Distraction --> Habits of Mind

• Attention: "the taking possession by the mind, in clear and vivid form, in one out of what seem  several simultaneously possible objects or trains of thought..."  --William James

• Attention "implies withdrawal from some things in order to deal effectively with others, and is a condition which has a real opposite in the confused, dazed, scatterbrained state which in French is called distraction."  --William James

• "If you could look backward at your years thus far, you'd see that your life--what you've confidently called "reality"--has been fashioned from what you've paid attention to.  You'd also be struck by the fact that if you had paid attention to other things, your reality and your life would be very different."  --Winnifred Gallagher

• "A psychological theory--your life consists of what you focus on--is one thing in your mind, something else again when you test-drive it over rough terrain." --Winnifred Gallagher

How much of learning, educating, is teaching people to pay attention?

How often, in the learning process, K-16, do we find ourselves saying, in various ways, 'Pay attention!"?  Whether it is a demand, a request, a suggestion, an insistence.

One thing we assuredly do know: learning most likely cannot occur as a result of randomness, or continual distraction.  Impulsiveness.  

One thing we often notice in our students, of all ages: impulsiveness, randomness, distractions.

Some of these are habits of mind.  Some of these are characteristics of environment.  Some of these are personal characteristics.  

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I recently ran across the following "habits of mind."  They seem to speak to this whole notion of paying attention and how one acquires this ability to be increasingly mindful.  They are values as much as qualities and habits of mind.  

The 16 Habits of Mind identified by Costa and Kallick:

•     Persisting

•     Thinking and communicating with clarity and precision

•     Managing impulsivity

•     Gathering data through all senses

•     Listening with understanding and empathy

•     Creating, imagining, innovating

•     Thinking flexibly

•     Responding with wonderment and awe

•     Thinking about thinking (metacognition)

•     Taking responsible risks

•     Striving for accuracy

•     Finding humor

•     Questioning and posing problems

•     Thinking interdependently

•     Applying past knowledge to new situations

•     Remaining open to continuous learning