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About the Institute
Habits of Mind are the attitudes and dispositions that help students become better thinkers and problem solvers who know what to do when the answers are not immediately apparent. Art Costa and Bena Kallick propose 16 habits (such as Listening with Understanding and Empathy, or Persisting) that, when engaged, can build student success in the classroom, in the workplace, and in life.
About Art Costa & Bena Kallick
Arthur L. Costa is a professor emeritus of education at California State University, Sacramento. Bena Kallick is a private consultant providing services to school districts, state departments of education, professional organizations, and public agencies throughout the United States and internationally. Art and Bena are authors of many books and articles, co-founders of the Institute for Habits of Mind and are recipients of the Malcolm Knowles Award for Self-Directed Learning from the International Society for Self-Directed Learning.
Learning Paths in the Habits of Mind Institute:
This Institute includes learning paths focused on different habits, as well as one learning path focused on leading with Habits of Mind.
Habits of Mind 1: Introducing
This Learning Path will help you to become familiar with the definition, significance, and nuance of each habit. Participants will be able to describe the 16 Habits of Mind and their importance for 21st-century skill development and explore the application of Habits of Mind to unit and lesson design.
3.5 hours
Habits of Mind 2: Listening with Understanding and Empathy
This learning path focuses on listening with understanding and empathy, one of the most important skills for success in school and in life. Participants will examine the skill of listening with understanding and empathy, recognize the importance of investing in the ideas of others, and learn concrete strategies to improve listening skills.
2.5 hours
Habits of Mind 3: Managing Impulsivity
Given how rapidly our world is changing, slowing down and managing impulsivity is a key to guiding thoughtful behavior. Participants will examine the skill of managing impulsivity, recognize its importance in the process of thinking, and learn strategies for managing impulsivity.
1.5 hours
Habits of Mind 4: Persisting
Whether in school, in career, or in life, learning how to persist when things are challenging is central to success. Participants will examine the skill of persisting, recognize its importance in the learning process, and learn strategies to help stay with a task especially when it is challenging.
3 hours
Habits of Mind 5: Questioning and Problem Posing
This learning path provides ways to build powerful questions that invite thinking. Participants will examine the importance of questions that are used to open dialoguing and wondering, learn strategies that help formulate powerful questions that invite deeper thinking, and learn how to use strategies to motivate students’ questions.
2.5 hours
Habits of Mind 6: Metacognition
Being able to think about your own thinking is critical for supporting the executive function so necessary for planning, processing, and completing learning performances. Participants will examine the importance of metacognition in the learning process, learn strategies for teaching metacognition, and learn strategies for students to use as they develop becoming more metacognitive.
2 hours
Habits of Mind 7: Assessing How We Value Dispositions
In this Learning Path, participants will learn how growth toward internalization of the Habits of Mind requires forms of assessment that differ from those used for content-based learning. Such assessments are ongoing and formative, encouraging reflection and self-assessment. Participants will examine the importance of using a growth mindset for assessing the Habits, understand formative assessment and how it differs from achievement and content assessment, and learn the importance of self-assessment.
3 hours
Habits of Mind 8: Assessing with Checklists and Conferences
The focus of this learning path is to develop the use of checklists and conferences as strategies for self-assessment. Participants will examine the importance of developing checklists to develop indicators of growth, learn strategies for using checklists in the classroom for self-assessment, and learn strategies for developing a student-centered conference.
2 hours
Habits of Mind 9: Assessing with Journals and Portfolios
In this Learning Path, the focus is on the use of journals and portfolios as a way to provide students with a method for documenting growth over time. Participants will examine the importance of documenting and narrating a story of learning growth over time, understand how journals and portfolios provide valuable qualitative self-assessment data, and learn strategies for developing these personal narratives and format options for keeping track.
2.5 hours
Habits of Mind 10: Assessing and Reporting Growth
The focus of this Learning Path is on new ideas for formatting feedback to parents and students. Participants will examine the possibilities for showing the value of learning the habits through reporting, learn strategies for demonstrating concept attainment regarding the Habits, and enhance existing practices with a guiding template for change.
1 hour
Leading Schools with Habits of Mind in Mind
We have discovered over the years that the HOM flourish in those places where there is strong leadership and that effective leadership is most like to occur when it is distributed among all members of the school community. Participants will become more familiar with the HOM and see how they fit with effective leadership, learn from leaders who represent different roles in schools as they discuss how the HOM empowers a vision of their school culture, and view and learn from examples of schools that are certified as International Habits of Mind Learning Communities of Excellence to demonstrate how HOM are sustained over the years.
4.5 hours
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