What are the TALLIS HABITS?
If the only tool you have is a hammer, you will treat the whole world as if it were a nail. We believe that young people benefit from learning about their own learning. This is sometimes called metacognition. We are able to reflect on the way our minds work and make conscious decisions based on these reflections. We are also convinced that schools exist to help develop the characters and attributes of young people, alongside their knowledge and understanding of the curriculum.
For the last few years, we have been involved in research about the value of creative learning. Out of this research a set of Habits of Mind has emerged that appear to be associated with successful creative learners. These are: 
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.
Resources:
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We are committed to helping all of our students develop these Habits of Mind as part of their everyday learning experience. Year 7 students have been involved in several design groups, working alongside visiting practitioners from the fields of graphic and interaction design. Together, they are exploring new ways to represent learning about the habits including the development of an innovative web app and a Tallis Habits Journal. Our teachers are embedding the habits in lessons and schemes of work. They are researching the impact of habits focused learning and sharing their learning with each other and the students. Tallis is a community of learners who support each other to be inquisitive, collaborative, persistent, disciplined and imaginative. We are doing this in a number of related ways:
TALLIS Pedagogy & PraxisWe have developed a new tool for teachers called the TALLIS Habits Pedagogy Wheel. This is designed to be an aide memoire, encouraging colleagues to deliberately plan for the Habits and providing them with a quick reminder of the key pedagogical strategies that can be used. Beginning with key learning verbs, each segment of the wheel takes one of the Habits and builds outwards to explore how particular strategies used in the classroom can support the explicit development of particular habits of mind. This guide will be published on the cover of teacher planners and as posters around the building. A guide to each of the strategies is available online with hyperlinks to additional resources.
We are committed to developing our pedagogy with a clear set of values in mind. The relationship between these values, our pedagogy and beliefs about education, and the culture of the school is what we call our Tallis Praxis.
Values + Theory + Action = Praxis
We have created a set of statements that aim to outline the qualities expected of Tallis teachers. They are drawn from research about teacher effectiveness and shaped by our commitment to evidence-informed practice combined with our particular values as a school. We aim to maintain a sensible balance between the various domains within which teachers operate.
If you'd like any more information about Tallis Habits, please contact: Jon Nicholls Director of Arts & Creativity t: 020 8331 3046 e: jnicholls@thomastallis.org.uk | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Habits Dogs in the News:
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Recent editions of the Tallis Newsletter have contained stories relating to the nurture of our Habits Dogs. Let me explain.
Taking the famous Dog's Trust Christmas campaign 'A dog is for life not just for Christmas' as inspiration, we decided to create some Tallis Habits Dogs for colleagues to look after, as they might a treasured pet, in their curriculum and pastoral areas. The Habits Dogs belong to the following areas: 
You can read about what these dogs have been up to in the following editions of the newsletter:
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This year, all Year 7 students will be given a copy of the TALLIS Habits Journal. They will use the Journal as part of their independent learning in art & design. Inspired by Keri Smith's books, It was originally designed by a team of Year 7 students, a tutor and teachers, supported by professional designer, Andre Anderson. The Journal is designed to encourage students to develop and reflect on their habits of mind.
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