Chapter 1. Creating “Thoughtful” Classroom Environments

by Arthur L. Costa and Bena Kallick

I am looking at a behavior called persistence. It means like people that never give up. For an example, Christopher Columbus sailed to the Indies to look for gold. He kept on going back to the Indies to search for gold. He never found it. But the thing he did, he never gave up looking for it. That's what persistence means.

And another book I read is Katy and the Big Snow. One day it was snowing bad and the snow was about 18 inches tall. The whole town couldn't get out of their houses because the snow was covering it. When Katy saw all the snow she decided to take all the snow out. It took her one day to clean up the snow. She didn't sleep. She didn't even get tired. She never stopped taking out all the snow. I learned that people who never give up are very brave.

Student at Hidden Valley Elementary School

Burnsville, Minnesota

We begin this second book in Habits of Mind: A Developmental Series by considering classrooms and schools where the habits of mind already flourish. How have these educators created thoughtful environments where students encounter, think about, and develop habits of mind? Specifically, how have teachers created environments where children discover the habits of mind in the characters of a novel or describe them through the heroes of history? How have teachers helped children gain insight about their own habits of mind based on what they've learned from others? Exactly what characterizes these kinds of rich learning environments?

A Deeply Held Belief

In classrooms where the habits of mind succeed, we find a deeply held belief that all students can continue to develop and improve. For many years, educators and parents alike believed that thinking skills programs were intended to challenge the intellectually gifted. Indeed, some thought that any child whose IQ fell below a certain score was doomed to remedial work or compensatory drill-and-practice. Much research, however, with hydrocephalic, Down syndrome, senile, and brain-damaged persons demonstrates that almost anyone can achieve amazing growth in intelligent behavior with proper intervention (Feuerstein, Feuerstein, & Schur, 1997).

In classrooms where the habits of mind succeed, we also find a belief that the habits of mind aren't just “kid stuff.” Teachers, parents, and administrators can also monitor and modify their own habits of mind, such as managing impulsivity, thinking about thinking (metacognition), listening with understanding and empathy, and thinking flexibly. We never fully master the habits of mind. Though we begin work with the habits as children, we continue to develop and improve them throughout our lives.

Habits of Mind as Goals

Students often expend great amounts of energy trying to figure out a teacher's intentions. In classrooms where the habits of mind succeed, teachers make one intention explicit: Mastering the habits of mind is the goal of students' education. They also help students see that the responsibility for thinking is theirs.

Students grasp that mastering the habits of mind is a classroom goal when thinking becomes the content. They come to understand that having more than one solution to a problem is desirable. They see that it is commendable when they take time to plan for and reflect on an answer rather than respond impulsively. They also learn that it is desirable to change an answer with additional information.

It Takes Time

In most schools, educational innovations are seldom institutionalized: “Last year we did performance standards, and the year before it was mission statements.” Many educators believe the “thinking movement” has been succeeded by the “authentic assessment” movement, not realizing that thinking is central to the authentic practices they now pursue so fervently. Experience tells us it takes about three to four years of well-defined instruction with qualified teachers and carefully constructed curriculum materials for the habits of mind to “succeed.” After three or four years in a school, we've started to observe significant and enduring changes in students' behavior.

If students are to “habituate” the habits of mind, they must encounter them again and again throughout the elementary and secondary years in every subject and in every classroom. Educators must teach the habits of mind and thinking skills directly. We know that the amount of time on task affects students' academic learning. This relationship also is true for acquiring thinking skills. When thinking becomes a goal of instruction, teachers and administrators place greater value on learning activities that stimulate cognitive processes.

Time is also an issue because some students come from homes, classrooms, or schools where the habits of mind are not valued. These children can be dismayed by and resistant to a teacher's invitations to use the habits. Time and consistent instruction are necessary to overcome this reluctance.

A Rich, Responsive Environment

Students must work in a rich, responsive environment if they are to make the habits of mind their own. They need access to a variety of resources that they can manipulate, experience, and observe. For example, the classroom should be filled with a variety of data sources: books, encyclopedias, almanacs, videos, CD-ROMs, and databases. Do students have contact with knowledgeable people in the community? Or can they contact others through the Internet to explore theories and test ideas? Field trips are important, too, not just for their content but because they provide students opportunities to plan for and reflect on learning.

Thanks to technology, the world beyond the school isn't as far away as it once was. Students manage more information and resources than ever before. As they move into adulthood, they will need the discipline of the habits of mind to guide their higher education and their careers. A rich, responsive classroom environment helps prepare them for all these experiences.

