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but that you know how to learn new stuff and you can may ask students to state the Habits of the Mind the
think for yourself.’ character displayed in the book. Outside, but directly
linked to that statement, we get students to justify the
Many Habits of Mind are embodied in these statements Habit of Mind stated by requiring them to evidence
and they have been important aspects in the infusion and explain why that Habit of Mind was attributed.
of Habits of Mind into the teaching, learning and Sometimes their choice is evidenced by a direct quote
management which goes on in our classrooms. They with page reference. We have found the quality of the
give powerful messages over time when persistently thinking is significantly enhanced because students
focussed on. It is critical that when you don’t know have a structure (Thinking Map) and a framework (HOM)
something you ask ‘What is the most intelligent thing to attribute qualities. This map is then the prewriting
I can do now to find a solution?’ and we believe this thinking plan which can be presented as a written
question and the actions you subsequently take are at character review.
the very heart of success and achievement.
In Social Studies, which is primarily about people and
Since 2005 we have incorporated Habits of the Mind their interactions with other groups, we use a similar
into our ‘Reward’ and Incentive programmes as well as technique to analyse people’s actions. For instance in a
into our consequences for inappropriate behaviour. We study related to the Holocausts we shared a book called
have a ‘CBI’ (Caught Behaving Intelligently) form where
we encourage fellow students to catch others behaving Passage to Freedom: the Sugihara Story.
intelligently. Students write down the name of the HOM Students had to record the Habits of Mind displayed
displayed and explain the actions they witnessed which by Chiune Sugihara as he ‘rescued’ people form Nazi
displayed the particular HOM. This is folded and put into persecution. As above, they then had to justify, evidence
a box and a ‘draw’ takes place at our weekly year group and explain how particular Habits were displayed.
meetings. Student-centred thinking and learning but excellent
results were achieved once again because students had
Various rewards are given for those lucky to be a framework or scaffold to think.
drawn. The Habit/behaviour displayed is discussed
and highlighted and shown to be valued – this works These simple but highly effective uses of Habits of Mind
extremely well in Year 7/8. in our teaching and learning have been an ongoing part
of our journey of infusing Habits of Mind and at the Expo
One of our House Deans, George Rogers, in conjunction we will share, explain and make available examples from
with the Deputy Rector, Robert Mangan, developed a the classroom, especially from Year 7/8.
consequence form which is entitled ‘Putting Habits of
Mind into Practice – Choosing Appropriate Behaviour’.
It explains to students that we want them to take Thinking Flexibly
responsibility for their own actions and to understand We tried to be creative and flexible as
that all behaviour has consequences. By completing this we sought new, novel or better ways to
behaviour improvement plan we believe we are giving infuse Habits of Mind into our teaching and
students the opportunity to reflect on why their behaviour learning.
was inappropriate and to use their problem solving skills
to create a plan, based on the Habits of Mind, on which At the beginning of 2007 we updated
to improve their behaviour. It is a reflective document and upgraded our A3 posters which
but actively uses Habits of Mind as a framework to promoted each of the Habits. Where necessary we
think through this process and becomes a template modified and improved the indicators, i.e. the simple
for counselling to be effective. This is applied across punchy statements which indicated what others might
the whole school. While none of these is a panacea see when this Habit or behaviour was being displayed.
for all our ills, they are proactive strategies to positively Additionally we added two or three relevant quotes
influence the thinking and behaviour of students so they from well known people which seemed to encapsulate
are empowered to make better decisions and improve the essence of that Habit of Mind. We are indebted to
their option taking. We can only really do what we Georgette Jensen (now associated with Sonrise School
know and Habits of Mind hugely increases what we all in Gisborne, New Zealand) because most of these were
know and as a result greatly enhance our opportunity to accessed from some of the outstanding ‘work’ she
succeed and achieve. has done with Habits of Mind. These are now on our
‘staffshare’ intranet and can be readily accessed within
Managing Impulsivity the school – some are included in this article.
As teachers, we need to have plans and Each year in the Intermediate School we conduct a
strategies in place for when things ‘go series of standardised tests so we can establish the
wrong’ and we unequivocally want students strengths and weaknesses of individuals to provide
to consider all the consequences before taking action. us with benchmark data to set teaching and learning
priorities for the year. Also at the start of 2007 and
Throughout 2005, 2006 and into 2007, especially in after working with ideas from Charlotte Humphrey,
Year 7/8, we have used Habits of Mind as a framework
to think, teach and learn, often in conjunction with an outstanding teacher from St George’s School in
Thinking Maps. This has been particularly so in English Wanganui, Matt Allen and I designed a document where
and Social Studies. For example, a character review in we used the analysis of the results to inform parents
about their son’s strengths and weaknesses and what
English. After reading a story or novel we may choose we recommended were important next actions. Habits
a character or characters and, using a Bubble Map,
Australian National Schools Network and Learning Network New Zealand • 23