Habits of Mind on students, individuals, and entire school staffs. We have
been amazed and delighted with the innovations, elaborations, and appli-
cations that have sparked teachers, parents, and school leaders to create
children’s stories, poetry, limericks, songs, school plays, videos, and per-
formances extolling the virtues of the Habits of Mind.
We c o n t i nu e t o e x p a n d o u r w o r k t h r o u g h a p r o c e s s w e c a l l “ a s p i r a l
of reciprocal learning.” The work that we write about is translated into
classroom reality. The realities of the classroom, in turn, inform our writ-
ing. Although we occasionally work alongside teachers in their class-
rooms, we more often work alongside the work that they send to us. As we
study their work, we develop an enhanced theory of learning about the
habits. The Habits of Mind have influenced not only school practices but
also the entire culture of schools. (The stories from Friendship Valley Ele-
mentary School, Waikiki School, Furr High School, and Tahoma School
District presented in Chapters 19 through 22 are examples.) We need to
continue to tell the classroom stories, as they help to crystallize a theory
of practice with the Habits of Mind. This book, Learning and Leading
with Habits of Mind,is intended toserve that purpose.
A Dual Purpose
The most powerful learning communities use these Habits of Mind to
guide all their work. Yet sometimes the practicality of school life requires
that people make individual commitments with the hope that their beliefs
and behaviors will affect the whole. Teaching with the Habits of Mind
requires a shift toward a broader conception of educational outcomes and
how they are cultivated, assessed, and communicated. Learning and Lead-
ing with Habits of Mindaims to help you work toward and achieve a move
from “individual” to “systems” in your thinking.
In this book, we provide the following:
•Descriptions and examples of the Habits of Mind.
•Instructional strategies intended to foster acquisition of these habits
at school and at home.
•Assessment tools that provide a way to gather evidence of student
growth in the Habits of Mind.
xviii Learning and Leading with Habits of Mind