-
In 1967, the philosopher
Nelson Goodman put together an interdisciplinary team
of scholars and educators at the Harvard Graduate School of
Education
to explore how children and adults learn in and through the
arts. Goodman
believed there was a lack of demonstrable knowledge about the
topic, and thus the
research organization Project Zero was born. It was a
generative,if provocative, starting place. In the intervening
decades we have continued to investigate learning and the arts, and
our work has expanded to include investigations into the nature of
intelligence, understanding, thinking, creativity, and other
essential aspects of human learning. Over the years we have
conducted dozens of major research in i t iat ives, published
numerous books and countless
articles and reports, collaborated with hundreds of schools,
museums, and
other partners, and worked with thousands of educators
around the world.
Nelson Goodman put together an interdisciplinary team
of scholars and educators at the Harvard Graduate School of
Education
to explore how children and adults learn in and through the
arts. Goodman
believed there was a lack of demonstrable knowledge about the
topic, and thus the
research organization Project Zero was born. It was a
generative,if provocative, starting place. In the intervening
decades we have continued to investigate learning and the arts, and
our work has expanded to include investigations into the nature of
intelligence, understanding, thinking, creativity, and other
essential aspects of human learning. Over the years we have
conducted dozens of major research in i t iat ives, published
numerous books and countless
articles and reports, collaborated with hundreds of schools,
museums, and
other partners, and worked with thousands of educators
Nelson Goodman put Nelson Goodman put
PROJECT ZERO 2012
PERSPECTIVES ON LEARNING
-
Directors Note
Emerging Projects
Recently funded projects in early stages of development
Abundance/Project Zero Learning Community Art Works at
WorkLeading Learning that Matters (LLM)Talking with Artists who
Teach
Current Projects
Ongoing research projects producing publications, frameworks,
and conferences
Cultures of ThinkingThe GoodWork ProjectThe Good Play
ProjectInterdisciplinary and Global StudiesThe Future of Learning:
Preparing Professionals in Education for a Changing World Learning
Innovations Laboratory (LILA)ROUNDS at the Harvard Graduate School
of EducationThe Understandings of Consequence Project
Notable Past Projects
Former projects that continue to be influential
Artful ThinkingArts PROPELLearning in and from Museum Study
CentersMaking Learning VisibleQualities of Quality in Arts
EducationREAP (Reviewing Education and the Arts Project)SpectrumThe
Studio Thinking ProjectTeaching for UnderstandingVisible
Thinking
Conferences and Outreach
On- and off-campus opportunities to connect with
Project Zero ideas
Project Zero ClassroomFuture of LearningLearning Environments
for TomorrowOff-Campus ConferencesWIDE World Online Courses
Funders
1
2233
468
10
12131517
19192020212122222323
2424252526
27
O
O
O
O
O
O
-
In 1967, the philosopher Nelson Goodman put to-
gether an interdisciplinary team of scholars and ed-
ucators at the Harvard Graduate School of Educa-
tion to explore how children and adults learn in and
through the arts. Goodman believed there was a lack
of demonstrable knowledge about the topic, and thus
the research organization Project Zero was born.
It was a generative, if provocative, starting
place. In the intervening decades we have
continued to investigate learning and the
arts, and our work has expanded to in-
clude investigations into the nature of
intelligence, understanding, thinking,
creativity, and other essential aspects
of human learning. Over the years
we have conducted dozens of major
research initiatives, published numer-
ous books and countless articles and
reports, collaborated with hundreds of
schools, museums, and other partners, and
worked with thousands of educators around
the world. Though the range of our work is ad-
mittedly quite broad, the thread connecting all of our
inquiries is a persistent interest in three fundamental
questions: What does learning look like? Whats worth
understanding today and tomorrow? How and where does
learning thrive?
Our inquiries into these questions have pro-
duced theories and frameworks that are familiar to
many. For example, some may know us through the
theory of Multiple Intelligences or Project Spectrum,
some through Teaching for Understanding or Mak-
ing Learning Visible, through Studio Thinking or
Visible Thinking, Understandings of Consequence
or Understanding for Organizations, GoodWork or
Good Play. Each of these projects, and many more
not named here, aims in some way to shed light on the
fundamental questions that guide our work.
If you were to take a snapshot view of the work
underway at Project Zero today, youd likely see a vari-
ety of activities. Some researchers would be pursuing
lines of inquiry that have been active for a number of
years and that have already produced a body of
work. Some would be working on projects
that have recently begun and are still in
their early stages. Depending on the
time of year, some of us might also
be preparing for one of the several
institutes Project Zero offers each
year. Less visible, but still very
much present, would be the spirits
of projects past the intellectual
influence of several former initia-
tives that are no longer in an active
research phase, but whose ideas still
inform the work of Project Zero and
whose practices are very much alive in
educational settings around the world.
The 2012 Project Zero brochure aims to capture
this snapshot view of our work. In the following
pages, youll first find brief descriptions of our very
newest projects, followed by several longer articles
about current projects that are well underway, and
then shorter descriptions of several notable past
projects. The final pages provide information about
Project Zeros current institutes and outreach activi-
ties, and identify, with much gratitude, the many in-
dividuals and foundations whose generous funding
has made our work possible for over four decades.
Shari Tishman
Director, Project Zero
Directors Note
What does
learning look like?
Whats worth understanding
today and tomorrow?
How and where does learning
thrive?
-
Art Works at Work
Art Works at Work is an initiative to create and
evaluate an art-based approach to organizational
development, in partnership with the staff at Inde-
pendent Schools Victoria, a training organization
for independent schools in Victoria, Australia. As
part of the approach, co-workers with diverse
roles in the organization meet regularly to
look at art together and talk about it in
an open-ended way. These art-based
conversations are structured to reveal
the power of bringing multiple voices
together to explore complex prob-
lems and ideas, and their goal is to
help build an organizational culture
of creativity and collaboration.
Project Staff: Shari Tishman, Christina
Smiraglia
Funding: Independent Schools Victoria
Emerging Projects
2
Recently funded projects in early stages of development
The goal over time is
to develop a repli-cable model that can be used by schools and
communities
more widely. Co-workers with diverse roles in an organization
meet regularly to look at
art together and talk about it in an open-
ended way.
Abundance/Project Zero Learning Community
Abundance/Project Zero Learning Community is a
multi-year, arts-focused research and development
initiative. Recently begun in May 2012, the project
is focusing on design thinking, and the creation of
maker spaces in schools, as a starting point for
developing an approach to teaching think-
ing across the curriculum, and to build-
ing cross-school, cross-grade commu-
nity among public and independent
schools. The project is currently
working with four public and in-
dependent schools in the Temes-
cal region of Oakland, California.
The goal over time is to develop a
replicable model that can be used
by schools and communities more
widely.
Project Staff: Shari Tishman, Edward
Clapp, Jessica Ross, Jen Ryan
Funding: The Abundance Foundation
-
3Talking with Artists who Teach
Many artists, in addition to their artistic practice, main-
tain a rich and dedicated teaching practice. Though
the popular notion is that artists teach to supplement
their income, this study is premised on the under-
standing that teaching is, for many, an oppor-
tunity to think deeply about the nature of
art, their own artistic practice, their own
growth and development, and what
and how others learn in and through
the arts. The project focuses on in-
terviews with working artists who
have made a signifi cant commit-
ment to teaching. The interviews
and commentary will be posted to
a project website, currently under
development.
