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Cultures of Thinking Summit 2027
Venue: Innovation Center clear filter
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
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.  
Tuesday July 21, 2026 3:30pm - 5:00pm PDT
Innovation Center
 
Wednesday, July 22
 

8:30am PDT

Pitfalls & Pathways: Transforming Culture & Sustaining Change in a Culture of Thinking
Wednesday July 22, 2026 8:30am - 10:00am PDT
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.
Wednesday July 22, 2026 8:30am - 10:00am PDT
Innovation Center

10:25am PDT

Pacific Sky GHOST WALK-SESSION FULL
Wednesday July 22, 2026 10:25am - 11:50am PDT
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 specific topic that Pacific Sky School has been working on and will share their observations. This protocol sharpens our ability to examine our own building, or to share observations with a critical friends group when visiting each other’s schools. 
Wednesday July 22, 2026 10:25am - 11:50am PDT
Innovation Center

1:10pm PDT

Open Space Summit Café: Exploring Your Questions About Cultures of Thinking
Wednesday July 22, 2026 1:10pm - 2:25pm PDT
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 viewpoints, reflect deeply, and perhaps gain some new insights and inspiration. For this reason, conversation groups will form around topics that are of most interest to this year's Summit learners. Coming soon, we'll gather suggested topics you'd like to converse with other participants about, or questions you'd like to chew on most with others that would be helpful to you in your own efforts to create and deepen a Culture of Thinking. 


Wednesday July 22, 2026 1:10pm - 2:25pm PDT
Innovation Center

4:25pm PDT

Closing Plenary Session
Wednesday July 22, 2026 4:25pm - 4:45pm PDT
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
 
Friday, July 24
 

9:00am PDT

Observation Day
Friday July 24, 2026 9:00am - 2:00pm PDT
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.

Breakfast snacks and lunch are included.

Friday July 24, 2026 9:00am - 2:00pm PDT
Innovation Center
 
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