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Cultures of Thinking Summit 2027
Tuesday, July 21
 

3:30pm PDT

Opening Plenary Session: Who are our students becoming as thinkers and learners as a result of their time with us?
Tuesday July 21, 2026 3:30pm - 5:00pm PDT
Innovation Center
Since the very beginning of the Cultures of Thinking Project at Harvard, one question has energized our work: Who are our students becoming as thinkers and learners as a result of their time with us?  We’ve long believed that a high-quality education is about far more than short-term retention or success on low-level assessments. It’s about nurturing young people who are curious, capable,...
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Tuesday July 21, 2026 3:30pm - 5:00pm PDT
Innovation Center
  Plenary Session

5:00pm PDT

Dinner
Tuesday July 21, 2026 5:00pm - 6:30pm PDT
Outdoors
Dinner at dusk will give everyone a chance to mix and mingle--delicious food and great company! 
Tuesday July 21, 2026 5:00pm - 6:30pm PDT
Outdoors
  Meal

6:30pm PDT

Creating a Culture of Thinking for Adults-SESSION FULL
Tuesday July 21, 2026 6:30pm - 8:30pm PDT
Room 108
"For classrooms to be cultures of thinking for students, schools must be cultures of thinking for teachers." -- R. Ritchhart, 2023 How—in the midst of days crowded with urgent matters that require our attention—do we find the time for our own learning as educators? And once we’ve found the time, how do we use it in a way that helps us learn more, and more deeply, about teaching and...
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Tuesday July 21, 2026 6:30pm - 8:30pm PDT
Room 108
  Deep Dive

6:30pm PDT

Creating Conditions Where Thinking Can Thrive-SESSION FULL
Tuesday July 21, 2026 6:30pm - 8:30pm PDT
Room 110
Every school and classroom tells a story of learning--what it feels and looks like, and how it truly works to foster deep, lasting understanding. Too often, external pressures push us toward simply "getting through the work," which diminishes the rich potential of this story for both students and educators.This deep dive workshop is for everyone—especially those new to Cultures of Thinking, as...
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Tuesday July 21, 2026 6:30pm - 8:30pm PDT
Room 110
  Deep Dive

6:30pm PDT

Questions Drive Thinking and Learning
Tuesday July 21, 2026 6:30pm - 8:30pm PDT
Room 201
Questions are drivers of inquiry, catalysts for changing our perceptions, vehicles for developing understanding, promoters of action, and opportunities to clarify our thinking . . . and, a major way that teachers interact with their students. There is evidence showing that teacher questions consume between 10-20% of the time students spend in classrooms. However, research shows that more than 80%...
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Tuesday July 21, 2026 6:30pm - 8:30pm PDT
Room 201
  Deep Dive

6:30pm PDT

Seeing, Shaping, & Deepening Student Thinking: Exploring the Power of Documentation
Tuesday July 21, 2026 6:30pm - 8:30pm PDT
Room 305
Step into an interactive exploration of documentation--one of the four key Making Thinking Visible practices--as a tool for seeing, shaping, and deepening student thinking. Together, we’ll examine the environment as a powerful cultural force that can be intentionally designed to make learning visible and meaningful. Through hands-on practice and reflection, participants will uncover how...
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Tuesday July 21, 2026 6:30pm - 8:30pm PDT
Room 305
  Deep Dive

6:30pm PDT

“When Change Has Legs”: Building & Sustaining a Culture of Thinking-SESSION FULL
Tuesday July 21, 2026 6:30pm - 8:30pm PDT
Room 109
Join us to delve into what constitutes a culture of thinking. Explore what research and experience can tell us about shifting a school culture to focus on deep thinking and understanding. Learn about a framework developed at Project Zero for initiating and sustaining such change. In this session, participants will identify common elements of a culture of thinking across classrooms and schools,...
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Tuesday July 21, 2026 6:30pm - 8:30pm PDT
Room 109
  Deep Dive
 
Wednesday, July 22
 

7:00am PDT

Breakfast & Coffee
Wednesday July 22, 2026 7:00am - 8:30am PDT
Open Area
Join us for breakfast goodies and custom-made coffee and tea before we start Day 2 of the CoT Summit! Come early in order to mingle with other participants.
Wednesday July 22, 2026 7:00am - 8:30am PDT
Open Area
  Meal