Attention to Readiness and Sequence

Both the nature of thinking capabilities and the sequence in which they appear have been well established in human beings. Too often, however, educators disregard these theories and present learning activities before students are ready for them developmentally. To find success, educators must introduce curriculum for the habits of mind in a sequence that matches children's development.

One of the chief causes for failure in formal education is that educators begin with abstractions through print and language rather than with real, material action. Learning progresses through stages of increasing complexity (the number of ideas and factors we can think about) and increasing abstraction (progressing from a concrete object to a pictorial representation of the object to a symbol that stands for the object, to a spoken word that stands for the symbol). Curriculum and instruction—including work with the habits of mind—are more meaningful if they are sequenced in a manner consistent with the stages of cognitive development (Lowery, 1991).

Keeping Track of Learning

In schools where the habits of mind are a success, students keep track of their learning. Children write about, illustrate, and reflect on the use of the habits of mind in a personal log or diary. This work allows them to synthesize their thoughts and actions and to translate them into symbolic form. Reflection helps students truly make the habits of mind their own.

A log or diary also provides students the opportunity to revisit their initial perceptions about the habits of mind. Then they can compare any changes in those perceptions. Students also can chart the processes of strategic thinking and decision making, identifying “blind alleys” and recalling successes and “tragedies” of experimentation. For a variation on written journals, consider making videotape or audiotape recordings of projects and performances.

Classroom Discussions

Guided discussions are always a useful way for teachers to offer insight about the habits of mind. Discussions also provide an opportunity for students to process their learning.

Talking about situations in which habits of mind were, are, or could be applied is enormously helpful as students learn more and more about the habits. Teachers can guide specific discussions of students' problem-solving processes, inviting them to share their metacognition, reveal their intentions, and examine plans for solving a problem.

Frequent Infusion of the Habits

Teachers who are successful with the habits of mind use every possible opportunity to teach the habits. They are always on the lookout for occasions where the habits of mind would be useful to solve a problem, resolve a conflict, or make a decision.

Have students noticed the habits of mind (or lack thereof) in their favorite television shows? Can they find them in the literature they're reading for English class? Are the habits of mind evident in news events? Occasionally it's useful to set up simulations that require using the habits of mind. Such activities reinforce the concept that students always must be ready to call on these dispositions.

The habits of mind are most evident when we ask students to manage their own learning. Consider all the different habits of mind involved when we ask students to choose the group they will join, the topic they will study, and the ways that they will manage themselves to meet a deadline. Every occasion of self-directed learning is a rich opportunity for students to practice the habits of mind.

A “Thoughtful” Environment

When we say the classroom must be a thoughtful environment, we are playing on the meaning for the word thoughtful: (1) to be “full of thought” and (2) to be caring and sensitive, to be “thoughtful” of others. The manner in which teachers and administrators respond to students can create and sustain a thoughtful environment that creates trust; allows risk taking; and is experimental, creative, and positive. This environment requires listening to each other's ideas, remaining nonjudgmental, and having rich data sources. Lisa Davis of West Orchard Elementary School in Chappaqua, New York, describes her experiences with a thoughtful environment this way:

Habits of mind are a natural part of my classroom community because they are the attributes that my students and I strive to embrace as learners on a daily basis. Early in my career, I knew that I didn't want to respond to my students by saying, “Good answer,” or “Great work.” I didn't want to use those comments because they have little meaning, except to imply that the child's answer prior to the “great one” wasn't as good. Or, it tells the child who might have answered next to give up because the “great answer” already has been given.

Taking my cues from an art education course, I knew that if I could be specific in my praise it would have a more meaningful effect. For example, if you say to a child, “That's a great painting,” the child might temporarily feel good about the praise. If you say, however, “I like the way you mixed the colors blue, white, and green in the ocean. It gives me a feeling of movement,” the child is required to engage and reflect on the comment. Even if she disagrees, she is still engaged in a thought process that, more than likely, will trigger the idea of “movement” the next time she attempts a similar task.

Evaluative comments tend to shut down thinking, and “thin comments,” as my 4th graders refer to them, don't give the learner any information. My question, then, became, “How can I respond with ‘thick,’ or meaningful, praise in the classroom without being evaluative?” The habits of mind helped me be specific in my praise by making me focus on what's important. While the right answer is a “good” thing to strive for, it's really the process one goes through to get the right answer that interests me.

