Going deeper with habits of mind: Jon Nicholls - eedNET annual conference, 2015

Going deeper with Habits of Mind

Jon NichollsExpansive Education Network

Annual Conference March 2015

Background• Specialist Arts College (1998)

• Creative Partnerships (2002)

• Leading Edge School (2005)

• School of Creativity (2008)

• eedNET membership (2013)

THE CREATIVE HABITS OF MIND ASSESSMENT WHEEL

HOW TO USE THE ASSESSMENT WHEEL

Shade the segment of the circle that best represents how confident you feel about possessing each habit of mind.

For example, you may feel like your ability to use your intuition is just beginning whereas your are expert in playing with possibilities. Be honest, reflect carefully and try to think of specific examples of each ability before you identify your level of confidence.

BeginningDevelopingConfidentExpert

&

• Effective pedagogies give serious consideration to pupil voice.

• Effective pedagogies depend on behaviour (what teachers do), knowledge and understanding (what teachers know) and beliefs (why teachers act as they do).

• Effective pedagogies involve clear thinking about longer term learning outcomes as well as short-term goals.

• Effective pedagogies focus on developing higher order thinking and metacognition, and make good use of dialogue and questioning in order to do so.

From the National College of School Leadership report, Autumn 2012

“Intrinsic satisfaction in the process of some activity is the only reasonable predictor that the activity will

be pursued by the individual voluntarily, that is, when the individual is able to make a choice about an

activity. It’s no great victory to learn to do something that one will choose not to do when given the choice…

it is in the dispositional or motivational aspects of behaviour, that the significant consequences of

schooling emerge.”

— Elliot W. Eisner

TALLIS Habits• How do we teach for creative learning?

• How do we support and encourage intrinsic motivation?

• What needs to happen at KS3 in order to reduce the need for intervention at KS4?

• What does the research say?

• How do you identify and share a language with which to describe learning and promote meta-cognition?

The Tallis Habits are based on Bill Lucas, Ellen Spencer, and Guy Claxton (2013) ‘Progression in Student Creativity in School: First steps towards new forms of formative assessment’ OECD Education Working Papers No 86. Paris: OECD Publishing.

tallishabits.tumblr.com

I would like to say that this book took me forever to decorate, hours of effort and cutting and glueing

and sellotaping and what not helped to make a

boring old Tallis Habits Journal into my mind’s

secret abode!

Rewards

tallishabits.herokuapp.com

Expansive EducationWhole school Action Research designed to explore ways

of embedding the Habits into everyday pedagogy.

“For apart from inquiry, apart from the praxis, individuals cannot be truly human. Knowledge emerges only through invention

and re-invention, through the restless, impatient, continuing, hopeful inquiry

human beings pursue in the world, with the world, and with each other.”

— Paulo Freire

• Phase One: 6 colleagues (eedNET)

• Phase Two: All teachers (eedNET model)

• Linked to appraisal with professional association support

• Focus on TALLIS Habits

• Staff Conference & Action Research Groups

Benefits• Establishing a community of practice-based research -

design, reflection and critique

• Supporting a debate about the relationship between knowledge and values in education

• Valuing professional dialogue about pedagogy

• Empowering colleagues to exercise their professional judgement in particular cases - risk, experiment, enquiry

• Creating a bank of practical examples of ways to explicitly develop particular Habits of Mind

Challenges

• Time and manageability

• Training and support

• Priorities (individual and institutional)

Strategy• Appraisal process - value, priority, community,

success criteria

• Action Research Co-ordinator role - planning, communication, resources, training

• Staff Conference - status, context, energy

• Action Research Groups - iterative, collegiate, distributed

If I use a range of teacher and student led meta-cognitive learning strategies with my

Year 13 Government and Politics class will they be better able to craft and improve their essay

writing and make imaginative connections.

If I encourage my Year 10 Spanish students to apply their learning to either real life or imaginative situations, will they be more engaged and develop their ability to play

with possibilities?

If I use affirmative language with my Year 10 biology class to describe the dispositions of

students who are developing the Tallis Habits (particularly disciplined and persistent) will this cause a positive shift in student behaviour and

attitude to learning?

If I explore uncertainty in the process of analysing video art AND If I model

uncertainty in my own video art practice will this encourage my Year 12 media students to

tolerate uncertainty in their work?

Thomas'Tallis'School'Habits'of'Mind'!

Here!is!a!list!of!examples!of!what!each!of!the!habits!may!look!like!in!action:!

!

Inquisitive'1. Problem!finding!through!asking!searching!questions!

2. Asking!adults!or!siblings!for!ideas!and!advice!

3. Exploring!unusual!and/or!challenging!sources!of!information!

4. Making!the!best!use!of!resources!available!for!research!

5. Visiting!galleries,!museums,!libraries!and!other!places!of!interest!!

6. Using!the!internet!strategically!(and!safely)!

7. Independent!and!wide!ranging!reading!!

8. Talking!to!others!out!of!the!classroom!about!open!ended!topics!

9. Wondering!aloud!about!a!range!of!ideas!

!

Collaborative'1. Giving!constructive!feedback!to!others!about!their!work!

2. Presenting!aloud!in!class!

3. Listening!and!responding!carefully!!

4. Working!conscientiously!in!pairs!or!small!groups!

5. Being!a!reliable!and!positive!team!player!

6. Talking!to!others!about!feelings!or!problems!

7. Completing!home!learning!activities!with!others!

8. Using!social!media!to!improve!understanding!and!publishing!work!online!

9. Taking!part!in!the!School!Council!and!other!student!voice!activities!

!