8:30am PDT

Pitfalls & Pathways: Transforming Culture & Sustaining Change in a Culture of Thinking
Wednesday July 22, 2026 8:30am - 10:00am PDT
Innovation Center
What does a school truly value? The signs are everywhere—from posters posted throughout the hallways to conversations teachers and leaders find themselves in regularly. Building a Culture of Thinking is the aspiration of many schools, yet the journey from good intentions to sustained, deep transformation is fraught with common pitfalls. This plenary session talk draws upon vivid, real-world...
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Wednesday July 22, 2026 8:30am - 10:00am PDT
Innovation Center
  Plenary Session

10:00am PDT

Break
Wednesday July 22, 2026 10:00am - 10:25am PDT
Wednesday July 22, 2026 10:00am - 10:25am PDT
  Break

10:25am PDT

Behind Design: Artifact Investigation with Thinking Routines
Wednesday July 22, 2026 10:25am - 11:50am PDT
Room 311
If questions drive thinking and learning, how are we creating experiences and supporting conditions to ignite curiosity? Join us to explore the process of artifact analysis with the use of thinking routines. Collaborate with fellow historians to apply a design lens to history and reflect upon the power of these opportunities in our own instruction. Though the example in this workshop is with...
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Wednesday July 22, 2026 10:25am - 11:50am PDT
Room 311
  Breakout Session

10:25am PDT

Building Belonging, Perspective, and Community in Classrooms
Wednesday July 22, 2026 10:25am - 11:50am PDT
Room 313
Stories shape how we understand ourselves, one another, and the communities we belong to. They emerge through our dialogue, reflection, and collective meaning-making. In this interactive session, participants will explore storytelling as a powerful thinking practice that helps learners develop perspective, empathy, and a sense of belonging. Together, we will examine how inviting students to share,...
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Wednesday July 22, 2026 10:25am - 11:50am PDT
Room 313
  Breakout Session

10:25am PDT

Developing a Culture of Thinking Using Artificial Intelligence Tools-SESSION FULL
Wednesday July 22, 2026 10:25am - 11:50am PDT
Room 305
What does it mean for educators to foster thinking and understanding in the age of AI, and how can we cultivate both student and teacher agency regarding these emergent and powerful tools for learning? Grounded in the ninth mindset of the Cultures of Thinking in Action framework, this interactive workshop will explore ways we can create intentional opportunities for ourselves and our students to...
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Wednesday July 22, 2026 10:25am - 11:50am PDT
Room 305
  Breakout Session

10:25am PDT

How Do We Listen To The Learning?-SESSION FULL
Wednesday July 22, 2026 10:25am - 11:50am PDT
Room 316
Deeply listening is challenging, but the payoff is immense! Join us in exploring links between thinking routines and the act of listening to students–-when do we lean in, when do we step back, and how can we tell?  We’ll use a mathematical example as a lens, but each participant’s own practice is the true focus.  Come consider how your own curiosity can become capital for your...
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Wednesday July 22, 2026 10:25am - 11:50am PDT
Room 316
  Breakout Session

10:25am PDT

Knowing & Being Known: Raising the Bar Through Relationships
Wednesday July 22, 2026 10:25am - 11:50am PDT
Room 321
Join us in an exploration of how powerful teacher-student interactions and a culture of belonging elevate thinking and learning. We’ll examine practical moves that build trust, agency, and deeper intellectual engagement. Grounded in the cultural force of Interactions and the mindset that students learn best when they feel known, valued, and respected, this session invites us to consider how to...
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Wednesday July 22, 2026 10:25am - 11:50am PDT
Room 321
  Breakout Session

10:25am PDT

LAST Protocol: Looking at Student Thinking Together
Wednesday July 22, 2026 10:25am - 11:50am PDT
Room 109
Come learn about and experience the LAST protocol, designed to assist teachers as they examine the presence of thinking, often from students' use of a thinking routine. The protocol deepens teacher learning and helps develop formative assessment skills. In this session, educators from local schools will facilitate close looking at elementary and secondary students' thinking. This protocol is...
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Wednesday July 22, 2026 10:25am - 11:50am PDT
Room 109
  Breakout Session

