These particular 16 Habits, along with the accompanying
instructional strategies, assessment examples, activities,
and stories in the book, are the result of, “vast research
on effective thinking, successful people, and intelligent
behavior by people flourishing in all walks of life:
lawyers, mechanics, teachers, entrepreneurs, physicians,
athletes, entertainers, parents, scientists, and artists.”
The Habits describe areas in which student learning can
be enhanced when they build knowledge, rather than
when they reproduce knowledge. (16) It is also important
to recognize that each of the Habits is important and that
they are not to be ranked or emphasized one over another.
Instead, each Habit is important in its own way and the
interplay between and among the Habits is equally
significant.
Following an in-depth description of each Habit in
chapter one and exploring ways in which the Habits
may be cultivated in students in chapter two, chapter
three is devoted to describing how the Habits may be
incorporated into curriculum. The authors emphasize that: