Why It Matters

The question, “Who are our students becoming as thinkers and learners as a result of their time with us?” is an important question for us to be asking ourselves as educators and is central to the goal of creating a culture of thinking (1). We view a quality education as one that develops the thinking dispositions of our students (2). Dispositions go by many names: traits, inherent qualities, aspects of character, virtues, makeup, nature, and habits. By whatever name, dispositions constitute a person’s character—both who they are and who they are becoming. As teachers, we seek to develop students who not only can read, but who do read. We want students who are not just capable of asking questions but who regularly do so. We desire students who not only stop and reflect on their learning when asked to do so, but who engage in this action spontaneously as they see the need for it (3).

Dispositions matter because they tie together observed abilities and skills with future potential and action. For instance, when we call someone reflective, it is because we have observed that behavior in the past and predict it will likely be the case in the future. Thus, dispositions bridge the ability-action gap, serving as a motivating force that propels action. If we have a disposition toward open-mindedness, we are more likely to spot occasions to be open-minded and to act upon those occasions by deploying our skills in this area (4). This motivation of action is precisely that makes the construct of thinking dispositions so compelling to educators (5).

As we have shown, nurturing students’ dispositional development is an important outcome of education. The problem, though, is that dispositions cannot be directly taught. Transmission-style teaching, where students passively receive information about a valued behavior, is insufficient to develop dispositions, especially a sensitivity to occasions for the use of that disposition and an inclination toward its use (4). We can’t merely teach a unit on curiosity, have a month devoted to “risk-taking,” and then the next month move on to “balance.” Simply filling the walls with pretty posters extolling the virtues of serial list of habits of mind is unlikely to have much effect either. As Alfie Kohn notes, “This seriatim approach is unlikely to result in a lasting commitment to any of these values, much less a feeling for how they may be related” (6,7). It is not enough for teachers to say what they believe in or what they want to happen in the classroom: students need to see it in action.

If dispositions cannot be directly taught, what do we do? The short answer, not the easy answer, is that we must enculturate them. That is, we must allow students to develop them through the culture. The culture of the classroom must inspire and encourage their development by providing models of the dispositions valued, rich opportunities to put them into action, and an expectation that dispositional development is a central, not just a peripheral, part of a well-rounded education. All eight cultural forces must be leveraged in such a way that they send the message that thinking dispositions, their use and development, are central to the mission of the group. As the psychologist Lev Vygotsky famously said, “Children grow into the intellectual life of those around them.” When students are a part of a culture that sends messages about the value of thinking and that supports its development, then students tend to take on these values.

Culture lives in the messages we send and in the stories we tell. All schools communicate to students a story of learning: how learning happens, what is worthwhile to learn, what it means to be smart, how we recognize when learning has happened, the nature of knowledge, and so on. When beliefs about knowledge and the processes used to build understanding are regularly modeled, supported, and expected, then students come to take on and internalize these messages (17).

So what dispositions should we prioritize and promote? To be sure, many different lists abound from various sources: Habits of Mind, Intellectual Virtues, 21st Century Skills, the IB Learner Profile, and various lists of Thinking Dispositions. As positive and useful as these lists are, they tend to be rather long and can sometimes seem like a grab-bag of somewhat broad, nebulous, and at times overlapping items. Ron Ritchhart (5) analyzed many of these proposed lists to identify six dispositions that seemed to appear on almost everyone’s list and were well supported by psychological research. These six include the disposition to be open-minded, curious, metacognitive, a seeker of truth and understanding, strategic, and skeptical. Of these, two have emerged as what we might call “master dispositions” when it comes to learning and thinking: curiosity and metacognition.

Susan Engel has called curiosity the engine of learning. She notes that children's questioning naturally drives learning outside the classroom but this drops off dramatically in the classroom. The frequency of episodes of curiosity (through questions, direct gazing, and manipulating objects) diminishes as students progress through elementary school. Her research concluded that pressure on teachers to cover content (finish the worksheet rather than have fun exploring the discipline) leads to discouraging curiosity (8). Neuroscientist, Dr. Matthias Gruber, used fMRI scans to better understand the effects of curiosity on learning. He found that curiosity puts the brain in a state that allows it to learn and retain almost any kind of information and makes the process more rewarding to the learner (9). It is not surprising then that curiosity, what some researchers call motivational giftedness, has been linked to academic success in schools (9,10, 11, 12). Promoting curiosity may be particularly valuable for traditionally under-served students (10, 11). While curiosity’s link to learning and inquiry is well established, recent studies have shown a strong link to other outcomes, such as happiness, creativity, satisfying intimate relationships, increased personal growth after traumatic experiences, and enhanced individuals perception that their life had meaning (9).

Metacognition involves reflecting on, actively monitoring, and effectively directing one’s thinking. Metacognitive processes aid retention and transfer while promoting deeper learning (13). Through metacognition students become self-aware as learners. They recognize how they are learning, their learning pitfalls, how they might to grow in their learning, and when to ask for help. This self-awareness leads to self-regulated learning and increased student motivation (14). Teaching metacognitive strategies, modeling them, and actively encouraging their use has been shown to greatly aid learning and academic performance. Evidence shows teaching metacognitive strategies can substantially improve student learning. John Hattie’s seminal meta-analysis of education intervention measured the average effect size of metacognitive strategies at 0.69, putting it near the top of influential teaching practices (15). The Australian Teaching and Learning Toolkit reports an impact equivalent to 8 additional months of progress for students. This means students in a class where metacognitive strategies are regularly taught, demonstrated, encouraged, and supported can be expected to make, on average, eight months more progress over the course of a year compared to a comparable class of students not receiving such learning opportunities (16).