Project Staff: Steve Seidel
Funding: Anonymous
What does it look
like when schools develop pedagogies
that support learning that matters locally
and nationally? Many artists,
in addition to their artistic practice, maintain a rich and
dedicated
teaching practice.
Leading Learning that Matters (LLM)
Across the globe, nations, states, and school districts
are attempting to shift the quality of learning and
school leadership to better address changing work-
force and community needs in the twenty-fi rst centu-
ry. What does it look like when schools develop
pedagogies that support learning that mat-
ters locally and nationally? And what
does leadership look like in schools
that focus on learning that matters?
The LLM project is a four-year col-
laboration with the Independent
Schools of Victoria (ISV), Austra-
lia to document rich cases of what
leading learning that matters looks
like in a variety of cultural, urban,
and rural K-12 contexts in the state
of Victoria. By working closely with
20-25 ISV schools, the project is cre-
ating a cross-school learning community
that will explore and document emerging
practices of progressive pedagogies focused on
twenty-fi rst century learning and the shared leadership
structures in schools that support it.
Project Staff: David Perkins, Daniel Wilson
Funding: Independent Schools Victoria
-
A core premise
of the CoT project is that for classrooms
to be cultures of thinking for
students, schools must be cultures
of thinking for teachers.
Cultures of Thinking
We defi ne Cultures of Thinking (CoT) as places
where a groups collective as well as individual
thinking is valued, visible, and actively promoted as
part of the regular, day-to-day experience of all group
members. Drawing on previous research by Ron
Ritchhart, the CoT project focuses teach-
ers attention on the eight cultural forces
present in every school, classroom,
and group learning situation. These
forces act as shapers of the groups
cultural dynamic and consist of lan-
guage, time, environment, opportu-
nities, routines, modeling, interac-
tions, and expectations. As teachers
strive to create a culture of thinking
in their classrooms, they make time
for thinking, develop and use a lan-
guage of thinking, make the classroom
environment rich with the documents of
thinking processes, look for opportunities
for student thoughtfulness, use thinking routines
as supports and scaffolds, model and make their own
thinking visible, interact with students in a way that
shows an interest in and respect for students think-
ing, and send clear expectations about the importance
and value of thinking in learning.
This work doesnt happen by teachers merely
implementing a defi ned set of practices, however. It
must be supported by a rich professional culture. In-
deed, a core premise of the CoT project is that for
classrooms to be cultures of thinking for students,
schools must be cultures of thinking for teachers. In
2005, we began our work at Bialik College by form-
ing two focus groups of eight teachers with whom
we worked intensively. These groups are all het-
erogeneous, including teachers from K12
and of various subjects. This is a depar-
ture from traditional forms of profes-
sional development that target specifi c
subject areas or levels. We have found
that by working with a diverse range
of teachers, they broaden their per-
spectives on teaching and a sense
of shared mission develops. Team
teaching efforts have emerged out of
the group that might otherwise nev-
er have arisen. In addition, the group
helps teachers gain a developmental per-
spective on students thinking.
Over the last seven years, the CoT projects
research agenda has sought to better understand
changes in teachers and students attitudes and prac-
tices as thinking becomes more visible in the school
and classroom environments. Toward this end, we de-
veloped measures of school and classroom thought-
fulness to capture these changes. We also conducted
case studies of teachers and looked at how students
conceptual understanding of the domain of think-
ing developed. Our research to date has shown that
students recognize CoT classrooms as being more fo-
Current Projects
4
Ongoing research projects producing publications, frameworks,
and conferences
-
internal leadership and out-reach around these ideas.
The research ideas are also being taken up by many
new sites, allowing us to extend our research into the
area of leading a Culture of Thinking.
Project Staff: Ron Ritchhart, Mark Church
(consultant)
Funding: Bialik College (Melbourne, Australia) under the
patronage of Abe and Vera Dorevitch
cused on thinking, learning, and understanding, and
more likely to be collaborative in nature than those of
teachers not in the project. Teachers in the project no-
tice that as they work with CoT ideas, their classrooms
shift in noticeable ways. Specifi cally, they fi nd that
they give thinking more time, discussion increases,
and their questioning of students shifts toward ask-
ing students to elaborate on their thinking rather than
testing them on their recall of facts and procedures.
Our research on students conceptual development
found that over the course of a single school year the
average CoT classroom students growth and maturity,
with respect to understanding thinking processes that
they themselves use and control, increased by twice
the normal rate one might expect by virtue of maturity
alone. Recent data on students language arts perfor-
mance has shown superior performance by students
coming from strong CoT classrooms/schools on stan-
dardized tests such as the MEAP Writing Assessment
(Michigan), MCAS ELA (Massachusetts) VCE Eng-
lish (Victoria, Australia), and IB English exams.
As a development as well as a research project,
we seek to serve the needs of the school while creat-
ing materials for broad educational use. These include
frameworks and tools for professional learning com-
munities, videos, and frameworks for understand-
ing classroom questioning. In 2011, the book Making
Thinking Visible was published. Though the formal re-
search phase of the project ended in 2009, the project
continues through 2013 in a support phase to develop
5
-
The GoodWork Project
The GoodWork Project is a large-scale effort to
identify individuals and institutions that exemplify
good workwork that is excellent in quality, socially
responsible, and meaningful to its practitionersand
to increase the incidence of good work in society.
The project began as a social scientifi c investigation
of how workers confrontor fail to confrontthe
ethical challenges that arise at a time of rapid change,
powerful market forces, and few counter forces.
From 1996 to 2006, the research team conducted
over 1200 interviews with leading professionals
in journalism, genetics, theater, philanthropy, law,
business, medicine, pre-collegiate education, and
higher education. We also interviewed budding young
professionals in various fi elds. Our fi ndings have been
reported in numerous articles, papers, and books.
Please visit www.goodworkproject.org for further
information.
While we continue to write and speak about good
work, at present our attention is focused on the fol-
lowing fronts:
1) Applications: The project has launched several
practical initiatives aimed at encouraging good work,
including a Traveling Curriculum in Journalism and
the GoodWork Toolkit. We have also created cur-
ricular materials to promote digital citizenship among
youth.
The Traveling Curriculum in Journalism (a col-
laboration with Bill Kovach and Tom Rosenstiel of
the Committee of Concerned Journalists) engages
journalists in guided conversations about the core
6
mission of journalism, pressing challenges and ob-
stacles that make that mission elusive, and strategies
for achieving good work in the present climate.
The GoodWork Toolkit is a series of materials
that introduces and raises consciousness about concepts
of good work; in working with these materials, young
students and veteran professionals alike explore, discuss,
and articulate core responsibilities, beliefs and values,
and goals for work. The Toolkit provides a framework
for individuals to consider the kind of workers they
are now and the kinds of professionals they want to
become. Our website (www.goodworktoolkit.org)
provides a venue for educators around the globe to
access our materials and share their experiences with
one another.
2) Good Collaboration is a study on successful and
unsuccessful collaborations in the fi eld of non-profi t
education. Increasingly, non-profi t educators encoun-
ter opportunities and pressures to work together. We
are interested in the factors that increase the likeli-
hood of success, warning signs that the collaboration
is not progressing satisfactorily, and other crucial ele-
ments in collaborative efforts. In particular, we want
to understand how collaborations form, ways collabo-
rations are maintained and evolve over time, how suc-
cess in collaboration is defi ned and measured, and the
positive (and any negative) outcomes for education of
collaborative work, as well as any consequences for
society at large. As a subset of this study, we are close-
ly investigating a few select large-scale collaborations
among universities.