In my own teaching, I've tried to get away from saying, “good answer” or “right.” Instead, I try to note when a child is using an intelligent behavior. It's like saying “Nice job!” to a child who is painting, instead of being specific and saying, “I like the choice of color here; it gives me a warm feeling.” My comments are much more meaningful, but better than that is seeing kids recognize their peers. I have often found that the child that might be slower in completing work or has a difficult time grasping new concepts is thought to be not as smart by his or her peers. Now students hear me say, “[Kenny], you are a persistent problem solver.” [Kenny] is being rewarded for his persistence, not just his answer.

Successful teachers like Lisa Davis use the following five kinds of response behaviors to create an atmosphere in which students experience and practice the habits of mind: silence, providing data, accepting without judgment, clarifying, and empathizing.

Silence

In some schools, teachers dominate classroom talk with a rapid-fire pace and lower-level cognitive questions. A teacher may wait less than one second after posing a question before doing one of several things: repeating the question, commenting on a student answer, redirecting the question to a new student, answering the question, or starting a new questioning sequence.

In these kinds of exchanges, student answers are often terse or fragmentary, or the student's tone of voice shows a lack of confidence. After a student replies, the teacher may wait less than one second before commenting or asking another question. Students have little chance for second thoughts or to extend their ideas. Many teachers appear programmed to accept only one, predetermined, “right” answer. They leave little room for alternate answers or differing opinions. Students receive the message that “the teacher's way of knowing is the only way of knowing.”

Silence, or wait time, is one answer to this situation. Mary Budd Rowe first explored the concept of wait time in the late 1960s (Rowe 1969, 1974). During classroom observations, she noticed that some teachers used “purposeful pauses” as they conducted lessons and class discussions. In these classrooms, she noted students making speculations, holding sustained conversational sequences, posing alternative explanations, and arguing over the interpretation of data. She also noted positive changes in the affective climate and the quality of classroom interactions. She observed an increase in the level of cognitive functioning and academic achievement and a decrease in the number of behavior problems. Additional research has shown many positive changes in classrooms where the teacher uses increased wait time:

• The length of student responses increases 300 to 700 percent.
• The number of unsolicited but appropriate student responses increases.
• Failures to respond decrease.
• Student confidence increases, and there are fewer inflected responses.
• Speculative responses increase.
• Student-to-student interaction increases. Teacher-centered show-and-tell decreases.
• Teacher questions change in number and kind: The number of divergent questions increase, and teachers ask higher-level questions (as described by Bloom's taxonomy [1956]). Teachers probe more for clarification.
• Students make inferences and support them with data.
• Students ask more questions.

“Wait Time I” is the length of time a teacher pauses after asking a question. “Wait Time II” is the length of time a teacher waits after a student replies or asks another question. A minimum three-second pause is recommended. With higher-level cognitive tasks, five seconds or more of wait time may be required to achieve positive results. “Wait Time III” is pausing and modeling thoughtfulness after the student asks the teacher a question.

When teachers specifically attend to the habit of mind of questioning and posing problems, they must also attend to wait time. Students need time to be able to think flexibly or creatively. Using longer pauses in group discussions provides students with the necessary think time to help them manage their impulsivity and take responsible risks as they answer questions posed either by the teacher or by the work they are studying.

Rowe also examined the use of longer pauses in whole-group lecture settings. Students need mental processing time in information-dense subjects like chemistry, physics, and geology. Her research indicates that retention and understanding increase when students are provided with 2 to 3 minutes for discussion, clarifying notes, and raising questions after every 8 to 10 minutes of instruction. (All unresolved student questions should be reserved for the last five minutes of the class period.)

Providing Data

One purpose for cultivating the habits of mind is to guide learners to process data by comparing, classifying, making inferences, or drawing causal relationships for themselves. They must have data to process. Providing data means that the teacher actually supplies data or the teacher helps students acquire the information on their own. The teacher therefore creates a climate that is responsive to the student's quest for information. Teachers can create this climate in several different ways:

1. Sometimes they provide feedback about a student's performance:
   • “No, three times six is not twenty-four. Three times eight is twenty-four.”
   • “Yes, you have spelled ‘rhythm’ correctly.”
2. Sometimes they provide personal information, often in the form of “I” messages:
   • “I want you to know that chewing gum in this classroom really disturbs me.”
   • “John, your pencil tapping is distracting me.”
   • “The way you painted the tree makes me feel like I'm on the inside looking out.”
3. Sometimes teachers make it possible for students to experiment with equipment and materials to find data or information for themselves:
   • “Here's a larger test tube if you'd like to see how your experiment would turn out differently.”
   • “We can see the film again if you want to check your observations.”
4. At other times, teachers make primary and secondary sources of information accessible:
   • “Mary, this almanac gives information you will need for your report on the world's highest mountain ranges.”
   • “Here's the dictionary. The best way to verify the spelling is to look it up.”
5. Teachers also respond to student requests for information. When a student asks, “What's this thing called?” the teacher replies, “This piece of equipment is called a bell jar.”
6. During some exchanges, the teacher surveys the group for students' feelings or to gather information:
   • “On this chart we have made a list of what you observed in the film. We can keep this chart in front of us so that we can refer to it as we classify our observations.”
   • “Let's go around the circle and share some of the feelings we had when we found out the school board decided to close our school.”
7. On some occasions, the teacher labels a thinking process or behavior:
   • “That is a hypothesis you are posing, Gina.”
   • “Sharing your crayons like that is an example of cooperation, Mark.”
   • “Xavier, the question you are asking is an attempt to verify the data.”

Accepting Without Judgment

Nonjudgmental teachers accept what students say and do. When they accept, they give no clues through posture, gesture, or word whether a student's idea, behavior, or feeling is good, bad, better, worse, right, or wrong. Mother Teresa summarized this concept quite simply: “If you judge people, you have no time to love them.”

Acceptance of students' ideas or actions provides a psychologically safe climate where children can take risks, make decisions for themselves, and explore the consequences of their actions. Acceptance provides conditions where students are encouraged to examine and compare their own data, values, ideas, criteria, and feelings with others' as well as the teacher's. Although a teacher may offer acceptance in many different ways, we would like to consider two types of nonjudgmental, accepting responses: acknowledgment and paraphrasing.

An acknowledgment simply communicates that a student's ideas have been heard. These are passive responses because the teacher merely conveys that an answer was heard, not necessarily that it was understood.

Examples of passive, nonverbal acknowledgments are nodding the head or recording without change a student's statement on the chalkboard. Here are examples of passive, verbal acknowledgments:

• “Um-hmm.”
• “Let's add that as a possibility.”
• “Thank you. I'll add your suggestion to our list.”
• “I think I understand your explanation.”

A second specific form of accepting without judgment is paraphrasing, which can be defined as responding to what the student says or does by rephrasing, recasting, translating, or summarizing. Teachers use this response when they want to extend, build upon, synthesize, or give an example based on the student's answer. Though the teacher may use words that are different from those of the student, the teacher strives to maintain the intent and accurate meaning of the student's idea. This is an active kind of acceptance because the teacher demonstrates that the student's message was received and understood. Here are examples of paraphrasing:

• “Your explanation is that if the heat were increased, the molecules would move faster and therefore disperse the food coloring faster.”
• “I understand. Your idea is that we should all write our legislators rather than send them one letter from the group.”
• “Shaun's idea is that the leaves could be classified according to their shapes, while Sarah's way is to group them by size.”
• “An example of what you mean was when we arranged our rock collection according to several different classification systems.”

At this point, it's also important to consider briefly the use of praise and rewards in the classroom. In all conversations with students, keep in mind that praise and rewards can be counterproductive if motivation already is evident when a student is engaged in desired behaviors. Praise uses positive value judgments such as good, excellent, and great. Additional praise actually can reduce enthusiasm rather than reinforce it and increase motivation. Unfortunately, many students lack motivation, and some teachers use rewards to try and instill motivation. Rewards, however, are not the entire answer, either.

Joyce and Showers (1988) state: “Praise and rewards, which are often associated with moderate class mean gains, were negatively correlated with both high and low achievers” (p. 56). Using rewards and praise to motivate student learning increases the students' dependency on others for learning. They don't come to find the learning inherently satisfying, and they don't come to value the acquisition or exercise of skills (Lepper & Green, 1978; Kohn, 1994; Deci, 1995). Praise builds conformity, and it makes students dependent on others for their worth. Praise also has been found to be a detriment to creativity (Amabile, 1979).

Although we acknowledge some of the problems with praise, we do not suggest that you eliminate praise altogether. Praise is entirely appropriate at some times and can be used judiciously. For example, praise might be appropriate when students have obeyed rules or changed behaviors to the benefit of themselves and the class. Or, praise can be useful in developmentally appropriate instances with young children. Praising seems best used with certain students and for certain tasks.

If you offer praise, it is important to describe the criteria for the praise. What makes an act “good” or “excellent” must be communicated along with the praise. This way, students understand the reason or criteria that makes the act acceptable, and they can repeat the performance.

Most teachers enjoy rewarding and praising their students. Brophy (1981), however, found that the one person in the classroom for whom praise has the most beneficial effect is the teacher. It is understandable, therefore, that research studies showing the detrimental effects of rewards are met with resistance.