10:25am PDT

Leading a Culture of Thinking: Exploring Cultures of Thinking Mindsets to Inform Action-SESSION FULL
Wednesday July 22, 2026 10:25am - 11:50am PDT
Room 108
This session will offer perspectives on leveraging the Cultures of Thinking (CoT) Mindsets to inform instructional planning and organizational culture. Drawing upon ten years of experience at Mandela International Magnet School in Santa Fe, New Mexico, Principal Randy Grillo will engage participants in an analysis of street data and student work that illustrates how teachers are using CoT Mindsets...
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Wednesday July 22, 2026 10:25am - 11:50am PDT
Room 108
  Breakout Session

10:25am PDT

Less but Better: Leveraging the Cultural Force of Time-SESSION FULL
Wednesday July 22, 2026 10:25am - 11:50am PDT
Room 110
Everyone can relate to the feeling of having too much to do and not enough time to do it. But how can we impact this culture of "busyness" in order to create opportunities for deep learning? This session will explore both the obstacles to and strategies for slowing down and doing less but going deeper by using subtractive thinking. And in doing so, we’ll consider how this adds value to both...
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Wednesday July 22, 2026 10:25am - 11:50am PDT
Room 110
  Breakout Session

10:25am PDT

Pacific Sky GHOST WALK-SESSION FULL
Wednesday July 22, 2026 10:25am - 11:50am PDT
Innovation Center
Culture lives in the messages we send--even in the school’s physical environment. What does your space say about what you value and think is important? What message does it send to students, parents, and visitors about learning? Join Del Mar Union School District educators for a "Ghost Walk"--a collaborative walk through a school when classes are not meeting. Participants will focus on a...
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Wednesday July 22, 2026 10:25am - 11:50am PDT
Innovation Center
  Breakout Session

11:50am PDT

Lunch
Wednesday July 22, 2026 11:50am - 1:10pm PDT
Outdoors
Enjoy the beautiful weather of San Diego (fingers crossed!) and lunch al fresco! 
Wednesday July 22, 2026 11:50am - 1:10pm PDT
Outdoors
  Meal

1:10pm PDT

Open Space Summit Café: Exploring Your Questions About Cultures of Thinking
Wednesday July 22, 2026 1:10pm - 2:25pm PDT
Innovation Center
One of the reasons we hold this Cultures of Thinking Summit, rather than a "conference," is to promote the coming together of the perspectives, experiences, curiosities, and aspirations you all bring. Our Open Space Summit Café is specifically designed to be a place where we engage with one another -- talking about the kinds of topics and questions that will provide moments to consider other...
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Wednesday July 22, 2026 1:10pm - 2:25pm PDT
Innovation Center
  Summit Café

2:25pm PDT

Break
Wednesday July 22, 2026 2:25pm - 2:50pm PDT
Wednesday July 22, 2026 2:25pm - 2:50pm PDT
  Break

2:50pm PDT

Behind Design: Artifact Investigation with Thinking Routines
Wednesday July 22, 2026 2:50pm - 4:15pm PDT
Room 311
If questions drive thinking and learning, how are we creating experiences and supporting conditions to ignite curiosity? Join us to explore the process of artifact analysis with the use of thinking routines. Collaborate with fellow historians to apply a design lens to history and reflect upon the power of these opportunities in our own instruction. Though the example in this workshop is with...
See More →
Wednesday July 22, 2026 2:50pm - 4:15pm PDT
Room 311
  Breakout Session

2:50pm PDT

Bringing Students' Voices into the Room: The Power of Arts Integration to Deepen Our Understanding of Students & Their Thinking
Wednesday July 22, 2026 2:50pm - 4:15pm PDT
Room 313
Student voices drive a learning community. Being seen, valued, and heard begins with opportunities to make your thinking visible. In this session, we will use art notebooks to slow down and look deeply, and tableaux work to talk, move and create. Come experience contrasting ways of bringing student thinking to life through the arts in a creative and hands-on manner! 
Wednesday July 22, 2026 2:50pm - 4:15pm PDT
Room 313
  Breakout Session

2:50pm PDT

Building a "City" of Thinking: Collective Hope, Shared Voice, & the Culture of Learning
Wednesday July 22, 2026 2:50pm - 4:15pm PDT
Room 321
Inspired by the Smithsonian Institution’s City of Hope: Resurrection City and the 1968 Poor People’s Campaign, this session will examine the Cultures of Thinking mindset that learning is both an individual endeavor and a collective enterprise. Participants will explore how communities of diverse thinkers unite around shared purpose, voice, and vision. Through Project Zero thinking...
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Wednesday July 22, 2026 2:50pm - 4:15pm PDT
Room 321
  Breakout Session