-
7and links to their civic participation. In our Good
Partici-
pation project, we are studying how civic-minded youth
use new media in service of civic and political goals.
Project Staff: Howard Gardner, Lynn Barendsen,
Katie Davis, Wendy Fischman, Andrea Flores,
Carrie James, Charles Lang, Margot Locker,
Brendan Murray, Lindsay Pettingill, Alexis
Redding, Margaret Rundle, Emily Wein-
stein, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (Clare-
mont Graduate University), William
Damon (Stanford University), Jeanne
Nakamura (Claremont Graduate Uni-
versity).
Funding: John Abele and the Argosy
Foundation, The Atlantic Philanthropies,
The Bauman Foundation, The Carnegie
Corporation, The COUQ Foundation, The
Nathan Cummings Foundation, The J. Ep-
stein Foundation, Count Anton Wolfgang Graf
von Faber-Castell, The Fetzer Institute, The Ford
Foundation, The William and Flora Hewlett Founda-
tion, John and Elisabeth Hobbs, The Christian A. Johnson
Endeavor Foundation, The Robert Wood Johnson Founda-
tion, The John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard
University, Thomas H. Lee, The John D. and Catherine T.
MacArthur Foundation, The Noyes Family, The Jesse Phil-
lips Foundation Fund, Rockefeller Brothers Fund, The Louise
and Claude Rosenberg Jr. Family Foundation, The Ross Fam-
ily Charitable Foundation, The Spencer Foundation, The John
Templeton Foundation
3) The Quality Study concerns the place of quality in
a consumerist era and the new digital age. We seek to
understand how our daily experiences and the objects
available to us are impacted (positively and negatively)
by these changes. What does quality look like in
a fast-paced world where goods and experi-
ences are readily available and accessible to
so many individuals? What factors shape
how people judge quality? Using both
qualitative interviews and extensive
quantitative analyses, we are explor-
ing understandings of quality with
respect to experiences, objects, and
services. We have developed a de-
tailed online survey that investigates
quality judgments in contemporary
life and are examining data from 6,000
respondents, representing six different
countries.
4) Good Work in a Global Context: having
focused until now almost exclusively on the U.S.
context, we are seeking knowledge, collaborations,
and collection of data in other countries and regions
of the world. Collaborations are already underway in
India and Scandinavia.
5) Good Citizenship: Inspired by GoodWork Proj-
ect fi ndings that suggested the demise of trust, we
launched studies of how, and to whom, young people
extend or withhold trust. We are exploring young im-
migrants sense of trust in various sectors of society
What does quality look
like in a fast-paced world
where goods and experiences are readily available and
accessible
to so many individuals?
-
8We seek to identify how
todays young people differ from youth
who came of age before mobile
phones, Facebook, and
Twitter.
The Good Play Project
Inspired by the GoodWork Project, since 2007, our
Good Play research group been studying the relation-
ship between the new digital media and young peo-
ples development and sense of ethics, imagination,
intimacy, and other themes.
The Good Play Project is focused on
the ways young people think about, and
manage, moral and ethical issues as they
engage with new media, including on-
line social networks, blogs, games,
and content-sharing sites. Funded
by the MacArthur Foundations
Digital Media & Learning initiative,
Good Play involves both research
and the development of educational
interventions. Our research has been
focused on fi ve ethical fault-lines that
we believe to be ethically salient in new
media environments: identity, credibility,
privacy, ownership and authorship, and par-
ticipation (i.e., conduct such as online speech and
treatment of others). In the fi rst phase of our project,
we conducted in-depth interviews with young people
ages 15-25 about their online activities, choices, dilem-
mas, and perspectives on these themes. In the second
phase, we interviewed tweens (youth ages 10-14) as
well as parents and teachers of tweens, asking them
similar questions related to the moral and ethical di-
mensions of online life.
Our fi ndings suggest that while youth are often
mindful of the potential effects of their online ac-
tions for themselves and for their close friends and
other intimates, there is little sensitivity to how other
audiences (distant, unknown individuals) may be
affected by activities such as downloading,
negative comments on social networks
and forums, and misinformation posted
on the internet. Overall, youth tend to
make online decisions with an indi-
vidualistic frame of mind. According
to the youth we interviewed, conver-
sations with adults often do little to
promote greater alertness to the ethi-
cal dimensions of online life.
Our Good Play research has informed
educational interventions aimed at culti-
vating digital ethics. In collaboration with
Henry Jenkins (Project New Media Litera-
cies, USC), we developed a set of curricular
materials designed to encourage refl ection about
the ethical dimensions of new digital media (e.g.,
Facebook, Twitter, blogging, online games). Our re-
search also informed Common Sense Medias Digital
Literacy and Citizenship curriculum (k-12) available
at www.commonsensemedia.org/educators.
The Developing Minds and Digital Media (DM2)
Project explores the intersection of human develop-
ment and digital media in both cognitive and social
-
9different today. Studies suggest a decline in certain
markers of creativity since the 1990s and greater dif-
fi culty developing intimate relationships. Were cur-
rently exploring whether such changes, as well as the
changes identifi ed by our interview and focus group
participants, are refl ected in young peoples fi ction
writing and artwork from 1990 to 2011. Our research
team is conducting a content analysis of three sourc-
es: fi ction essays published in a New-Orleans-based
teen magazine, short stories produced by eighth grade
youth from an independent school in the Northeast,
and artwork published in the Boston-based Teen Ink
magazine.
Findings from these strands of our work will be
synthesized in a book, led by Principal Investigator
Howard Gardner and Project Manager Katie Davis.
The book will address our broad research question:
How are todays digital youth different from their
pre-digital
predecessors? We will focus on changes relating to three
key areas of experience: individuals experiences of
themselves, others, and ideasor, 1) identity, 2) inti-
macy, and 3) imagination. Importantly, we will refl ect
on whether these changes constitute seismic or nor-
mal changes.
Project Staff: Howard Gardner, Katie Davis, Andrea
Flores, Emma Heeschen, Carrie James, Julie Maier,
Margaret Rundle, and Emily Weinstein.
Funding: The James and Judith K. Dimon Foundation, The
John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation
domains. We seek to identify how todays young peo-
ple differ from youth who came of age before mobile
phones, Facebook, and Twitter. Our research involves
three strands: qualitative interviews and focus groups
with professionals who have worked with youth for
over 20 years; examination of secondary data sources;
and content analyses of young peoples creative writ-
ing and artwork.
In the fi rst phase of our project, we conducted
interviews with long-standing educators to cull their
observations about how current students may be dif-
ferent from the students they taught in the pre-digital
era. In phase two, we conducted focus groups with
other professionals who work with youth, including
camp directors, psychologists and psychoanalysts,
and religious/spiritual leaders. As described in our re-
search reports, contemporary adolescents are frequent
multi-taskers and, as a result, may have limited capaci-
ties for deep refl ection. They are constantly connected
with friends and parents through their digital devices,
with mixed implications for relationships with these
intimates and for their sense of autonomy. Overall,
our interviews suggested that young people today are
disinclined to take risks and, related to this, their iden-
tities are increasingly outward-focused and pragmatic.
We examined secondary data sources, such as sur-
vey studies with larger populations conducted over
decades, in order to understand how young peoples
senses of identity, intimacy, and imagination may be
-
10
Interdisciplinary and Global Studies
Some questions simply cannot be addressed through a
single discipline. Decisive shifts in knowledge produc-
tion characterize the turn of the twenty-fi rst century.
