“This [PZ mini] course has changed the way I think about curriculum design, my role in the classroom, how students learn best, and even the way I will run meetings with my colleagues.”
– Classroom Teacher, Grades 9 – 12, United Kingdom
Dear Fellow Educators,
PZ is looking forward to learning with many of you in the new year in one of our online or in-person learning offerings. In January and February, we are offering 2 visible thinking-inspired online courses: The Power of Making Thinking Visible, a 4-week/4-session mini course, and Visible Thinking: Using Thinking Routines Effectively to Cultivate Dispositions and Support Learning, a 13-week (six 2-wk sessions + 1-wk orientation) in-depth course. In March, we will launch the second new Cultures of Thinking mini course developed and taught by Ron Ritchhart and co-taught with Mark Church, Investigating the Forces that Shape Cultures of Thinking. In late-April, PZ’s Let’s Play: Teaching Strategies for Playful Learning mini course will coincide with the release of the Pedagogy of Play’s new book! All courses are team-based with engaged instructional teams eager to give feedback and support your “aha” moments.
And after three years of being on pandemic hold, an integral component of PZ’s professional learning will again be offered in person–the Project Zero Classroom (PZC)! Join us June 26 – 30, 2023. Different from years past, PZC registration is on a first come, first served basis and spaces are filling up fast.
All PZ offerings are IB category 3-approved for those teaching in IB schools or programs. Limited scholarships are available–check out eligibility for each of the offerings on our website.
Please take a moment to learn more about the first six months of our 2023 professional learning opportunities below. Questions? Email pzlearn@gse.harvard.edu.
Join us!
The PZ Learning and Outreach Team
Visible Thinking: Using Thinking Routines Effectively to Cultivate Dispositions and Support Learning
Instructor: Mark Church
February 27 – May 28, 2023. Register by February 15.
Fully redesigned by Mark Church, PZ researcher and co-author of Making Thinking Visible and The Power of Making Thinking Visible, this course invites you to learn a variety of thinking routines and how to use them effectively in classrooms and other learning contexts to support deeper learning and thinking for students and to cultivate powerful and lasting thinking dispositions. Try out the new tools, routines and practices in your own learning environments. Learn more and register.
In-depth course tuition is $615 per participant for teams of 3-6 people or $695 for individuals without a team who will be placed on virtual teams.
Mini Courses
The Power of Making Thinking Visible
Instructor: Mark Church
January 16 – February 12, 2023. Register by January 9.
In this course, learn the most effective techniques for using thinking routines for maximum impact. Develop a better understanding of the benefits of thinking routines, the types of thinking they support, and the associated thinking dispositions they help to foster. Try out core practices and routines in your context and reflect with your team and others how to better support your students’ thinking. Learn more and register.
(NEW!) Investigating the Forces that Shape Cultures of Thinking (formerly known as CCoT 2)
Instructors: Ron Ritchhart & Mark Church
March 6 – April 2, 2023. Register by February 20.
Effective teaching requires not only good planning and thoughtful instruction, but careful attention to classroom culture. In this course, learn about the eight cultural forces that support student thinking active within learning contexts. With a special focus on four of the forces–modeling, opportunities, interactions, and environment, develop an understanding for how to create cultures in your own learning context that support students in deep learning and thinking. Reflect critically on your own work as an educator with team members and others in the course and consider new tools, practices, and principles to strengthen the learning culture you create! Learn more and register.
Let’s Play: Teaching Strategies for Playful Learning
Instructor: Jen Ryan
April 17 – May 14, 2023. Register by April 3.
Play is central to how children learn. Yet incorporating play into a formal school setting can be challenging because the nature of play and the nature of school are often at odds. This course, based on the frameworks developed in PZ’s Pedagogy of Play project (funded by the Lego Foundation), introduces core principles and practices of playful learning and gives educators the opportunity to try out playful learning approaches in your own context and reflect on how the integration of playful learning in your context or classroom will enhance student learning. Learn more and register.
Mini course tuition is $295 per participant on teams of 3-6 people or $375 for individuals without a team who will be placed on virtual teams.
Conferences
Project Zero Classroom
June 26 – 30, 2023 at Harvard University. Unlike in past years, registration is FIRST COME, FIRST SERVED and already filling fast.
The week-long Project Zero Classroom features research-based tools, frameworks, and approaches to instruction and assessment that deepen learning and understanding for all students. As a participant, you will explore ways to enhance student engagement, encourage learners to think critically and creatively, and make learning and thinking visible. Through a combination of presentations, interactive workshops, and small learning groups, you will have the opportunity to explore ideas and practices with PZ researchers, educators experienced in applying PZ ideas in their contexts, and fellow participants from around the world. Learn more and register.