This conference focuses on current Project Zero approaches to creating learning environments and instructional materials that help learners develop the thinking skills, habits of mind, and global understandings they need in the world of today and tomorrow. The two-and-a-half day conference includes keynote addresses by leading Project Zero researchers, interactive sessions led by Project Zero researchers and other educators working with Project Zero ideas and practices in a variety of educational settings and on-site sessions led by staff of the National Gallery of Art and the Smithsonian Institution featuring learning in museums and learning through art. These interactive sessions will explore the application of frameworks and tools related to Teaching for Understanding, Visible Thinking, Artful Thinking, Arts Integration, Educating for the 21st Century, and Multiple Intelligences.

What will you learn?

• What are the components of an effective education for the world that students live in now and will live in 10, 20, or 50 years from now?
• What is understanding, and how does it develop?
• How do classrooms and schools foster a culture of thinking and understanding?

Who should attend?
Educators and administrators working in K-12 schools, museums, and other educational settings are encouraged to attend the conference.

Where will the conference take place?

• National Gallery of Art / Smithsonian Institution Museums, 4th and Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20565
• Washington International School, 3100 Macomb Street, Washington, DC. 

On the first day of the conference, Friday, February 12, the National Gallery of Art and the Smithsonian Institution will be our hosts. We will gather at the East Wing entrance of the National Gallery at 4th Street and Constitution Avenue, NW, at 8:30 a.m. for registration and coffee. The opening plenary session, led by Project Zero researchers, will begin at 9 a.m. in the main auditorium of the National Gallery. Participants then will attend two courses that day, most of which will focus on learning in museums and learning through art.

Participants will be on their own for lunch in the museums that first day.

On the second and third days of the conference, Saturday-Sunday, February 13-14, the conference will held at the Washington International School, in the Cleveland Park neighborhood of Washington, DC. Each day will begin at 8:30 a.m. with coffee. A plenary session talk by a Project Zero researcher will follow at 9 a.m. On Saturday, participants will take two interactive courses, and on Sunday they will take one.

Lunch will be provided on Saturday and there will be a conference reception in the school’s “mansion” on Saturday afternoon.

The conference will end at 12:30 p.m. on Sunday.

How do I register?
All registrations must be submitted online.  To register now, click here. 

Who is hosting the conference?
Educating for Today and Tomorrow is hosted by CASIE and WIS in collaboration with Project Zero and the Harvard Graduate School of Education.  The first day of the conference is hosted in collaboration with the National Gallery of Art.