Clarifying

Clarifying is similar to accepting without judgment; both behaviors reflect the teacher's concern for fully understanding the student's idea. Accepting without judgment, however, can demonstrate that the teacher understands. Clarifying means the teacher does not understand what the student says and needs more information.

If a student uses unusual terminology, expresses a confused concept or idea, or asks a question that the teacher does not understand, the teacher will want to clarify both the content of that idea and possibly the process by which that idea was derived. The teacher may express a lack of understanding of the student's idea and seek further explanation; invite the student to be more specific by requesting that the student elaborate on or rephrase the idea; or seek to discover the thinking processes underlying the production of that idea.

The intent of clarifying is to better understand the student's ideas, feelings, and thought processes. Clarifying is not a way to change or redirect what the student thinks or feels. Do not use clarifying as a way to direct students' attention to the “correct answer.” Clarifying is often stated in the form of an interrogative, but it also could be a statement inviting further illumination. Here are examples:

• “Could you explain to us what you mean by charisma?”
• “What you are saying is that you'd rather work by yourself than in a group. Is that correct?”
• “Go over that one more time, Shelley. I'm not sure I understand you.”
• “You say you are studying the situation. Tell us just exactly what you do when you ‘study’ something.”
• “Explain to us the steps you took to arrive at that answer.”

By clarifying, teachers show students that their ideas are worthy of exploration and consideration. Clarifying demonstrates that the teacher is interested in, values, and wants to pursue students' thinking. When a teacher responds to students' comments by encouraging them to elaborate further, students become more purposeful in their thinking and behaving.

Empathizing

Empathizing is a response that acknowledges cognition and accepts feelings. Teachers respond this way when they especially want to recognize a student's feelings, emotions, or behaviors. Often, teachers show empathy when they share similar feelings from their own experiences. This response communicates that the teacher hears not only the student's idea but also the emotions underlying it.

Empathic acceptance can be important because many students come to school from dysfunctional, impoverished environments. The emotions and feelings they bring to school affect their learning and motivation. Empathic acceptance does not mean a teacher condones acts of aggression or destructive behavior. Empathic acceptance simply means the teacher acknowledges both emotion and cognition. Some examples of empathic acceptance are

• “I can see why you're confused. Those directions are unclear to me, too.”
• “You're frustrated because you didn't get a chance to share your idea. We've all got to take turns, and that requires patience. It's hard to wait when you're anxious to share.”
• [A student enters the room and slams a workbook on a desk.] “Something must be upsetting you today. Did you have difficulty with that assignment?”

As shown in Figure 1.1, we use the acronym “SPACE” to help remember all these behaviors that help create a thoughtful environment. This acronym—and the behaviors it represents—can be taught to students, parents, or anyone involved in schools and school improvement.

Figure 1.1. Gimme “SPACE”!

“SPACE” represents set of behaviors that start you on your way to successful use of the habits of mind. These behaviors—silence, providing data, accepting without judgment, clarifying, and empathizing—are important for students beginning to learn the habits of mind. By using these behaviors, teachers can begin to build an environment in which the habits of mind flourish.

References

Amabile, T. (1979). Effects of external evaluation on artistic creativity. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 37(2), 221–233.

Bloom, B. (Ed.). (1956). Taxonomy of educational objectives: Classification of educational goals. New York: Longman, Green and Co.

Brophy, J. E. (1981, October). Teacher praise: A functional analysis [Occasional Paper No. 28]. East Lansing, MI: Michigan State University Institute for Research on Teaching.

Deci, E. (1995). Why we do what we do. New York: Grosset Putnam.

Feuerstein, R., Feuerstein, R., & Schur, Y. (1997). Process as content in education of exceptional children. In A. Costa & R. Liebmann (Eds.), Supporting the spirit of learning when process is content. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

Joyce, B., & Showers, B. (1988). Student achievement through staff development. New York: Longman.

Kohn, A. (1994). Punished by rewards: The trouble with gold stars, incentive plans, A's, praise and other bribes. New York: Houghton Mifflin.

Lepper, M., & Green, D. (Eds.). (1978). The hidden cost of rewards: New perspectives on the psychology of human motivation. New York: Erlbaum.

Lowery, L. (1991). The biological basis for thinking. In A. Costa (Ed.), Developing minds: A resource book for teaching thinking (Rev. ed., Vol. 1, pp. 108–117). Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

Rowe, M. B. (1969). Science, silence and sanctions. Science and Children 6, 11–13.