Introduction to 3CSN
Communities of Practice
Habits of Mind
Jan Connal
3CSN Habits of Mind Coordinator
BSILI 2014
This CoP is for educators wanting to….
• Understand why and how Habits of Mind
impact learning and success
• See examples of activities and programs that
cultivate Habits of Mind
• Discover new ways of embedding Habits of
Mind activities and routines into their practice
• Learn how to assess Habits of Mind
improvements and outcomes
• Network
Importance of Habits
“Your beliefs become your thoughts,
Your thoughts become your words,
Your words become your actions,
Your actions become your habits,
Your habits become your values,
Your values become your destiny.”
Mahatma Gandhi
Cognitive Science finds that….
Intelligent behavior is not just a
matter of being able to store and
retrieve knowledge (content)
Rather, it is how Habits of
Mind are practiced with
content knowledge
So… What do we mean by
Habits of Mind?
• An acquired disposition to
respond in particular ways
when we don’t have a
solution.
• The inclination, capability
and commitment to particular
behaviors that lead to
productive outcomes.
Habits of
Mind
inform
Behavior
Disciplinary Habits of Mind
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History
Welding
Art
Composition
Math
Sociology
Nursing
Sciences
Business
What is your discipline?
What habits of mind have you
acquired through your
disciplinary training?
What mental routines or
strategies do you employ when
confronted with a problem?
Our Habits of Mind Framework
Persist
Manage impulsivity
Listen with understanding
and empathy
Think flexibly
Think about your thinking
(Metacognition)
Think and communicate
with clarity and precision
Gather data through all
senses
Create, imagine, and
innovate
Respond with
wonderment and awe
Strive for accuracy
Take responsible risks
Question and pose
problems
Find humor
Apply past knowledge to
new situations
Think interdependently
Remain open to
continuous learning
Habits of Mind can infuse & inform…
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Classroom practices and activities
Directed Learning Activities
Supplemental Instruction
Tutoring
Student Support Services
Campus-wide initiatives
Flex and professional development activities
Curriculum development
Student Learning Outcomes assessment
Program Review & Accreditation
Institutional Effectiveness
California Acceleration Project
Katie Hern and Myra Snell
CAP Co-Leaders
BSILI 2014
CAP supports educators to. . .
Increase student completion by redesigning
their English and Math Curricula
– Shortening developmental sequences
– Better aligning remediation with college-level
requirements: “Junior Varsity” college English
classes, Algebra preparation for students in
math-intensive majors; statistics pathways for
others
CAP’s “why”
Developmental courses sequences were
intended to support the success of underprepared students, but they are having the
unintended consequence of weeding
students out of college at high rates.
CAP’s “why”
The lower students are placed, the more
likely they are to drop out.
– 19% of students who begin 3 or more levels below
College English complete a college-level English
course in three years.
– Just 7% of students who start 3 or more levels below
college math complete a transferable math course in
three years.
• The pipeline is clearly broken!
CAP CoP helps faculty teach redesigned
classes that. . .
• Replace decontextualized sub-skill exercises
with just-in time remediation
•Offer a thinking-oriented curriculum that is rich
in collaborative practice
•Use intentional strategies to address students’
affective needs
CAP Professional Learning includes. . .
• Introductory ½ day workshops
– North and South
– Fall and Spring
• Community of Practice
– Year-long training program for faculty piloting
redesigned courses
Community of Practice includes. . .
• Three weekend workshops
– Training in accelerated pedagogy
– Sharing best practices
– Leadership capacity building
• Check-in calls with faculty teams
• Shared classroom resources
“Acceleration Means to Me”. . .
• Video from CAP Website
Results
RP Group study of first 16 CAP colleges
found that in effective accelerated
pathways:
• English students had a 2.3 times greater odds of
completing college-level course
• Math students had a 4.5 times greater odds of
completing college-level course
Why Reading Apprenticeship?
• “Learning is hard. True, learning is fun, exhilarating, and
gratifying, but it is also often daunting, exhausting, and
sometimes discouraging”
– (Angela Duckworth, qtd in Tough)
• “The secret killer of innovation [learning] is shame. You can’t
measure it, but it is there. Every time someone holds back on
a new idea, fails to give . . . needed feedback, is afraid to
speak up . . . you can be sure shame played a part. That
deep fear we all have of being wrong, or being belittled and of
feeling less than, is what stops us from taking the very risks
required to move . . . forward” (Brene Brown, Daring Greatly,
65)
Reading Apprenticeship
• A partnership of expertise between the
teacher and students, drawing on what
content area teachers know and do as
skilled discipline-based readers and on
learners’ unique and often
underestimated strengths
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Reading Apprenticeship
Framework
Why Threshold Project?
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What are “Threshold Concepts”?
• First identified by Ray Land and J.F. (Erik)
Meyer
• Examples:
– History consists of a series of competing
narratives (History)
– Language use constitutes meaning; it shapes
what we know and how we know and how we
know it. (Writing Studies)
Characteristics of
Threshold Concepts
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Transformative
Irreversible
Integrative
Provisional
Troublesome
Liminal
(Cousin, 2006)
Characteristics of
Threshold Concepts
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Transformative
Irreversible
Integrative
Provisional
Troublesome
Liminal
(Cousin, 2006)
Communities of Practice
• Make room for recursivity
• Create safety, connectedness for risktaking
• Make room for growth
• Shame resilience
• Help us work productively with expertise
CTE Community of Practice
• Create networks of collaboration,
expertise and creative problem-solving
• Transform CTE programs and
departments
• Flow of successfully prepared
graduates meets the demands of the
California job market.
California Community Colleges’
Success Network
CTE Community of Practice
Networking forums for faculty to identify,
discuss and examine, the shared problem
of embedding basic skills into the curriculum
areas without increasing student time to
completion or increasing costs to the college
California Community Colleges’
Success Network
CTE Community of Practice
Professional learning and support as
faculty and staff create a shared vision of
what can be and participate in action
research to solve the shared problem
California Community Colleges’
Success Network
CTE Community of Practice
Collaborate with existing
organizations to improve delivery
of instruction and services for CTE
programs and classrooms
California Community Colleges’
Success Network
CTE Community of Practice
A repository of research and best
practices for CTE instruction
California Community Colleges’
Success Network
CTE Community of Practice
Next Steps:
Connect with Donna and Luis
Join monthly conference call
Share ideas and practices with
group
California Community Colleges’
Success Network