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, and ready to engage meaningfully with the world—successful not just in our seats, but beyond our doors.
Helping students become independent, empowered learners requires a shift for all of us—a rethinking of both the teacher’s role and the learner’s role. It also asks us to interrupt the familiar “grammar of school” that too often prizes compliance over agency. In our opening plenary session, we’ll come together to explore what we are noticing in our learners this year—early signs, small moments, and powerful indicators of their growth as independent thinkers. From there, we’ll get practical by examining the key practices, mental shifts, and instructional moves that strengthen students’ learning and thinking muscles and develop both their resilience and independence.
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, tailor a vision for creating a culture of thinking in their own context, and consider actions that can support and sustain it. No matter where you are on this journey to building a culture of thinking, you will come away with ideas and strategies for moving forward.
Tuesday July 21, 2026 6:30pm - 8:30pm PDT Room 109
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 stories to examine critical challenges that often undermine genuine cultural change. We will explore how to move beyond viewing a Culture of Thinking as a program to "do" and instead cultivate it as a fundamental stance—a shift in collective identity.
Join us for a rich day of classroom observations in a school that is living and breathing Cultures of Thinking philosophy.
Engage in a Photo Safari to explore how teachers at Pacific Sky School have made thinking visible and created an environment that supports thinking and encourages agency.
Use the Snapshot Observation Protocol to observe in real classrooms and use your observations to reflect on your own teaching and leadership.