2:50pm PDT

Developing A Culture of Thinking Using Artificial Intelligence Tools-SESSION FULL
Wednesday July 22, 2026 2:50pm - 4:15pm PDT
Room 305
What does it mean for educators to foster thinking and understanding in the age of AI, and how can we cultivate both student and teacher agency regarding these emergent and powerful tools for learning? Grounded in the ninth mindset of the Cultures of Thinking in Action framework, this interactive workshop will explore ways we can create intentional opportunities for ourselves and our students to...
See More →
Wednesday July 22, 2026 2:50pm - 4:15pm PDT
Room 305
  Breakout Session

2:50pm PDT

Empowering ALL Learners Through a Culture of Thinking-SESSION FULL
Wednesday July 22, 2026 2:50pm - 4:15pm PDT
Room 316
Empowering ALL Learners Through a Culture of Thinking focuses on something we are all craving more of in our classrooms: deep, human-centered dialogue that supports learners in feeling known, valued, and seen. Through agreements that shift from a culture of compliance to a culture of engagement, and documentation of language and learning through a culture of thinking, we can create the conditions...
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Wednesday July 22, 2026 2:50pm - 4:15pm PDT
Room 316
  Breakout Session

2:50pm PDT

Exploring the Power of Making Thinking Visible Practices-SESSION FULL
Wednesday July 22, 2026 2:50pm - 4:15pm PDT
Room 109
As educators worldwide strive to cultivate classrooms where thinking is valued and visible, thinking routines have become commonplace in practice. However, these routines are all too often treated as "activities to complete" rather than tools to foster deep thinking habits. To be truly effective, thinking routines must be supported by other essential Making Thinking Visible (MTV) practices: active...
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Wednesday July 22, 2026 2:50pm - 4:15pm PDT
Room 109
  Breakout Session

2:50pm PDT

Guiding Teacher Inquiry into Their Own Teaching-SESSION FULL
Wednesday July 22, 2026 2:50pm - 4:15pm PDT
Room 108
We often use the word “training” when we talk about teacher professional learning. This connotes that there is some skill or practice that we merely want teachers to replicate or add into their practice. However, developing a culture of thinking goes much deeper than merely adding a set of practices. It requires a deep reflection on and understanding of one’s teaching as we engage in the...
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Wednesday July 22, 2026 2:50pm - 4:15pm PDT
Room 108
  Breakout Session

2:50pm PDT

Honoring Cultural Strengths through the 8 Cultural Forces Framework
Wednesday July 22, 2026 2:50pm - 4:15pm PDT
Room 317
The 8 Cultural Forces serve as a vehicle that communicates what matters in a learning space, reflecting value systems that connect to the emotional, ancestral, and identity-based cultural roots that shape how people learn and make meaning. In this session, participants will engage in an exploration of how cultural values strengthen learning environments where thinking is valued, visible, and...
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Wednesday July 22, 2026 2:50pm - 4:15pm PDT
Room 317
  Breakout Session

2:50pm PDT

Less but Better: Leveraging the Cultural Force of Time
Wednesday July 22, 2026 2:50pm - 4:15pm PDT
Room 110
Everyone can relate to the feeling of having too much to do and not enough time to do it. But how can we impact this culture of busyness in order to create opportunities for deep learning? This session will explore both the obstacles to and strategies for slowing down and doing less but going deeper by using subtractive thinking. And in doing so, we’ll consider how this adds value to both living...
See More →
Wednesday July 22, 2026 2:50pm - 4:15pm PDT
Room 110
  Breakout Session

4:15pm PDT

Break/Transition Time to Closing
Wednesday July 22, 2026 4:15pm - 4:25pm PDT
Wednesday July 22, 2026 4:15pm - 4:25pm PDT
  Break

4:25pm PDT

Closing Plenary Session
Wednesday July 22, 2026 4:25pm - 4:45pm PDT
Innovation Center
As we close out the Summit, Ron and Mark will offer insights and perspectives to support participants as they take home ideas from the weekend and put them into action.
Wednesday July 22, 2026 4:25pm - 4:45pm PDT
Innovation Center
  Plenary Session
 
