Ron Ritchhart

Dr Ron Ritchhart spent years in the classroom as a teacher before joining Harvard Project Zero where he is now a Senior Research Associate. Over the past 16 years, Ron’s research has explored such issues as teaching for understanding, the development of intellectual character, creativity in teaching, and the development of thinking dispositions. He currently directs the worldwide Cultures of Thinking project aimed at supporting teachers in the creation of classrooms where thinking is valued, visible, and actively promoted. Ron’s research and writings, particularly his theory of Intellectual Character and his framework for understanding group culture through the Cultural Forces, have informed the work of schools, school systems, and museums throughout the world.

KEYNOTE PRESENTATION
Friday 27th Jan - 8.30am to 9.30am

Creating a Culture of Thinking:
Laying the Foundation for the Future

Effective teaching requires more than good planning and instructional design. It also requires attention to the social and cultural dimensions in which those plans and designs are to be carried out if we want to bring out the best in all students and produce learners not just for today but for the future as well. However, we tend to treat group culture as something that naturally emerges from the group rather than as something educators/leaders can understand, assess, shape and improve. For the past seven years, researchers from Project Zero’s Culture of Thinking (COT) initiative have worked with teachers around the world in creating classroom cultures where thinking is valued, visible and actively promoted. In this keynote session, Ron will explore why culture matters in the learning process and share insights from the COT initiative’s research and development work to help us better understand what it takes and what it means to create a culture of thinking and making thinking visible.