Page 3 -
P. 3









Additionally, students volunteered to research a Habit order to be successful and of course this is entirely
and present stories to the whole-school assembly of how consistent with the central idea of the Habits of Mind, in
a particular Habit was displayed. A variety of contexts that they are the sixteen behaviours of highly successful
and stories were told but each added another piece in people.
the knowledge and understanding of Habits of Mind in
our learning community. One of the Cornerstones of Thinking about Your
our College is the religious dimension and all staff and
students attend Chapels twice a week. Some students Thinking (Metacognition)
organise and present Chapel services during term time There was a constant need to evaluate
and it has been very pleasing to see that some students and reflect on the productiveness of our
have chosen a Habit of Mind’’ as the central theme for thoughts, strategies, feelings and actions.
their Chapel lesson. At the Expo we will share and make
these available so everyone gets an idea of how that It does, however, seem very important that learning
particular Habit has been infused and incorporated into communities do reflect on success (metacognition) and
student thinking. that they do sincerely attempt to explain why successful
people are indeed successful. The Habits of Mind make
Creating, Imagining and up a framework which explains the behaviours very
successful people employ to give them an edge.
Innovating
The posters have been very significant in the infusion
We thought outside the square, tried of Habits into the teaching, thinking and learning culture
different ways and pushed boundaries across the community. Each person highlighted gets to
as we sought ways to infuse Habits of Mind into the take the poster home and it is clear that a quiet sense of
thinking, teaching and learning culture. pride and achievement results.
Next we sent six staff to the ‘Powerful Learning’ Responding with
Conference in Auckland in mid 2005. Among others,
Art Costa presented a keynote address and supported Wonderment and Awe
this with workshops. All six of our staff attended Celebrating and feeling good about
Art’s presentation and all came away impressed success is one of the key factors in
and enlightened. This was a costly exercise for the determining whether that behaviour is valued, repeated
College but invaluable in spreading the knowledge and and copied.
understanding of the benefits Habits of Mind can deliver.
Lindisfarne has become actively involved in the
Each student at our College has his own Homework International Boys’ Schools Coalition and our particular
Diary. We summarised and published the sixteen Habits focus has been the ‘Good Man Project’ where we are
of Mind in our College diary, making it available to the looking at the attributes and characteristics of what
entire learning community, including parents. This action makes a man a Good Man. There seemed a clear link
also subtly said, ‘this is important’ and added another between the attributes of a Good Man and the Habits
piece to the Habits of Mind jigsaw. of Mind. Indeed the writer of this article believes that
Many of us in the College strongly believe that Habits the sixteen Habits precisely define the behaviour of a
of Mind are a very effective framework to explain why Good Man. They are positive attributes which provide
our high achievers are so successful. As a result we a framework to define a Good Man. As a result, two
compiled and published posters of our high achievers display posters were produced which made the link
which used the Habits of Mind framework to explain why and these will be available and shared at the Expo.
they were successful. Essentially the posters list and define the behaviours
of a successful boy and relate them to the Habits of
We used the Habits of Mind language and listed how a Good Man. It is presented as a matching task and
each Habit had been used to explain success. We were once again displayed in places where boys gather. They
very careful to ensure that the successes we highlighted provide students with an informal opportunity to think
covered academic, sporting, cultural and spiritual about and relate to two important initiatives. Again the
dimension so there was balance. sixteen Habits of Mind icons are a visual link between
These students were highlighted as role models within the two sides of the poster. We thought making this link
our own learning community which seemed to add between the Good Man project and the Habits of Mind
value to their impact. They included a colour photo of was crucial because there is a real danger that confusion
the person we were acknowledging and have been one can arise when a whole range of different (but related)
of the real success stories in terms of infusing Habits languages is being used. The Habits of Mind give
of Mind into the teaching, learning and thinking culture precision and accuracy to defining what makes a Good
within the College. Those highlighted get a huge buzz – Man, and as such are so powerful and relevant.
‘a sense of awe’. Being acknowledged is clearly valued Thinking Flexibly
and many students have actively asked to be published
in a Habits Success Poster. These are laminated in A3 There were always options and
format and displayed in public places about the school. alternatives. We had to keep an open
mind and be prepared to consider other
What has become quite obvious is that there is a
similarity in the Habits each student has displayed in options in the light of additional data or
experience.



Australian National Schools Network and Learning Network New Zealand • 21
   1   2   3   4   5   6