What It Looks and Sounds Like

Of course, there is no one way that the enculturation of dispositions will look and sound. There is ample room for individuals to add their own creativity and stamp on things. The list below is a sampling of ideas that might be useful to advance your practice.

• Leverage the 8 Cultural Forces (present in every classroom) to create a culture that sends consistent, coherent, cohesive, and robust messages about thinking and learning. Be alert to mixed messages, and messages that communicate learning occurs simply through transmission, memorization, in isolation, or only for the gifted few.

• Identify a few core dispositions of learning and thinking that you want students at your school to acquire. While you may use lists from various sources, try to identify just a few (say 3) that you really care about and think are important. Consider these dispositions as student entitlement. Establish where, when, and how students will have opportunities to practice and acquire these dispositions.

• Be the image of a thinker and learner we want our students to be. This means you model your own curiosity, engagement, reflection, learning from mistakes, healthy skepticism, and so forth.

• Encourage and appreciate student questioning and curiosity while providing time and space for them to pursue some of their curiosities.

• Think aloud and verbalize your thinking as you work through problems and make decisions so students can see and hear it.

• Provide instruction that challenges students to ask questions, probe assumptions, seek justifications rather than requiring students to passively take in information.

• Allow students to spot occasions for thinking as opposed to over-structuring tasks that eliminate such opportunities. Encourage metacognitive conversations that invite students to identify the thinking they will need, plan appropriate strategies, monitor their progress, and reflect on outcomes (see Exhibit 1).

• Make reflection on learning and teaching a regular part of the classroom.

• Use thinking routines to scaffold and support students’ thinking with an eye toward making the thinking itself routine.

• Foster an intellectually safe classroom and encourage learning from mistakes.

  
  

Reflecting on Your Teaching

Reflect on what gets valued, shared, and celebrated in your classroom:

• What kind of thinking do you wish were routine in your classroom? Why isn’t it already? What can you do to make it more of a regular and necessary part of learning in your classroom?

• Where, when, and how do my students get an image of me as a thinker and a learner?  What is that image?

• What dispositions do I wish my students came to my class already possessing?  Why are these important to me?  What dispositions do students leave my class possessing?

• Who are my students becoming as thinkers and learners as a result of their time with me? What types of data might I need to collect to better answer this question?

• Where and when in the curriculum are there opportunities for students to develop their thinking dispositions?

• When was the last time I noticed, named, and highlighted students thinking and dispositional behavior? How can I help myself to do this more often?

Using Quick Data to Inform Your Efforts

Carolyn Taylor says, “Culture is about messages sent. These messages demonstrate what is valued, what is important, what people do around here to fit in, to be accepted, and to be rewarded” (18). These messages are mostly nonverbal in nature, living in the symbols, behaviors, and systems of a group or organization. The culture of a school then, might have very little to do with its goals or mission statement, which are largely aspirational. To understand the culture of a place, we need to look at what messages are sent. One way to do this is to conduct a “ghost walk” to identify what messages your school is sending about what the school community values, cares about, and thinks is important.

Connection to the 8 Cultural Forces

Expectations. Dispositional growth and development need to be central to our mission as educators and communicated to our students as an important outcome. It is preferable to focus on just a few dispositions that you really care about and want to make live in your classroom than a long list.

Modeling. Children grow into the intellectual life around them. We must surround our students with models of the dispositions we are after. This is not the kind of modeling that we announce and put on display for examination (though that has its place). This is the modeling of who we are as thinkers and learners. Do students see our passion, curiosity, mindful reflection, and so on? This kind of modeling cannot be faked or put on; it is who we are.

Opportunities. We must provide students with opportunities to engage their dispositions, to learn in the company of adults through their actions and efforts. Students will not develop curiosity if there is no room or opportunity for it in the classroom. We must give them the opportunity to spot occasions (awareness is a key component of dispositions) for thinking and provide scaffolding and structure only as it is needed.

Routines. The use of routines provides an opportunity for students to develop the skill component of a disposition. Skill+inclination+awareness of occasions are required in a disposition, so there is a role for developing skills. However, what is important is the use of the routines over time. Through their regular use, it is the thinking itself the becomes routine. Thus, students may develop the disposition to see and notice, to reason with evidence, and to wonder through their use of a routine like See-Thinking-Wonder.

Environment. Be ware of simply hanging up posters with a list of dispositions you have obtained from an outside source. While these may be useful, they might communicate to students, “Here is a list of things some outsider says I should care about.” How might you create your own graphics and posters that speak to your class? How else might the physical environment be used to promote dispositional growth? For an example, take a look at the book Unnecessarily Beautiful Spaces for Young Minds on Fire in which the physical environment is used to help foster dispositions of wonder, curiosity, imagination, and creativity.

Language. Through our language we can notice, name, and highlight dispositional actions when they occur in the classroom and thus draw attention to them and reinforce students’ accomplishments. A simple, “Wow, I love the curiosity/reasoning/skepticism you all are displaying,” communicates to students that dispositions are something you value and notice.

Interactions. In our interactions with students, we can give feedback on their development as thinkers and learners. We listen to and show a valuing of our students as engaged learners and thinkers.

Time. We must take the long view when it comes to dispositional development. As opposed to a skill that can be demonstrated and practiced, dispositions are the development of patterns of behavior.

Mindset #2:

Enculturating Dispositions

Resources