Collaborations by medical doctors, engineers, computer
scientists, and molecular biologists are revolutionizing
medical care through new, minimally invasive surgical
technologies. Pressing social issues from poverty to
climate change and global health challenge scientists,
historians, psychologists, and artists to converge on
solutions that transcend single-disciplinary perspec-
tives. Interdisciplinary understanding (i.e., the ability to
integrate knowledge from two or more disciplines to
create products, solve problems, or produce explana-
tions) is a hallmark of contemporary problem-solving
and discoveryand a primary requirement for relevant
education today.
The Interdisciplinary Studies Project examines
the challenges and opportunities of interdisciplinary
work carried out by researchers, college faculty,
secondary school teachers, and students in a variety
of research and educational contexts. We work on
a novice-expert paradigm: building on an empirical
understanding of the cognitive, social, emotional,
and institutional dimensions of interdisciplinary work
among experts working in exemplary institutions,
our project develops frameworks and practical tools
to understand interdisciplinary student learning and
guide quality interdisciplinary education. For example,
a recent study of expert research collaborations
(e.g., MacArthur research networks) enabled us to
advance a comprehensive theory of conditions for
successful interdisciplinary collaborations: Shared
Socio-Emotional-Cognitive Platforms [SSEC]. Our
work on exemplary collegiate and pre-collegiate
instruction yielded a pedagogical framework for
quality interdisciplinary teaching and an assessment
system uniquely tailored to gauge and support
interdisciplinary work. This research is currently
central to the interdisciplinary education innovations
within the International Baccalaureate.
In recent years, we have focused on quality in-
terdisciplinary education as a means to nurture global
competence or global consciousnessi.e., an individ-
uals capacity and disposition to understand and act
on matters of global signifi cance. In what follows, we
describe our foundational studies in interdisciplinarity
and then turn to our current work in global education.
For example, in collaboration with the International
Baccalaureate, our recent study of student-led inter-
disciplinary research on matters of global and local
signifi cance enabled us to identify learning challenges
unique to interdisciplinary work and track global con-
sciousness among students in Kenya, India, and the
USA. The student-led interdisciplinary research pro-
cess that we developedthe World Studies Extended
Essayis available to IB students world-wide.
Informing Educational Policy on Global
Competence
In collaboration with the Asia Society and the Council
of Chief State School Offi cers, we worked with curric-
ulum offi cers and experts nationwide to defi ne global
competence and create a framework for its inclusion in
State curricula. The defi nition builds on and expands
-
our conceptions of global consciousness and highlights
the key role of disciplinary and interdisciplinary student
work. The resulting publication, Educating for Global
Competence: Preparing Students to Engage the World, can be
downloaded for free at http://www.edsteps.org/
CCSSO/SampleWorks/EducatingforGlobal-
Competence.pdf
Global Leaders
In collaboration with the Asia Society,
this project examines the relationship
between educational experiences and
global leadership among established
leaders in three fi elds (fi nancing,
technology, and social entrepreneur-
ship) in the United States, China and
India. We seek to advance an empiri-
cally informed defi nition of global lead-
ership and the competencies involved,
and characterize the educational experience
that individuals view as key in their life-long
development.
The World in Portland
In collaboration with the Portland Public Schools, this
project seeks to prepare students for engaged and in-
formed global citizenship. Through a series of semi-
nars, school rounds, and the development of a novel
digital environment, our group works closely with
leaders and teachers to advance quality K-12 teaching
for global competence within and across disciplines.
Through partnerships with community organizations
and working closely with school teachers and leaders,
Our project
develops frameworks and practical tools to
understand interdisciplinary student learning and guide quality
interdisciplinary
education.
we are designing a series of global competence-cen-
tered milestone learning experiences to mark the end
of elementary, secondary and high school education.
A hub for immigrant and refugee families, Port-
land offers a unique context for empirical research.
Through this project, we seek to advance a
longitudinal understanding of teachers
developing capacity to teach for global
competence within and across disci-
plines. We study key markers and de-
mands of quality pedagogical content
knowledge in global education. We
seek to illuminate the conditions that
enable the creation of cultures of
global competence in classrooms and
schools. We also investigate the learn-
ing demands that global competence
presents to students over time.
Project Staff: Veronica Boix Mansilla, PI.
Sameera Anwar, Flossie Chua, Aman Dang,
Chelsea Delorme, Liz Dawes, Michael Holland, Ana-
lia Ivanier, Mara Krechevsky, Polina Mischenko, Arzu
Mistry, Melissa Rivard, Kyoko Sato, Kana Shiota.
Funding: The Atlantic Philanthropies, International Bac-
calaureate, International School of Uganda, Canadian In-
stitute for Advanced Research, Asia Society, Nellie Mae-
Portland Public Schools
11
-
12
Contemporary societal, scientifi c, and technological
changes are transforming the nature of learning and
calling for proactive educational innovation responses.
Phenomena ranging from the digital revolution and
globalization to emerging knowledge about the
mind/brain call upon educational institu-
tions to re-conceptualize what matters
most to learn, by whom, and how, in or-
der to thrive in todays world.
Responding to this demand, the
Future of Learning Institute (FoL) is
a Project Zero-led Harvard Gradu-
ate School of Education Profes-
sional Education program designed
to advance new conceptualizations
of learning, explore their implications
for educational practice, and nurture a
generation of informed educational vi-
sionaries. A part of the Harvard Initiative
for Learning and Teachinga catalyst for
transforming students educational experiences
across Harvard University, in Cambridge and around
the worldthe FoL team is designing and piloting a
novel professional learning environment. This envi-
ronment capitalizes on digital and social media learn-
ing principles to prepare leaders in education for their
changing roles in the 21st century. Specifi cally, our
group seeks to design and test two innovations: a new
social media enhanced learning experience, or char-
rette, and an accompanying interactive digital learning
platform to support professional learning. The char-
rette will entail a design challenge in which partici-
pants must capitalize on available expertise and social
networks to create a solution and submit it to a panel
of expert judges. The platform, in turn, will capitalize on
social networking and participatory learning affordances of
Web 2.0 technologies to support participants learning within
and beyond the institute.
The proposed innovation involves:
1. A translational approach: We build on available
research on learning and instruction (specifi cally
studies of teaching and learning in digital and
social media environments) and adapt them to
meet practical instructional goals.
2. A cross-disciplinary collaborative pro-
cess: Our charrette will be developed in dia-
logue with colleagues whose research on the
changing nature of learning embodies per-
spectives ranging from anthropology, cogni-
tive development, and neuroscience to new
media studies and design. As a result we expect
the proposed design environment to function as
a modest trading zone for faculty ideas.
3. An experimental prototype for later dissemination:
The proposed innovations will be tested in the Future of
Learning Institute (Summer 2013) and examined for imple-
mentation in other programs in professional development
within and beyond HGSE.
4. A resource on the future of learning and innovation:
Because of its very focus on the changing nature of learn-
ing, the FoL environment will offer a space populated with
information, videos, and documented examples of research-
informed and learner-centered instructional innovations.
Project Staff: Veronica Boix Mansilla, PI. David Perkins
Howard Gardner (Advisors), Flossie Chua, Todd Elkin, Justin
Reich, Melissa Rivard and colleagues at HGSE Programs in
Professional Development .
Funding: Harvard Initiative for Learning and Teaching
This environment capitalizes
on digital and social media
learning principles to prepare leaders
in education for their changing
roles in the 21st century.
