging activities that provide furtive ground for the
deliberate teaching of the Habits of Mind. But, typically, For effective learning to occur in classrooms teachers
teachers do not press their students to think beyond the need to consider what to teach and how to teach
disciplinary based understandings that they are pursuing it in a meaningful way. Although research findings,
and deliberately focus on the development of students’ textbook designers and other curriculum experts
Habits of Mind that enable the development of this provide resources to aid teachers in answering these
disciplinary understanding and are important outcomes questions, effective teaching requires more than using
in their own right. The framework provides a language the knowledge or materials of others. Teachers have
and structure for teachers to use in order to discuss and an important and significant decision-making role in
focus their efforts in the development of their students’ the design and implementation of learning experiences
Habits of Mind. That is, it provides a vehicle by which in their classrooms. These decisions include how to
the teaching of the Habits of Mind is made visible. engage students actively in the learning process, how
to make the content meaningful, and how to foster
Rich Tasks connections amongst the concepts, ideas, processes,
attitudes and behaviours contained within a unit in order
The framework for teaching Habits of Mind can be to enable student understanding. Consequently, a
explored in combination with the teaching of rich tasks key question becomes: “How can teachers focus their
to provide an example of how the curriculum can be curriculum to provide meaningful learning experiences for
reconceptualised in order to invigorate student learning, students so that they develop an in-depth understanding
develop students’ understandings of key ideas and of important knowledge, processes and dispositions?”
concepts, and explore and investigate the deliberate
teaching of intelligent behaviors, actions and attitudes. The use of rich tasks in the learning process provides
a pathway to realising the visions of the various subject
Australian National Schools Network and Learning Network New Zealand • 3