Persistent'1. Volunteering!to!tackle!challenging!topics!

2. Not!being!afraid!to!make!mistakes!

3. Being!resilient!when!things!are!not!going!well!

4. Having!the!courage!to!do!what!you!think!is!right!and!resisting!peer!pressure!

5. Tolerating!the!views!of!others!and!expressing!empathy!

6. Asking!for!support!when!needed!and!not!suffering!in!silence!

7. Devising!strategies!for!staying!on!task!when!feeling!distracted!

8. Not!worrying!when!things!are!unclear!or!confusing!

9. Being!comfortable!with!not!knowing!the!answer!and!working!through!a!problem!

!

Disciplined'1. Developing!and!refining!work!independently!and!in!response!to!advice!from!others'2. Ensuring!that!you!are!wellZequipped!for!learning!with!the!right!tools!and!attitudes'3. Being!on!time!to!school!and!lessons'4. Experimenting!with!new!ways!of!tackling!problems'5. Reflecting!on!and!setting!own!targets!for!improvement'6. Doing!homework!on!time!and!to!the!best!of!your!ability'7. Weighing!up!the!positives!and!negatives!about!a!particular!situation!or!approach'8. Developing!new!skills!and!techniques'9. Changing!your!own!behavior!if!it’s!unhelpful'

!

Imaginative'1. Trusting!in!your!instincts!

2. Applying!a!different!approach!to!the!same!problem!

3. Making!connections!between!ideas!

4. Experimenting!with!unfamiliar!ideas!!

5. Taking!part!in!role!play!activities!and!adopting!a!different!viewpoint!

6. Making!connections!with!past!learning!

7. Combining!ideas!and!concepts!together!to!create!something!new!

8. Playing!with!ideas!and/or!ways!of!doing!things!to!see!what’s!possible!

9. Making!connections!with!new!people!

!

!

!

!

!!

Subject! Teacher! Attainment! Progress!

4 4 4 4 4

English! Ms!E!Church! Emerging4 Good! Excellent! Good! Excellent! Good! Good!

Maths! Ms!L!Dark! Exceeding4 Outstanding! Excellent! Good! Good! Good! Good!

Biology4 Miss!S!Tomlinson! Emerging4 Below! Good! Fair! Poor! Poor! Good!

Chemistry4 Ms!T!Bilham! Expected4 Good! Good! Fair! Good! Excellent! Good!

Physics4 Mr!P!Manning! Exceeding4 Outstanding! Excellent! Good! Excellent! Excellent! Excellent!

RE! Mr!D!Quigg! Expected4 Good! Good! Fair! Excellent! Good! Good!

!

Number4of4Possible4AM/PM4Registrations4 Percentage4Attendance4 Number4of4Late4Marks4

1644 92.07%4 04

!

!

!

Year474progress4card44Thomas!Tallis!School!A!January!2015!

Jo!Bloggs!

Attainment4refers!to!the!expected!threshold!for!a!student!in!this!year!group!compared!to!national!expectation.!Exceeding:!Your!child!is!achieving!above!expectations!for!their!year!group!Expected:!Your!child!is!achieving!in!line!with!expectations!for!their!year!group!Emerging:!Your!child!is!not!yet!achieving!in!line!with!expectations!for!their!year!group!!Progress!refers!to!the!amount!of!progress!made!compared!to!their!baseline!threshold!at!the!start!of!the!year.!!

7MB!

Guide4to4using4this4grade4card44Read!along!the!subjects!horizontally!as!this!will!help!to!tell!a!story!in!each!subject.!It!is!important!to!see!whether!there!is!a!link!between!progress!and!the!effort!that!is!being!put!into!the!various!habits.!It!is!important!to!bear!in!mind!that!if!the!effort!is!good,!then!progress!should!be!being!made.!It!is!also!important!to!read!vertically!as!this!can!give!a!more!rounded!picture!of!how!your!child!is!doing!with!regards!to!each!area.!For!example,!they!may!be!making!good!progress!across!their!subjects,!but!need!to!try!a!little!harder!in!one!of!the!habits!if!they!wish!to!make!outstanding!progress.!

Effort4towards!our!habits,!which!are:44

Inquisitive!!

Collaboration!!

Persistence!!

Discipline!!

Imagination!

What works…for what?

Qualification: Knowledge,

Skills, Values, Dispositions

Socialisation: Traditions,

Ways of doing and being

Subjectification: Freedom,

Responsibility, Emancipation

"I argue for the need to refocus the discussion on the normative question of good education, rather than

on technical questions about effective education or competitive questions about excellent education…I

argue that three tendencies that are often presented as developments in the ongoing professionalisation of teaching and that can be found in different forms

and guises in schools, colleges and universities — treating students as customers; being accountable; and replacing subjective judgement with scientific

evidence — are undermining rather than enhancing opportunities for teacher professionalism.”

“To negate or deny the risk involved in engaging in education is to miss a crucial dimension of

education. To suggest that education can be and should be risk free, that learners don’t run any risk

by engaging in education, or that ‘learning outcomes’ can be known and specified in advance, is

a gross misrepresentation of what education is about.”

— Gert Biesta

What is Education For? On Good Education, Teacher Judgement, and Educational Professionalism European Journal of Education, March 2015