Thursday, July 23
 

10:00am PDT

A Journey of Discovery: Project MUSE QUESTS
Thursday July 23, 2026 10:00am - 12:00pm PDT
Timken Museum of Art in Balboa Park, 1500 El Prado, San Diego
Join us for a morning of play, connection, and curiosity at the beautiful Timken Museum of Art in Balboa Park! From 10:00 to 12:30ish, we invite you to step away from the traditional conference setting to experience Project MUSE QUESTS. Originally developed by Project Zero researchers several years ago, these QUESTS are designed to transform how we look at and engage with art. Your small group...
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Thursday July 23, 2026 10:00am - 12:00pm PDT
Timken Museum of Art in Balboa Park, 1500 El Prado, San Diego
  Optional Adventure

10:00am PDT

Observing & Pondering & Reflecting—In Nature! - SESSION FULL
Thursday July 23, 2026 10:00am - 12:00pm PDT
The San Elijo Lagoon Trails. 900 North Rios Ave., Solana Beach
Step away from the conference setting and onto the trails of the San Elijo Lagoon. After days of deep learning at the CoT Summit, join a community of outdoor-minded educators to synthesize your ideas with some fresh air and rich dialogue. Admire the majestic beauty of the North County San Diego Coastline! Saunter through a slot canyon and scamper up a ladder to an epic viewpoint! Pause to observe...
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Thursday July 23, 2026 10:00am - 12:00pm PDT
The San Elijo Lagoon Trails. 900 North Rios Ave., Solana Beach
  Optional Adventure

1:00pm PDT

Expanding Our Approach to and Understanding of Folk Art
Thursday July 23, 2026 1:00pm - 3:00pm PDT
Mingei International Museum Balboa Park, 1439 El Prado, San Diego
Folk art is unique in that it seeks to elevate our understanding of common objects that define a culture. By displaying and platforming these objects, the Mingei International Museum invites us to consider them as art, and thereby ask of them the same things we ask of masterworks: What is the artist's intent? What is the artist trying to communicate? Why did the artist make particular choices in...
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Thursday July 23, 2026 1:00pm - 3:00pm PDT
Mingei International Museum Balboa Park, 1439 El Prado, San Diego
  Optional Adventure

1:00pm PDT

Sparking Questions
Thursday July 23, 2026 1:00pm - 3:00pm PDT
Museum of Contemporary Art in San Diego-La Jolla
Museums are powerful places to ignite curiosity—especially when we slow down, look closely, talk with others, and let questions lead the way. This approach becomes even more valuable when we encounter works that don’t immediately draw us in, feel unfamiliar, or seem hard to access at first glance. In this session, participants will use the thinking routine Looking: Ten Times Two and...
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Thursday July 23, 2026 1:00pm - 3:00pm PDT
Museum of Contemporary Art in San Diego-La Jolla
  Optional Adventure

1:00pm PDT

Under the Freeway, We Rise: Mapping Routes from Art to Justice
Thursday July 23, 2026 1:00pm - 3:00pm PDT
Chicano Park: 1949 Logan Ave., San Diego
Built beneath a freeway meant to erase a community, Chicano Park stands as a living archive of resistance, identity, and collective power. In this session, participants will move through the park by choosing intentional routes that foreground different justice themes—resistance, cultural pride, solidarity, and intergenerational memory. Using visible thinking routines, participants will closely...
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Thursday July 23, 2026 1:00pm - 3:00pm PDT
Chicano Park: 1949 Logan Ave., San Diego
  Optional Adventure
 

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Tuesday, July 21
Wednesday, July 22
Thursday, July 23
Friday, July 24
Chicano Park: 1949 Logan Ave., San Diego
Innovation Center
Mingei International Museum Balboa Park, 1439 El Prado, San Diego
Museum of Contemporary Art in San Diego-La Jolla
Open Area
Outdoors
Room 108
Room 109
Room 110
Room 201
Room 305
Room 311
Room 313
Room 316
Room 317
Room 321
The San Elijo Lagoon Trails. 900 North Rios Ave., Solana Beach
Timken Museum of Art in Balboa Park, 1500 El Prado, San Diego
  • Break
  • Breakout Session
  • Deep Dive
  • Meal
  • Observation Day
  • Optional Adventure
  • Plenary Session
  • Summit Café
  • Audience
  • General