Malcolm Knowles Awards for Significant Lifelong Contributions to the Field of Self-Directed Learning

2017 Dr. Bena Kallick

Dr. Bena Kallick is an author and private consultant providing services to school districts, state education departments, universities, professional organizations, and public agencies throughout the United States and abroad. Kallick received her doctorate in educational evaluation at Union Graduate School. Her focus areas include group dynamics, creative and critical thinking, and alternative assessment strategies to promote self-directed learning in the classroom. 

With Art Costa, she co-authored Assessment in the Learning Organization, Assessment Strategies for Self-Directed Learning and the Habits of Mind Series, Learning and Leading with Habits of Mind, Habits of Mind Across the Curriculum, and Dispositions: Reframing Teaching and Learning. Her latest book is in press: Students at the Center: Personalized Learning with Habits of Mind. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (coauthored with Allison Zmuda, to be published January 2017). She has also authored or coauthored articles such as “Launching Self-Directed Learners”(with Art Costa, ASCD, 2004). 

Formerly a Teachers' Center director, Kallick created a children's museum based on problem-solving and invention. She was the coordinator of a high school alternative designed for at-risk students. Kallick's teaching appointments have included Yale University School of Organization and Management, the University of Massachusetts Center for Creative and Critical Thinking, and Union Graduate School. She was formerly on the Board of the Apple Foundation, the Board of Jobs for the Future, and Weston Woods Institute. She presently serves on the Board of Communities for Learning. 

She co-founded Performance Pathways, a company dedicated to providing easy-to-use software for curriculum mapping, assessment tracking, and reporting. She is presently a strategic advisor for SunGard Public Sector K-12. Her work with Dr. Art Costa has led to the development of the Institute for Habits of Mind (www.instituteforhabitsofmind.com), an international institute that is dedicated to transforming schools into places where thinking and Habits of Mind are taught, practiced, valued and have become infused into the culture of the school and community. She and Art Costa have just completed an online course for EduPlanet21. This company is dedicated to Professional Development for Educators using the most contemporary tools and thinking to successfully engage students as 21st-century learners who are prepared for lifelong, self-directed learning.