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Project Zero: Cultures of Thinking & MTV: Environment

Resources for Creating Cultures of Thinking, Making Thinking Visible, Global Thinking & CoT in Action. Guide by Stephen Taylor for WAB.

ENVIRONMENT: Using Space to Support Learning and Thinking

The physical space occupied by a group or individual, including its design, aesthetic, setup, displays, artifacts, and furnishings. As a culture shaper, the physical environment is the “body language” of an organization, conveying its values and key messages even in the absence of its inhabitants. The physical environment of a school or classroom will dictate how individuals interact, their behaviors, and performance. The physical space can inhibit or inspire the work of the group and the individual. Although most educators inherit a physical environment fashioned for an old paradigm of learning, there is still much that can be done in the design of that space to facilitate and promote a culture of thinking.   [Source: Project Zero]

Environment

Chapter Summary

Resources & Links

Development of a Culture of Thinking: Self-Assessment

Steps to help you transform your classroom environment

Below is a list of five ideas to consider when creating a Culture of Thinking in your classroom 
  1. Displays in the room inspire learning in the subject area and connect students to the larger world of ideas by displaying positive messages about learning and thinking. 
  2. The space in your classroom is arranged to facilitate thoughtful interactions, collaborations, and discussion. 
  3. The wall displays have an ongoing, inchoate, and/or dialogic nature to them versus only static display of finished work. 
  4. A variety of ways are used to document and capture thinking, including technology. 
  5. A visitor would be able to discern what is cared about and valued when it comes to learning.
from Ron Ritchhart's The Development of a Culture of Thinking in My Classroom: Self-Assessment

Flexible Learning Spaces: An Environment for Thinking

Flexible learning spaces do not need to be expensive or futuristic. All space can become interactive and promote a culture of thinking. Here are some example strategies. You will think of many more in your environment. 

  • Be sure to establish strong working norms and expectations for high-quality learning. 
  • Model what you want the space to be. 
  • Ensure safety and clarity at all times. 
  • Consider how to build learner agency and ownership of the space. 
  • Consider inclusion needs for the space (e.g. accessibility, comfort, light, sound). 
  • Monitor for equity and inclusion: does this space work for all learners? 

Communicating Values of Learning

  • Display sections for each class that focus on the big questions of the current units or storyline of the course. 
  • ATL wall that hghlights the most important ATL's for the subject. 
  • Graphic display of the core assessment objectives. 

Communicating a Language of Learning

  • Command-Term Wall that defines and categorises command terms relevant to the subject, for quick reference in lessons. 
  • Sentence starters and/or core disciplinary terminology - particulary where common mistakes are made. 
  • Multilingual labeling of equipment
  • Graphic posters of core thinking routines used in the class (examples here)
  • Graphics of core learning strategies. See examples from the Learning Scientists here. 

Making Thinking Visible

  • Making visible the process of learning, not just the "wallpaper of products". 
  • Using writeable surfaces, tables, walls (or whiteboards) for process and working-out. 
  • "Parking lot" questions board. Great questions can be parked and students can pick and solve, explaining back to the questioner. 
  • "Own your mistakes". With permission, students who make a "brilliant mistake" can have it posted and be the reference for others who make similar mistakes in the future: teaching forwards to strenthen their learning. 
  • Misconceptions zone: identifying and displaying common misconceptions in a topic (with the correct solution). 
  • Collaborative vocab wall. 

Peer-Instruction and Feedback

Learning Stations

If the space is flexible enough, some station examples: 

  • Practical demo, content practice, peer-instruction
  • Assessment zone, feedback zone
  • Problem rotations: different challenges in each zone, with students evaluating or building on each other's explanations in rotation. 
  • Deep focus vs peer work zones. 
  • Mini-lesson zone: where students are working on a task, this can be a space for pop-up lessons for direct instruction. 

Process-Based Ideas: 

  • Divide a project into stages. Create a "human GANNT" chart with stickies for each student, to show their progress along the process of the project. 
  • Protoyping zone: A station where students test ideas. e.g. in science, when students are developing a lab idea, make sure they "play" with the equipment before they write the method, so they know it works. In maths, a zone where they test the idea on writeable surfaces with the teacher, before writing too much. In Design, some materials to feel, observe or test before going too far.