An overview of the various strategies used by Thomas Tallis School to promote the development of Habits of Mind and engage colleagues in Action Research.

1. Going deeper
with Habits of Mind
Jon Nicholls
Expansive Education Network
Annual Conference
March 2015

2. Background
• Specialist Arts College (1998)
• Creative Partnerships (2002)
• Leading Edge School (2005)
• School of Creativity (2008)
• eedNET membership (2013)

3. 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.
Beginning
Developing
ConfidentExpert
&

4. • 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

5. “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

6. 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?

7. 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.

9. tallishabits.tumblr.com

21. 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!

22. Rewards

28. tallishabits.herokuapp.com

30. Expansive Education
Whole school Action Research designed to explore ways
of embedding the Habits into everyday pedagogy.

31. “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

32. • 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

33. 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

34. Challenges
• Time and manageability
• Training and support
• Priorities (individual and institutional)

35. 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

38. 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.

39. 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?

40. 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?

41. 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?

42. 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/PM4
Registrations4
Percentage4Attendance4 Number4of4Late4Marks4
1644 92.07%4 04
!
!
!
Year474progress4card44
Thomas!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!
Guide4to4using4this4grade4card4
4
Read!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:4
4
Inquisitive!
!
Collaboration!
!
Persistence!
!
Discipline!
!
Imagination!

43. What works…for what?

44. Qualification:
Knowledge,
Skills, Values,
Dispositions
Socialisation:
Traditions,
Ways of doing
and being
Subjectification:
Freedom,
Responsibility,
Emancipation

45. "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.”

46. “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