About | Project Zero

IN THIS SECTION

Project Zero, an educational research organization at the Harvard University Graduate School of Education, forms a strong core of the teaching and learning that happens at WIS.

In brief, Project Zero seeks to foster deep thinking and understanding by developing methods to maximize humans’ potential to learn. WIS teachers use Project Zero methods to help students explore issues and ideas as well as to analyze and solve problems.

WIS has maintained a long-term relationship with Project Zero, having held two major conferences on campus and sending teachers to Project Zero conferences around the world. This article on innovation in schools highlights WIS's partnership with Project Zero.

Grants from the EE Ford Foundation have enabled WIS to bring Proejct Zero researchers to campus for a consultant-in-residency program and to infuse maker-center learning practices into the secondary curriculum. WIS faculty have continued their exploration of Project Zero techniques and research through peer learning groups and participation in the WIS Summer Institute for Teachers. Many also belong to DC-Project Zero, a WIS-based network of educators that has grown to over 1,700 local members since its 2012 launch; the group meets regularly to explore effective ways to use PZ techniques in the classroom.

Project Zero

FOSTERING DEEP THINKING AND UNDERSTANDING BY DEVELOPING METHODS TO MAXIMIZE HUMANS’ POTENTIAL TO LEARN.

WIS SUMMER INSTITUTE FOR TEACHERS (WISSIT)

The Washington International School Summer Institute for Teachers (WISSIT) brings together educators from all types of schools—traditional public, public charter, independent, and religiously-affiliated—as well as from community-based early learning centers, museums, and other educational settings, for the purpose of exploring ideas, pedagogical tools, and frameworks developed at Project Zero (PZ), a research group at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Education.

WISSIT is guided by the belief that the best schools are those where teachers continuously improve their practice through collaboration and reflection.

The institute asks participants to reflect deeply on how they design and facilitate enriching, rigorous, and relevant learning opportunities for their students and includes both large and small group sessions, each addressing the following strands:

Building a Culture of Thinking
How do we develop dispositions that lead to thoughtful learning across school subjects, and beyond? How do we effectively create a culture of thinking, in classrooms and schools, that supports all learners?
Learning Deeply with Museum Resources
What can we—educators and students—learn from objects, artworks and archival materials to deepen our understanding of, and engagement with, the curriculum? How can we leverage the unique museum resources that exist in our community?
Encouraging Playful Learning, Creativity, and a “Maker” Mindset
In response to the challenging two years we have just experienced, how can play, creativity and making re-ignite joy in learning? How do they help us to be attuned to nuance?
Fostering Civic Agency in Young People
How do we guide students to develop the capacity and desire to act in positive ways to improve the world around them? How do we lift up young people’s voices and ideas?

WISSIT has been made possible by generous support from an EE Ford Foundation Educational Leadership Grant, as well as contributions from a number of organizations and individual donors.

Teachers taking part in a WISIT stone activity

TEACHERS CONTINUOUSLY IMPROVE THEIR PRACTICE THROUGH COLLABORATION AND REFLECTION.

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT COLLABORATIVE AT WIS

The Professional Development Collaborative at Washington International School (PDC @WIS) aims to enhance the capacity of educators across the Washington, DC, region to create classroom cultures that support deep learning and engage the world. In building upon WIS’s role as a leader in international education, the PD Collaborative’s ultimate goal is to make the nation’s capital city a model for creative thinking and innovation in education, worthy of replication across the country.

The PD Collaborative, launched in 2016, recognizes that educators must strive to build students’ character and to teach for understanding—of meaningful content, of connections across subject areas, of complex global issues. Putting skills and knowledge to use in attempting to solve significant problems is the hallmark of a learner who demonstrates global competence. Our role is three-fold:

Organize high-quality professional development events;
Convene educators from all sectors of the educational landscape; and
Build and sustain a network of committed professionals beyond any single professional development event.

Project Zero

FOSTERING DEEP THINKING AND UNDERSTANDING BY DEVELOPING METHODS TO MAXIMIZE HUMANS’ POTENTIAL TO LEARN.

WIS SUMMER INSTITUTE FOR TEACHERS (WISSIT)

TEACHERS CONTINUOUSLY IMPROVE THEIR PRACTICE THROUGH COLLABORATION AND REFLECTION.

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT COLLABORATIVE AT WIS

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