The Future of Learning: Preparing Professionals in Education for
a Changing World
-
13
Learning Innovations Laboratory (LILA)
Founded in 2000, Learning Innovations Laboratory
(LILA) is a consortium of researchers and practi-
tioners who are leaders in the fi eld of organizational
learning and change. They collaborate by sharing ex-
perimental work and emerging thinking in order
to generate effective future practices. With
the input of academic experts from a va-
riety of disciplines, these leaders collec-
tively become a learning lab in which
they learn with and from one another
about the contemporary challenges
of human learning and innovation
in organizations.
LILA has three main goals:
Create social connections:
Generate high-trust relationships
among top global Chief Learning/In-
novation Offi cers across industries and
with top academic thinkers and research-
ers in the fi elds of organizational learning
and innovation.
Craft intellectual insights: Develop powerful
conceptual frameworks that synthesize the latest re-
search and illuminate the challenges facing leaders and
organizations.
Have practical impact: Members support one
another in making real advances on the organizational
challenges they face through soliciting critical feed-
back on organizational initiatives, exploring questions
in small and large group formats, and reporting in on
their progress throughout the year.
The LILA community involves non-competing mem-
bers from three synergistic perspectives:
Organizational Leaders: The main body of LILA com-
prises leaders from business, non-profi t and public
organiza-
tions from different sectors. Each sector is represented
by an exclusive Chair Member. These seasoned prac-
titioners, many of whom hold titles such as Chief
Learning Offi cer or Chief Innovation Offi cer,
are concerned with issues of organizational
learning and innovation. They seek ways to
better leverage and share knowledge in their
organizations for enhancing performance
and innovation. Current Global Sector Chair
members include Chief Learning/Innova-
tion Offi cers from twenty global organiza-
tions such as Agilent, Cisco, Covidien, ETS,
ExxonMobil, FedEx, Gannett, GE, Humana,
Ketchum, Monitor Group, Novartis, Sapient,
Steelcase, the US Army, UniCredit, and W.L. Gore.
Scholars: LILA has involved leading academic fac-
ulty luminary thinkers such as Peter Senge, Andrew Har-
gadon, John Seely Brown, Ed Schein, Barry Schwartz, Amy
Edmondson, Howard Gardner, Bob Kegan, Chris Argyris
and Warren Bennis.
Harvard Researchers: A half-dozen Project Zero re-
searchers and Harvard graduate students work closely with
the community to expertly facilitate and document the gath-
erings, conduct analysis on relevant research, synthesize
prac-
tical fi ndings, and conduct investigations in the quality of
the
learning process and outcomes of LILA.
They collaborate by sharing
experimental work and
emerging thinking in order to generate effective
future practices.
-
14
To date, LILA has hosted over 40 gatherings and
produced over 90 research briefi ngs and insight arti-
cles on themes around knowledge, learning, collabora-
tion, and leadership in organizations. Recent areas of
focus have included New Models of Decision Mak-
ing (2007), The Effective Collective (2010) and
Weaving Wisdom in Organizations (2011).
Project Staff: Marga Biller, David Perkins, Deborah
Soule, Daniel Wilson
Funding: LILA is a research project funded through a
membership approach. Each year, we identify up to 25 global
organizations that become the multidisciplinary community
dedicated to crafting new approaches to the contemporary
puzzles of human learning and change. Among the members
this year are such organizations as Cisco, US Arm;y,
Novartis,
UniCredit, Agilent and W.L. Gore.
The community has a commitment to model
a progressive learning environment, with a set of
norms, customs, and tools intended to advance mem-
bers own learning.
From September to June, the LILA communi-
ty explores a theme that connects to current mem-
ber challenges. It convenes three 2-day gatherings at
Harvard University, each of which focuses on a topic
within that theme. At each gathering, members are
provided research briefi ngs and book summaries that
synthesize the latest research and thinking on the top-
ic from a variety of disciplines. Members may present
learning rounds in which they have the opportunity
to invite feedback from others on particular initiatives
or challenges. After the gathering, members receive
comprehensive documentation of key ideas and dis-
cussions and articles that recap central insights.
Between the gatherings, Chair members engage in
monthly conference calls on contemporary issues of
practice, which are largely defi ned and led by members
themselves. Members also keep in touch via our web-
site through ongoing blogs and discussions hosted by
other members, LILA researchers, and guest speakers.
The exploration concludes with a 1-day Sum-
mit that recaps and synthesizes insights and progress
made during the year. Member organizations can send
several additional representatives to this gathering,
which also includes LILA alumni Chairs, Associates,
and faculty guests.
-
15
All professions must address the problem of how their
practitioners stay abreast of current developments in
that fi eld and continue practicing clinical skills. Most
professions have various ways in which they do this,
including journals, meetings of professional as-
sociations, conferences on specifi c issues,
and so on. Medicine is distinguished by
various forms of professional learning
practices known as rounds. Perhaps
the most popular image of medical
rounds is a small group of doctors
traveling from patient to patient in
a hospital ward to discuss each pa-
tients case. But medical rounds
also include larger group gatherings,
including monthly meetings featur-
ing short lectures on current research
studies and protocols like the mystery
case. In all of these settings, young and
old physicians and other health profession-
als come together to share knowledge and practice
clinical diagnostic skills.
Education has far fewer opportunities of this
kind for lifelong professional learning. At Project
Zero we have been engaged since 1995 in an effort to
create a powerful learning community based on this
medical model. The intent was to create an opportu-
nity for educators who shared an interest in the collab-
orative assessment of student work to gather volun-
tarily on a regular basis to discuss emerging issues in
educational practice, to present their personal puzzles
about teaching and learning, and to practice looking
at student work together. Steve Seidel designed this
structure and facilitates these sessions, which we call
ROUNDS.
Who comes to ROUNDS?
The ROUNDS mailing list has about
150 addresses. This group is made up
mostly of teachers, administrators,
and researchers who have either col-
laborated on Project Zero research
studies or have been students at the
Harvard Graduate School of Edu-
cation. Participants work in a wide
variety of settings, ranging from
preschool through graduate schools,
public and private schools, in-school
and out-of-school settings, museums,
adult education programs, and policy/re-
search organizations. At most sessions, the
group also includes both educators at the start of
their careers and veterans. This range of experiences
is a signifi cant factor in the vitality of the conver-
sations. Everyone is considered to have special per-
spectives and expertise to offer the group.
Participation is entirely voluntary and rewarded
only with coffee and serious, though spirited, dialogue
about educational matters. Some participants come to
most sessions; many come once or twice a year, while
others come only rarely. All are welcome to come
All professions
must address the problem of how their
practitioners stay abreast of current developments in
that eld and continue practic-
ing clinical skills.
ROUNDS at the Harvard Graduate School of Education
-
16
time for participants to practice their clinical skills of
observation, interpretation, and analysis. In this way,
ROUNDS has also been a laboratory for the further de-
velopment of the Collaborative Assessment Protocol.
Since October 2001, following the events of
September 11, the structure of ROUNDS has been
altered to create time at the end of every session for
participants to openly refl ect on what it means for
them to be educators in a time of war. Usually only
ten to fi fteen minutes at the end of the session, this
time has come to be an extremely important part of
the experience of participating in ROUNDS.
We intend to continue ROUNDS in the foresee-
able future, hoping that it will continue to foster a rich
dialogue month by month and also serve as a viable
model of a voluntary, long-term professional learning
practice for educators.
