Page 9 -
P. 9
16 Learning Continuously:
Insanity is continuing to do the same thing over and over and expecting different results.
Albert Einstein
Intelligent people are in a continuous learning mode. Their confidence, in combination with their inquisitiveness, allows
them to constantly search for new and better ways. People with this Habit of Mind are always striving for improvement,
always growing, always learning, always modifying and improving themselves. They seize problems, situations,
tensions, conflicts and circumstances as valuable opportunities to learn.
A great mystery about humans is that we confront learning opportunities with fear rather than mystery and wonder. We
seem to feel better when we know rather than when we learn. We defend our biases, beliefs, and storehouses of
knowledge rather than inviting the unknown, the creative and the inspirational. Being certain and closed gives us
comfort while being doubtful and open gives us fear.
From an early age, employing a curriculum of fragmentation, competition and reactiveness, students are trained to
believe that deep learning means figuring out the truth rather than developing capabilities for effective and thoughtful
action. They have been taught to value certainty rather than doubt, to give answers rather than to inquire, to know
which choice is correct rather than to explore alternatives.
Our wish is for creative students and people who are eager to learn. That includes the humility of knowing that we don't
know, which is the highest form of thinking we will ever learn. Paradoxically, unless you start off with humility you will
never get anywhere, so as the first step you have to have already what will eventually be the crowning glory of all
learning: the humility to know--and admit--that you don't know and not be afraid to find out.
IN SUMMARY
Drawn from research on human effectiveness, descriptions of remarkable performers, and analyses of the
characteristics of efficacious people, we have presented descriptions of sixteen Habits of Mind. This list is not meant to
be complete but rather to serve as a starting point for further elaboration and description. These Habits of Mind may
serve as mental disciplines. When confronted with problematic situations, students, parents and teachers might
habitually employ one or more of these Habits of Mind by asking themselves, “What is the most intelligent thing I can do
right now?”
• How can I learn from this, what are my resources, how can I draw on my past successes with problems like this,
what do I already know about the problem, what resources do I have available or need to generate?
• How can I approach this problem flexibly? How might I look at the situation in another way, how can I draw upon my
repertoire of problem solving strategies; how can I look at this problem from a fresh perspective (Lateral Thinking).
• How can I illuminate this problem to make it clearer, more precise? Do I need to check out my data sources? How
might I break this problem down into its component parts and develop a strategy for understanding and accomplishing
each step.
• What do I know or not know; what questions do I need to ask, what strategies are in my mind now, what am I aware
of in terms of my own beliefs, values and goals with this problem. What feelings or emotions am I aware of which might
be blocking or enhancing my progress?
• The interdependent thinker might turn to others for help. They might ask how this problem affects others; how can we
solve it together and what can I learn from others that would help me become a better problem solver?
Taking a reflective stance in the midst of active problem solving is often difficult. For that reason, each of these Habits of
Mind is situational and transitory. There is no such thing as perfect realization of any of them. They are utopian states
toward which we constantly aspire. Csikszentmihalyi (1993, p. 23) states, "Although every human brain is able to
generate self-reflective consciousness, not everyone seems to use it equally." Few people, notes Kegan (1994) ever
fully reach the stage of cognitive complexity, and rarely before middle age. These Habits of Mind transcend all subject
matters commonly taught in school. They are characteristic of peak performers whether they be in homes, schools,
athletic fields, organizations, the military, governments, churches or corporations. They are what make marriages
successful, learning continual, workplaces productive and democracies enduring. The goal of education therefore,
should be to support others and ourselves in liberating, developing and habituating these Habits of Mind more fully.
Taken together, they are a force directing us toward increasingly authentic, congruent, ethical behavior, the touchstones
of integrity. They are the tools of disciplined choice making. They are the primary vehicles in the lifelong journey toward
integration. They are the “right stuff” that makes human beings efficacious.
"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit."
Aristotle
8