Some schools have invited business people from the community to
discuss with students how the Habits of Mind are used in their careers as
architects, scientists, entrepreneurs, salespeople, nurses, truck drivers, or
mechanics. When secondary students apprentice in a workplace, they
often are asked to observe their own use of the habits as well as how the
habits are used by the workers. In some instances, employers are asked to
provide feedback to the students based on the Habits of Mind.
At the Turning Point Learning Center in Emporia, Kansas, middle-
grade students create a series of public service announcements that are
broadcast on television and in the school. The intent is to acquaint the
populace of the region with the Habits of Mind. Students, of course, trans-
late them into “teen-speak.”
Building an Action Research Agenda
As schools decide to embrace the Habits of Mind, leadership teams or the
entire faculty may design action research projects to capture indicators of
their effects. Typically they start with a question such as this: What inter-
ests you about the effects of Habits of Mind? The staff then generates a list
of possible effects, such as these:
- Impact on students. • Graduation rates.
•Achievement/test scores. •Others.
•Self-directedness. •Impact in the classroom:
•Discipline referrals. ••Instructional strategies.
•Grades. ••Lesson design.
•Study habits. •Impact on staff as a whole.
•Personal life. •Impact on individual staff
•Relationships with peers. members professionally.
•Relationships with family •Impact on teacher’s personal life.
members. •Impact on the school culture.
•Attendance. •Impact on family/community.
•Dropout rates.
The staff also discusses and decides how such information can best be
collected (e.g., through interviews, questionnaires, surveys, or journals),
288 Learning and Leading with Habits of Mind