Project Staff: Steve Seidel and students from the Arts in
Education program at HGSE
Funding: Private source
whenever they can, and there is a sincere effort to sus-
tain a structure that makes it truly possible to enter the
ongoing conversation at any time. New participants
are always joining the group.
What happens at ROUNDS?
The structure of ROUNDS has changed little
since it began. With the group sitting in a circle, ses-
sions start with introductions and then a volunteer
(planned in advance) offers a question or issue from
her work as an educator. The purpose of this seg-
ment is not to help the presenter solve her problem
or fi gure out what to do about this issue, but rather
to open a dialogue, drawing perspectives from the di-
verse experiences of the group. Questions that have
been presented in recent sessions have had to do with
how educational leaders can make their own learning
public, the role of documentation in tracking the work
of teacher inquiry groups, and the place of progres-
sive educational practices in schools not showing
adequate yearly progress on the Massachusetts
Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) tests.
After a break, the group reconvenes to spend an
hour engaged in the close examination of a piece (or
pieces) of student work brought by another volun-
teer (again, planned in advance). The protocol used
to structure this conversation is the Collaborative
Assessment Protocol, developed by Seidel and oth-
ers at Project Zero for the Arts PROPEL project in
the late 1980s. This part of the meeting serves as a
-
17
The Understandings of Consequence Project
Dealing with many of the worlds most pressing prob-
lems requires an ability to understand and reason
about causal complexity. For example, understanding
climate change involves reasoning about non-obvious
causes, spatial gaps, temporal delays, cyclic causali-
ty, and distributed causality where the agency/
intentionality of ones actions are on a dif-
ferent level than those of the emergent
outcomes. In the past decade, there
has been a growing interest in how
children reason about the nature of
causality which suggests that chil-
dren are capable of understanding
complex causality to a greater extent
than earlier research had suggested.
Yet paradoxically, students diffi cul-
ties learning science have been linked
to how they reason about complex
causal forms. Understanding the nature
of causality is critical to learning a range of
science concepts from everyday science to the
science of complexity.
Since 1998, with funding from the National Sci-
ence Foundation (NSF), our project has been study-
ing how students think about causality when answer-
ing questions such as, How can my actions here
have impacts far away?; Why do I sometimes get sick
when I am around a sick person, but not other times?;
Why do some people not believe that climate change
is happening?. These questions involve reasoning
about forms of causality that are probabilistic and oc-
cur across varied time scales and spatial distances. The
Understandings of Consequence Project (UC) has
studied these and other forms of causal complexity
and how we reason about them.
Our earlier fi ndings showed that students hold
default assumptions about the nature of causality;
for instance, that causes and effects occur in
simple, linear chains, causes are close to
their effects in space and time, causes
tend to be obvious, and so forth. These
assumptions can hinder science learn-
ing. We found that curriculum de-
signed to RECAST (REveal CAusal
STructure) students assumptions
while learning science content led to
deeper understanding and that learn-
ing about causal structures in one
topic can transfer to othersthose
that have similar and even those with
dissimilar causal structures, if students get
the right kinds of support. With continued
NSF funding, the UC team collaborated with
the Science Media Group (SMG) of the Harvard-
Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics to develop a
professional development website to communicate
these techniques to teachers. It is designed to guide
middle school teachers in assessing the structure of
their students scientifi c explanations, in using existing
curricula, and/or to develop their own curriculum. It
includes classroom footage, interviews with teachers
who have implemented the curricula, student inter-
views which demonstrate the wide range of students
Under-standing
the nature of causality is
critical to learning a range of science
concepts from everyday
science to the science of complexity.
-
ronment. Two forms of technology for science edu-
cation will enhance their experience in the real world.
First, students will be able to access and collect in-
formation and clues using a mobile broadband device
(MBD), a smartphone with Qualcomm technology.
Students can capture pictures, video, or voice record-
ings to serve as evidence in solving an environmental
mystery. The MBDs will also allow students to access
special features through an Augmented Reality (AR)
interface (using Fresh AiR), which will provide stu-
dents with information that would not otherwise be
apparent in the natural environment. Second, students
will use environmental probes that allow collection of
real-time data similar to the kinds of data ecosystems
scientists study. These probes will allow students to
collect some of the same data (dissolved oxygen con-
centrations, temperature, turbidity, and pH) that they
collected in the virtual environment. Texas Instru-
ments is providing technical support and equipment
(NSpires with Vernier probes) for the project.
Project Staff: Tina Grotzer, Lynneth Solis, Shane Tut-
wiler, Evelyn Chen, Ruthie Chang, Maya Bialik, Nicole
Brooke, Heidi Fessenden, Reuben Posner, Lauren Farrar,
Kasia Derbiszewska
Funding: The National Science Foundation, The Institute of
Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education
prior thinking about specifi c causal forms as embed-
ded in the science concepts, and examples of student
written work and journals. The site is available at:
www.pz.harvard.edu/ucp/causalpatternsinscience
Our current research with NSF funding is en-
titled Causal Learning in the Classroom. It studies
student learning of three complex causal concepts
distributed causality, probabilistic causality, and action
at a distancethat are important to many science
concepts. It takes a close look (through microgenetic
studies) of learning in grades K, 2, 4, and 6, extends
the learning context over the course of a school year,
and tests learning scaffolds that hold promise based
on the existing research. It studies problems in the so-
cial domain, games, biology, and machines, consider-
ing how learning in one domain might be leveraged in
service of learning in another. In later phases of the
work, we will develop and test curriculum. The fi nd-
ings will be integrated into materials designed to teach
students about climate change and ecosystems.
With IES funding, the UC Project collaborated
with HGSE Professor Chris Dede to develop an
EcoMUVE, an immersive computer environment de-
signed to teach middle school students to reason about
causal complexity in environmental science. Further
information can be found at www.EcoMUVE.org.
With NSF funding, we are now developing and testing
EcoMOBILE, designed to use with the EcoMUVE
software and to extend student learning with mobile
technologies through fi eld trips to a local pond envi-
18
-
19
Artful Thinking
Artful Thinking was an initiative to develop a research-
based approach to developing learners thinking dis-
positions through looking at art. Part of Project Zeros
Visible Thinking strand, the program was originally
created to help K-12 teachers integrate looking
at art into subjects across the curriculum. It
has since been adapted for use in muse-
ums and other organizations. Like all
projects in the Visible Thinking fam-
ily, Artful Thinking foregrounds the
use of thinking routines, the docu-
mentation of student thinking, and
refl ective professional practice as
part of a dispositional approach to
the development of thinking.
Arts PROPEL
Arts Propel was a fi ve-year collaborative project with
Project Zero, the Educational Testing Service, and the
Pittsburgh Public Schools. The project focused on de-
veloping a framework for instruction and assessment
in music, visual arts, and imaginative writing
which united production, perception, and
refl ection as integrated elements of the
artistic process--with making (produc-
tion) always remaining at the center
(in contrast to the approach taken by
Disciplined Based Arts Education).
The two most important tools to
come out of this project were Do-
main Projects (long-term projects
in each art form) and Processfo-
lios (selections of student work in
process along with student refl ec-
tions). The project is fully described
in four handbooks: Arts PROPEL: An
introductory handbook; Arts PROPEL: A
handbook for the visual arts; Arts PROPEL: A
handbook for imaginative writing; and Arts PROPEL:
A handbook for music.
Notable Past Projects
The program was
originally created to help K-12 teachers integrate looking
at
art into subjects across the curriculum.
The project focused on developing a framework
for instruction and assessment in
music, visual arts, and imaginative
writing.
