The Habits of Mind are crucial to a person’s development and at The Northstar School we value them as much as we value subject-specific learning and grading. Students learn how to be sensitive to contextual cues in order to select the most appropriate habit for any given situation. By exercising the Habits of Mind across a variety of contexts and problem areas, students build and strengthen these mental resources and experience their usefulness in different settings. The Northstar School’s exploratory project-based approach to education provides rich opportunities for students to expand not only their knowledge and repertoire of technical skills but also to hone their thinking tools and strategies in the process. The understanding and application of these 12 Habits of Mind enable students to work through real life situations with intentional strategies to lead a positive and fulfilling life.įorming habits take time and effort. Self-regulated learners demonstrate meta-cognitive awareness (an understanding of the factors that influence their own learning) and cultivate the skills and confidence they need in order to be effective learners.The Northstar Habits of Mind (HoM) consist of 12 skills, or dispositions, that will help students deal with challenges and thrive both academically and in life beyond school. They are able to organize and reorganize information, interpret information in new ways, and generate their own ideas. They take intellectual risks, persist in the face of challenges, and learn from their mistakes. Self-regulated learners typically demonstrate strong commitment to the process of learning and take responsibility for their own learning. Self-Regulated Learning is a habit of mind that encompasses the desire to learn, the ability to set personal goals for learning, and the capacity to engage in a self-monitored learning process. Students will acknowledge the limitations of singular points of view and recognize the benefits of engaging with and learning from others in order to integrate multiple perspectives for effective communication, problem-solving, and collaboration. An integrated perspective recognizes that individual decisions impact the self, the community, and the environment. All human beings are interconnected through their participation in natural and social systems. Integrated Perspective is a habit of mind characterized by the recognition that individual beliefs, ideas, and values are influenced by personal experience as well as multiple contextual factors-cultural, historical, political, etc. While the types of problems encountered and the strategies used to grapple with problems vary across disciplines, the problem solving habit of mind is relevant to all disciplines. In all cases, engaging in problem solving requires the ability to think creatively, adapt and extend one’s thinking, acknowledge different contexts and incorporate different perspectives, embrace flexibility, consider potential implications, determine courses of action, persist and adapt despite failure, and reflecting on the results. Problems range widely in scale and scope-small to large, local to global, well-defined to ambiguous, simulated to real-world-and problem solving may be undertaken individually or in collaboration with others. Problem solving encompasses a broad array of activities and approaches. Problem Solving is a habit of mind that involves an iterative process of identifying, explaining, and exploring problems, describing challenges, envisioning possible solutions and their implications, and making decisions about how to proceed based on all of these considerations. To be effective, messages must engage the perspectives of others and foster dialog among individuals and the community. Creation of messages involves the development and purposeful expression of ideas and is designed to increase knowledge, foster understanding, and/or promote change in others’ attitudes, values, beliefs, or behaviors. Construction of meaning and creation of messages are influenced by individuals’ prior experiences as well as cultural and historical contexts. “Text” refers broadly to any communicative message, including, but not limited to, messages that are spoken or written, read or listened to, non-verbal, and/or delivered through any form of media (digital, social, artistic, print, etc.). Purposeful communication is a habit of mind characterized by the construction of meaning through interactions with texts and people and the creation of new messages. There are four habits of mind that we focus on: purposeful communication, problem-solving, integrative perspective, and self-regulated learning. The general education program at Plymouth State University is designed to encourage particular habits of mind that will be helpful to a student long after graduation. A habit of mind is a usual way of thinking, a way of engaging with the everyday world.
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