Studio habits of mind

I have been revisiting a book called Studio thinking 2, the real benefits of visual arts education during the Christmas break. I originally read it while researching the art education philosophy of Victor D'Amico. I was reminded of the book when I came across an article by Rankine-Landers (2015) in which she states,

Out of the Studio Thinking framework comes the Studio Habits of Mind, a set of eight dispositions that an artist uses. The wonderful thing about these dispositions is that they offer a language for critical thinking that spans across every discipline. (para 1).

Rankine-Landers (2015) continues by describing the eight dispositions.:

1. Develop Craft: Learning to use tools, materials, artistic conventions; and learning to care for tools, materials, and space.
2. Engage & Persist: Learning to embrace problems of relevance within the art world and/or of personal importance, to develop focus conducive to working and persevering at tasks.
3. Envision: Learning to picture mentally what cannot be directly observed, and imagine possible next steps in making a piece.
4. Express: Learning to create works that convey an idea, a feeling, or a personal meaning.
5. Observe: Learning to attend to visual contexts more closely than ordinary “looking” requires, and thereby to see things that otherwise might not be seen.
6. Reflect: Learning to think and talk with others about an aspect of one’s work or working process, and learning to judge one’s own work and working process and the work of others.
7. Stretch & Explore: Learning to reach beyond one’s capacities, to explore playfully without a preconceived plan, and to embrace the opportunity to learn from mistakes.
8. Understand Arts Community: Learning to interact as an artist with other artists (i.e., in classrooms, in local arts organizations, and across the art field) and within the broader society (para 2)

Hare (2015a) states, "When you introduce the Habits in your art room, students become more mindful about their practice" and the Habits "allow art teachers to emphasize modes of thinking that are crucial to their students’ cognitive development." Hetland, Winner, Veenema, and Sheridan (2013) believe the Studio Habits of Mind (SHoM) can best be taught through a studio environment. They explain how to develop and implement a "studio culture" through the physical classroom design and through projects created to develop students' thinking (p. 13). The studio is set up with carefully labelled material stations and enhanced with proper lighting and background music. As students create, teachers observe and intervene if needed. Words and phrases such as "think about, what if, you might consider, I wonder if, experiment, it might be because, you could try (x or y or z)" encourage students to explore, investigate, and think through projects (Hetland et al, p. 17). Assignments specify or suggest a range of materials and provide one or more challenges that are open-ended and result in multiple solutions. 

Hare displays posters in her classroom discribing SHoM and goes on to say that she introduces a few at a time.. Rankine-Landers (2015) suggests having students create a "SHoM wheel" with symbols assigned to each habit. She adds that the Habits can be reviewed one at a time, giving students a specific habit to focus on during studio time (para 12). Reverman (2016) created a video that could be shown as an introduction to the SHoM for older students. It explores how an art student might apply the 8 studio Habits to their study of art. 

In addition, the SHoM can be an effective tool for assessment. Rankine-Landers (2015) suggests having students "reflect on prompts that use the habits. For example, 'I noticed that when I observed how Maya Angelou uses metaphor in several of her poems, I was able to identify and use metaphors with more clarity in my own writing'" (para 12). Hare (2015b) created a self-assessment rubric that her middle school students use during and at the end of each project. While at first glance the rubric is a bit overwhelming, it provides students a way to self-evaluate their own use of the SHoM.

​This re-visit to Studio thinking 2, the real benefits of visual arts education has me thinking of ways to incorporate the SHoM in my own curriculum. While I believe I need time to investigate how to effectively introduce them to different ages (I teach kindergarten through high school students), I plan to start the new semester with posters and Reverman's video. Over the summer I hope to think through new approaches to apply over the next school year.

References
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Hare, T. (2015a). 2 Compelling reasons for using the studio habits of mind in your art room. The Art of Education. Retrieved from https://www.theartofed.com/2015/09/30/2-compelling-reasons-for-using-the-studio-habits-of-mind-in-your-art-room/

Hare, T. (2015b). Use the studio habits as a guide for reflective self-assessment. The Art of Education. Retrieved from https://www.theartofed.com/2016/01/15/using-the-studio-habits-as-a-guide-for-reflective-self-assessment/​

Hetland, L., Winner, E., Veenema, S., Sheridan, K. (2013). Studio thinking 2, the real benefits of visual arts education. New York, NY: Teachers College Press

Reverman, B. (2016, April 20). What do artists do? Developing the habits of an artist. YouTube.. Retreived from https://youtu.be/og1B5iUR8MA

Rankine-Landers, M. (2015, March 3). 8 Habits of thinking learned from artists. Tchers' Voice. Retrieved from https://www.teachingchannel.org/blog/2015/03/03/8-habits-of-thinking/