Below are brief descriptions of some past initiatives for which
Project Zero is particularly well-known. These projects continue to
inform our current work, and they have yielded ideas and frameworks
that are still very much in use by educators around the world.
-
Making Learning Visible
The Making Learning Visible (MLV) Project was
based on collaborative research between Project Zero
researchers and educators from the Municipal Pre-
schools of Reggio Emilia, Italy. MLV investigated
how best to understand, document, and support
individual and group learning for children
and adults. In particular, MLV addressed
three aspects of learning and teaching:
1) what teachers and students can do
to support the creation of learning
groups in the classroom; 2) the role
of observation and documentation
in deepening and extending chil-
drens and adults learning; and 3)
how teachers and students can both
create and transmit culture, values,
and knowledge. Over the past de-
cade, MLV has worked with hundreds
of preschool through high school teach-
ers and teacher educators in Massachusetts,
Rhode Island, and Ohio to promote the de-
velopment of learning groups in the classroom and
staffroom. Today, the ultimate goal of MLV continues
to be to create and sustain powerful cultures of learn-
ing in and across classrooms and schools, in particular
through the use of documentation as a way to deepen
and extend learning.
Learning in and from Museum Study Centers
Immediately prior to a major renovation of the
Harvard University Art Museums (H/AM), Project
Zero collaborated with the museums on a research
initiative that investigated the nature of visitor
learning in H/AMs two study centersthe
Agnes Mongan Center for the Study of
Prints, Drawings, and Photographs
in the Fogg Art Museum, and the
Study Room of the Busch-Reisinger
Museum. The project examined
how object-centered learning
in the study centers encourages
the development of complex
knowledge. The purpose of the
project was to inform the physical
redesign of the study centers and
to suggest ways to enhance their use
going forward. The lessons learned
have been useful to museums and other
settings that emphasize object-centered
learning with art and artifacts.
The project
examined how object-centered
learning in the study centers encourages the development of
complex knowledge.
The ultimate goal of MLV continues to be to create and sustain
powerful cul-tures of learning in and
across classrooms and schools.
20
-
REAP (Reviewing Education and the Arts Project)
REAP addressed the question of what studies have
shown about the effects of arts instruction on cog-
nition in non-arts domains. The project examined
all of the major arts domains (multi-arts, visual arts,
music, drama, and dance) and resulted in ten
meta-analytic reviews. The analyses revealed
little evidence to support commonly cited
claims for transfer of learning from
arts to other areas of the curricu-
lum. Because arts learning was not
clearly assessed in most of the re-
search projects synthesized, the re-
searchers turned their attention to
a qualitative study to identify and
name what is really taught in visual
arts education, which resulted in the
Studio Thinking Framework. The
analyses are available in a special issue
of the Journal of Aesthetic Education
(Journal of Aesthetic Education, 34 (3-4),
2000) and in the proceedings of a conference
devoted to the study, Beyond the Soundbite: http://
www.getty.edu/foundation/pdfs/soundbite.pdf.
Qualities of Quality in Arts Education
The Qualities of Quality: Understanding Excellence
in Arts Education was a multi-faced study of how arts
educators defi ne and strive to create high-quality arts
learning experiences for children and youth, both in
and out of school. This study focused far less
on legislative and preparatory efforts to
achieve quality than on the nature of the
arts learning experience as it actually
occurs. The study used qualitative
approaches to gain insight into the
complex and ephemeral nature of
peoples thoughts about quality,
what informs those thoughts, and
how their ideas guide the decisions
they make that impact the quality
of arts learning experiences. The
project yielded a set of tools for edu-
cators and policy makers to help them
refl ect on and discuss issues of quality
in their own settings.
The study used qualitative
approaches to gain insight into the com-plex and ephemeral
nature of peoples
thoughts about quality.The analyses revealed
little evidence to support commonly cited claims for transfer of
learning
from arts to other areas of the cur-
riculum.
21
-
22
The Studio Thinking Project
The Studio Thinking Project was an observational
study designed to understand what was taught (the
Studio Habits of Mind) and how teaching was con-
ducted (the Studio Structures) in rigorous visual arts
instruction. This work resulted in the 2007 book
Studio Thinking: The real bene ts of visual arts
education, and a second edition is in prepa-
ration. The framework continues to be
used widely in the US and interna-
tionally in visual arts, music, theater,
and dance classes, as well as in non-
art subjects. It also led to a project
supported by the National Science
Foundation which investigated the
transfer of learning from visual arts
to geometry.
Spectrum
Project Spectrum offered an alternative approach to
assessment and curriculum development for the pre-
school and early primary years based on Howard Gard-
ners theory of multiple intelligences and David Feld-
mans theory of development in non-universal
domains. The approach stemmed from the
belief that each child exhibits a distinc-
tive profi le of abilities, or spectrum
of intelligences. These intelligences
are not fi xed; rather, they can be
enhanced by stimulating materials
and activities in a nurturing envi-
ronment. The Spectrum approach
emphasizes close observation,
identifying childrens strengths in
seven domains of knowledge (lan-
guage, math, music, art, social under-
standing, science, and movement), and
using this information as the basis for an
individualized educational program.
The approach
stemmed from the belief that each child exhibits a distinctive
pro le of abilities, or
spectrum of intelligences. [It] was an observational study
designed to under-stand what was taught and how teaching was
conducted in rigor-ous visual arts
instruction.
-
23
Visible Thinking
Visible Thinking was an initiative to develop a re-
search-based approach to teaching thinking disposi-
tions. The approach emphasized three core practic-
es: thinking routines, the documentation of student
thinking, and refl ective professional practice. It
was originally developed at Lemshaga Aka-
demi in Sweden as part of the Innovating
with Intelligence project, and focused
on developing students thinking dis-
positions in such areas as truth-seek-
ing, understanding, fairness, and
imagination. It has since expanded
its focus to include an emphasis on
thinking through art and the role
of cultural forces and has informed
the development of other Project
Zero Visible Thinking initiatives, in-
cluding Artful Thinking and Cultures
of Thinking.
Teaching for Understanding
Enhancing Disciplinary Understanding in Teachers
and Students was a collaborative effort of research-
ers and practitioners initially targeting middle and
high school for the purpose of developing and test-
ing a pedagogy of understanding. The key idea
was performing understandings: under-
standing something as a matter of be-
ing able to think and act fl exibly with
what you know about it, not just
passively having an understand-
ing. Research showed that learners
understood content better when
teachers used the Teaching for Un-
derstanding framework. Since its
development, the framework has
been applied widely to teaching and
learning K-12, at the university level,
and even to organizational learning.
The key idea was
performing un-derstandings: under-
standing something as a matter of being able to think and act fl
exibly with what you know about it.
Visible Thinking was an initiative to develop a research-based
ap-
proach to teaching thinking disposi-
tions.
-
24
Future of Learning
In 2009, Project Zero expanded its summer course
offerings to include the Future of Learning (FoL)
Institute. FoL focuses exclusively on how societal
changes and technological advancements affect stu-
dents abilities to learn and their impact on edu-
cational practice. It invites educators to ex-
amine what, where, and how children and
adults should learn in order to thrive in
a dynamic world, keeping in mind that
when teachers embrace learning for
the future, they nurture competen-
cies such as expert thinking, col-
laboration and entrepreneurship.
The Future of Learning has
attracted some of the most innova-
tive minds in education, both on the
faculty and as participants. It has also
inspired a HILT (Harvard Initiative for
Learning and Teaching) grant for PPE
and Project Zero education chairs Veronica
Boix-Mansilla and David Perkins to design an
experimental professional learning environment that
capitalizes on digital/social media and design-based
learning.
