Productive habits help students sustain success.

A habit is an automatic response to a situation.  A student is acting habitually if they always start a sentence with a capital letter, always do homework the day they get it, or always check their working when they finish a problem.

This automaticity distinguishes habits from motivated or self-regulated actions.  A student could check their working because they want to do well, or because they’re trying to monitor their learning better (either would be acceptable). 

But when they form a habit, they check their working automatically: they no longer have to decide, or be motivated, to do it.

Motivation is fickle, self-regulation is effortful: we can’t rely on either to get students learning reliably.

We can rely on habits: if students check their working automatically, they’ll do it even when they’re tired, even when they’re working independently, and even when they’re under pressure in an exam.  Habits get – and keep – students learning (Fiorella, 2020).

Productive habits are the surest way to get – and keep – students learning

There is much more to say about the power of habit, but here I want only to introduce two further justifications for pursuing them.

First, habits help students focus their efforts, without creating automata.  If students plan habitually, they can focus on writing an original and insightful plan (rather than focusing on what to do and whether they are motivated and confident to begin).

Second, much of students’ daily behaviour (and everyone else’s) is already habitual (Wood et al., 2002): students face similar situations each day, and their responses become increasingly automatic.  This may be positive – “When I get stuck I always ask for help” – or negative: “When I get stuck I give up.”

Some students come to school with productive habits, but no student is perfect, and some arrive with habits which undermine their success.

We may feel uncomfortable planning to influence students’ habits, but if we don’t, we abandon them to their existing habits: in effect, we renounce our influence on their learning.  Helping students form good habits is crucial to getting them learning.

Students’ success depends on their habits.

  • What habits have successful students formed before you meet them? What habits have students who struggle formed?
  • What are the advantages and disadvantages of helping students form habits?
  • How do you feel about influencing students’ habits?
  • How would you go about influencing your students’ habits?

This is adapted from Habits of success: getting every student learning.

This series of posts looks at five ways to get students learning. Each has pros and cons; each is likely to be part of a teacher’s repertoire.

Previously: convincing students learning matters, sanctions and rewards, nudging, motivating students, building student self-regulation.

Next up: blending these approaches to get every student learning.

References

Fiorella, L. (2020). The science of habit and its implications for student learning and well-being. Educational Psychology Review, 611-2.

Wood, W., Quinn, J., and Kashy, D. (2002). Habits in Everyday Life: Thought, Emotion, and Action. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 83(6), 1281–1297.