Thinking Habits by TeachThought
The Thinking Habits Framework
Twelve repeatable practices that help students ask better questions, reason with care, and regulate their thinking as they learn.
The 12 habits
Ask & Refine Questions
Ask questions, then refine them as understanding develops.
Question Assumptions
Examine what is taken for granted.
Consider Alternatives
Consider more than one viewpoint, perspective, or possibility.
Identify Knowledge Gaps
Assess what you know in relation to what you need to know for a purpose or circumstance.
Evaluate Credibility
Examine the trustworthiness of sources and claims.
Determine Relevance
Identify how or why something is important or useful in a specific context.
Support Claims
Use quality, relevant, accurate, well-considered evidence to justify claims.
Examine Patterns and Relationships
Analyze patterns and relationships among ideas, information, and data.
Narrow or Broaden Thinking
Shift between specific details and the larger context to see patterns and relationships.
Document, Organize, and Revisit Thinking
Document and organize thinking to support reflection, study, and revision.
Examine Influences on Thinking
Examine the forces that shape what and how you think.
Delay or Suspend Judgement
Withhold judgement when evidence or understanding is incomplete.
How the framework works
Not a checklist. A way to make thinking visible.
The habits give teachers and students a shared language for naming the moves that support critical reasoning. They can be taught directly, embedded in existing lessons, or used to notice and respond to student work.
Read the situation
A strong response begins with what the task, source, audience, or circumstance actually calls for.
Choose useful habits
Use the habits that help students inquire, evaluate, explain, or reconsider—not every habit every time.
Notice and revise
Students document and revisit their thinking; teachers can give feedback on the thinking move itself.
Research and credibility
Research behind the practices
The Thinking Habits Framework is a practical synthesis for classroom use. Research on critical-thinking instruction informs its emphasis on teaching thinking explicitly and giving students opportunities to practise it.
A meta-analysis by Abrami and colleagues found that instruction can improve critical thinking across subjects and educational levels. Dialogue, authentic problems, and mentoring were associated with positive effects. These findings support the instructional approach; they do not validate this specific set of twelve habits as a complete framework.
Source: Abrami et al. (2015). Strategies for Teaching Students to Think Critically: A Meta-Analysis. Review of Educational Research, 85(2), 275–314.
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