Before behaviours can develop into habits, they need to become regularly performed routines. Unlike routines, which generally imply a level of challenge, habits are things that we do ‘unthinkingly’, such as washing our hands or brushing our teeth. Building learning habits takes time. Where skipping a routine generally doesn’t make you feel too bad, skipping something that is a habit normally feels wrong.
To begin with, pupils can develop some simple habits that support their learning routines. Once it feels right to:
· Practise skills as well as topic content;
· Start with what they don’t know, not what they do know;
· Use feedback effectively;
· Review work and take effective notes;
· Make every homework moment count;
· Work in a clear, clean, quiet environment;
· Remove all distractions when focusing on learning;
…then supportive habits are already being formed that will help pupils not just at school but in later life. If these become ingrained and can happen without thinking, then whatever the routine needed, the pupil is already giving themselves the best chance of making it effective.
Other habits may take more time to develop, because they involve making conscious choices to self-challenge. These might include:
· Taking the tough choice not the easy one for homework or work: do I just ‘do the homework’, or do I try to ‘do better than just doing the homework’?
· Taking the choice to build in 15 minutes of review time every evening;
· Taking time to use resources to guide learning choices;
At the same time, it is important for pupils to develop habits that encourage positive mental health, such as:
· Breaking from work to give their brain a chance to ‘recover’;
· Using ‘brain breaks’ to relax, not to do more brain-based activity such as using screens or going online
If the pupil develops the right habits, then their routines become significantly more powerful. Again, self-regulation is at the heart of building effective habits.