Project Zero Classroom
In conjunction with Programs in Professional
Education (PPE) at the Harvard Graduate School of
Education, Project Zero has been running its original
Summer Institute, the Project Zero Classroom (PZC),
since 1996. Originally chaired by Lois Hetland
and currently chaired by Steve Seidel,
PZC is geared toward K-12 teachers and
administrators. It addresses fundamental
educational questions, such as:
1. What are the components of an
effective education for the world
that students live in now and will
live in 10, 20, or 50 years from now?
2. What is understanding, and how
does it develop?
3. What are the roles of refl ection
and assessment in student and teach-
er learning?
4. How can participants share and pur-
sue their understanding of Project Zeros
ideas with others after the PZC?
PZC participants benefi t from the rich collab-
orative opportunities that arise from exploring these
questions with a broad range of colleagues, who work
in public, private, and international schools, and rep-
resent, on average, 15 states and 25 countries.
Project Zero offers on- and off-campus opportunities to connect
with Project Zero ideas.
Conferences and Outreach
How can participants
share and pursue their understanding of
Project Zeros ideas with others after the PZC?
FoL focuses exclusively on how societal changes
and technological ad-vancements affect stu-dents abilities to
learn
and their impact on educational
practice.
-
Learning Environments for Tomorrow
Co-Chaired by Project Zero Principal Investigator
Daniel Wilson, Learning Environments for Tomorrow
(LEFT) examines key principles of teaching and design-
ing innovative K12 learning environments. Through
a research-based understanding of current
and emerging best practices, participants
work with Harvard faculty and leading
practitioners to envision how school
buildings can most effectively sup-
port learning in the coming decade
and beyond. In particular, LEFT
explores the relationship between
pedagogy and architecture, which
can shape behavior and learning
habits. LEFT is a collaborative ef-
fort between the Harvard Graduate
School of Education and the Harvard
Graduate School of Design (GSD).
For more information on Project
Zeros institutes at Harvard, please visit:
http://www.gse.harvard.edu/ppe/programs/in-
dex.html
Off-Campus Conferences
Hosted by the Washington International School and
at the National Gallery of Art, Project Zero held its
inaugural off-campus conference in the fall of 2010
in Washington, D.C. The conference was organized in
collaboration with the Center for the Advance-
ment and Study of International Educa-
tion (CASIE), and with the guidance of
longtime Project Zero consultant, Jim
Reese. Since then, Project Zero has
partnered with CASIE on several
subsequent conferences all center-
ing on various themes relating to
Educating for Today and Tomor-
row. Hosts include the Urban As-
sembly Schools in New York City,
the Atlanta International School
and the High Museum, the Clarkston
(Michigan) Community Schools, and
the Noble and Greenough School in
Dedham, Massachusetts.
For more information about CASIE, and about up-
coming conferences, please visit www.casieonline.org
LEFT explores the relationship
between pedagogy and architecture, which can shape behavior
and
learning habits. Project Zero held its inaugural off-
campus conference in the fall of 2010 in Washington, D.C.
25
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WIDE World Online Courses
Originally developed at Project Zero, WIDE World
(Wide-scale Interactive Development for Educators)
is an online professional educational initiative
based at the Harvard Graduate School of
Education. WIDE offers a range of on-
line courses including several based on
Project Zero ideas, such as Making
Thinking Visible: Building Under-
standing through Critical and Cre-
ative Thinking, Using Multiple In-
telligences as a Tool to Help Students Learn, Teaching
for Understanding I: Focus on Understanding, and
Teaching for Understanding II: Understanding
in Practice.
For more information, and to reg-
ister for WIDE courses, please visit
http://wideworld.harvard.edu/en/
index.html
26
Originally developed at
Project Zero, WIDE World (Wide-scale
Interactive Development for Educators) is an online
professional
educational initiative based at the Harvard Graduate School
of
Education.
26
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27
The J. Epstein Foundation
The Fetzer Institute
The Ford Foundation
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
The General Electric Fund
The Germanacos Foundation
The J. Paul Getty Trust
The William T. Grant Foundation
The John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation
The Harvard Art Museums
The Harvard Initiative for Learning and
Teaching (HILT)
The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation
John and Elisabeth Hobbs
Independent Schools Victoria (Australia)
Indian and Northern Affairs Canada
The Institute of Education Sciences
International Baccalaureate
International Bilingual School
International School of Amsterdam
International School of Brussels
International School of Dusseldorf
International School of Stavanger
International School of Uganda
International Schools Consortium
International Storytelling Center
The Christian A. Johnson Endeavor Foundation
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
Funders
1420 Foundation for Sustainable
Development Education
Academy for Educational Development
Ahmanson Foundation
American School of the Hague
Antwerp International School
John Abele and the Argosy Foundation
The Abundance Foundation
The Asia Society
The Atlantic Philanthropies
ATLAS Communities, Inc.
The Bauman Foundation
Bialik College of Melbourne
Canadian Institute for Advanced Research
The Carnegie Corporation
Carpe Vitam
Edna McConnell Clark Foundation
The C.O.U.Q. Foundation
Commonwealth of Massachusetts Department
of Education
Concordia Architects
Count Anton Wolfgang Graf von Faber-Castell
The Nathan Cummings Foundation
DeWitt Wallace-Readers Digest Fund
The James and Judith K. Dimon Foundation
Disney Learning Partnership / Disney Hand
Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation
The Abe and Vera Dorevitch Foundation
Education Development Foundation
Over the years Project Zero has been fortunate to receive
funding from many generous organizations and individuals. We list
them here. We welcome information about any errors or inadvertent
omissions.
Project Zero Funders
Continued s
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Funders
28
Ohio Department of Education
Parent Partners, Inc.
The Pew Charitable Trusts
The Jesse Phillips Foundation Fund
Portland (ME) Public Schools
The Rockefeller Brothers Fund
The Rockefeller Foundation
The Louise and Claude Rosenberg, Jr.
Family Foundation
The Ross Family Charitable Foundation
The Schwab Foundation for Learning
The Sloan Foundation
The Spencer Foundation
The John Templeton Foundation
The Tides Foundation
The United States Department of Education
United Way of Massachusetts Bay, Inc.
Universidad de Bogot Jorge Tadeo Lozano
The Van Leer Foundation
The Veterans Administration
The Wallace Foundation
The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts
Wickliffe Progressive Community School
Wilsonville and West Linn Public Schools
YMCA of the USA
The Alexander Julian Foundation
Kaplan/ScoreLearning.com
The John F. Kennedy School of Government
at Harvard University
The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation
The Thomas H. Lee Company
The Lilly Endowment
The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation
The Josiah Macy, Jr., Foundation
Maine Department of Education
Malden Public Schools
The Markle Foundation
The Massachusetts Cultural Council
The James S. McDonnell Foundation
Albert W. and Katherine E. Merck
The Milton Fund
The Museum of Modern Art
The National Endowment for the Arts
The National Institute of Education
The National Science Foundation
The Nellie Mae Education Foundation
The New American School Development
Corporation
New Bedford (MA) Public Schools
The Northeast Regional Educational Laboratory
Northern European Council of International Schools
The Noyes Family
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Project ZeroHarvard Graduate School of Education20 University
Road, Sixth FloorCambridge, Massachusetts 02138Phone: 617.495.4342
Fax: 617.495.9709
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