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When the first anatomically modern Homo sapiens spread out of Africa and into the Arabian Peninsula, the region's seas were lower and its hills greener. Stone tools discovered recently in Oman have pushed back the date of that crucial first step by some 40 millenniums or more: to 106,000 years ago. Whether these earliest of wanderers died out in one of our species' many failed expansions or went on to populate the Earth (as asserted by "Out of Arabia" theorists) remains an open question.

What is undeniable was their necessity of lugging water.

The weight of water is a sensory experience that the bulk of modern humanity has forgotten. (The strange new popularity of toting around a few mouthfuls of bottled water does not count.) Water is heavy: nine pounds per gallon. To carry a sufficient supply of this vital substance along wild coasts or miles inland in pursuit of herds of game requires strength and ingenuity. What did the first human ramblers use as containers? Nobody knows. Canteens, buckets, jugs-such tools were made of perishable materials. But the butchery of prey may have sparked an innovation that endures to this day among Saudi Arabia's remnant pastoralists: a gurba- a goatskin water bladder.

Awad Omran, my Sudanese camel handler, has adapted the age-old challenge of conquering thirst to a contemporary world. He has built for our little caravan a water-cooling thermos made entirely from found materials-piles of junk discarded around a farm in Umlajj.

Awad's water refrigerator operates on the simple principle of evaporation. Wetted and hung on a camel saddle, its dampened cardboard insulation cools our cupfuls of drinking water by several degrees. We refill it constantly. It is the water we always reach for. The jug took 20 minutes to build. A cheap cell phone playing exhortatory Sudanese ballads while working is optional.

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The weight of water is a sensory experience that the bulk of modern humanity has forgotten. Water is heavy: nine pounds per gallon. To carry a sufficient supply of this vital substance along wild coasts or miles inland in pursuit of herds of game requires strength and ingenuity&#8230;

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Gallery of Student Work

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This piece stems from research carried out by Liz Dawes Duraisingh, Emi Kane, and Sarah Sheya, with contributions from the rest of the Out of Eden Learn team. In a recent post we outlined how we have developed a framework for engaging young people around the topic of human migration, as informed by our design-based [...]

This piece stems from research carried out by Liz Dawes Duraisingh, Emi Kane, and Sarah Sheya, with contributions from the rest of the Out of Eden Learn team. All graphics are by Sarah Sheya. As we explained in a recent blog post, the research agenda of Out of Eden Learn is intimately connected to the [...]

Over 20,000 young people have participated in Out of Eden Learn in sixty countries around the world. Just over 50 percent of students have participated from public or government-funded institutions, about one percent are homeschooled, and the rest have participated from private or independent schools. Sixty percent of students have participated from within the United [...]

The research described in this blog post was conducted by Out of Eden Learn team members Anastasia Aguiar, Susie Blair, and Liz Dawes Duraisingh. Before participating in Out of Eden Learn, my understanding of culture was primarily taken from individual books about a culture ... Since participating in Out of Eden Learn I would think, [...]

In December, 2014, I wrote a blog post called Research and Out of Eden Learn: Forging Our Own Path. Re-reading this piece, much of what I wrote then still resonates: we continue to strive to do research that is action-oriented, collaborative, and learning-centric, even if we ended up going down slightly different paths than we [...]

Out of Eden Learn's curricula and platform are explicitly oriented around three broad themes: slowing down, exchanging stories, and making connections. Carried out locally and through online exchanges with youth from different backgrounds, we see our program as a powerful vehicle for a range of potential outcomes - developing new insights about one's own identity, identifying [...]

Shari Tishman is a co-director of Out of Eden Learn and a former director of Project Zero. Many readers of this blog know that Out of Eden Learn's academic home is Project Zero, a research center at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. This is a big year for Project Zero, because it is our [...]

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This piece stems from research carried out by Liz Dawes Duraisingh, Emi Kane, and Sarah Sheya, with contributions from the rest of the Out of Eden Learn team. In a recent post we outlined how we have developed a framework for engaging young people around the topic of human migration, as informed by our design-based [...]

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Pass the Loop and other warm up activities

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Pass the Loop and other warm up activities

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1. cross your arms, re-recross the other way. Discuss how it feels in terms of comfort and risk taking, a place of growth.
2. Pass the loop. (Circle the  circle) Discuss what it took as individuals, as a group, what it would look like with other materials, in what contexts it could be used as a warm up activity
3. Balloons. Put a question in balloon, blow it up and tie it off. Keep the questions in the air. Pop the question. Questions could be icebreakers, vocabulary review, parts of a thinking routine- as a way to break into groups. Discuss the piece in pairs, then get into the larger group and share and expand. Discuss what is there and also what is missing. Connect Extend Challenge. Compass Points.

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Here is the link to the Google Drive folder with the question booklets

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QUESTs: Entry Points to Understanding Visual Arts

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QUESTs: Entry Points to Understanding Visual Arts

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Constructing understanding in the visual arts

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QUESTs: Entry Points to Understanding Visual Arts

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QUESTs: Entry Points to Understanding Visual Arts

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Entry points for understanding visual arts

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A Howard Gardner Project

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 Standing in a Character’s Shoes: Deeper Meaning Through Monologues

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 Standing in a Character’s Shoes: Deeper Meaning Through Monologues

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Steps to creating a monologue

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 Standing in a Character’s Shoes: Deeper Meaning Through Monologues

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 Standing in a Character’s Shoes: Deeper Meaning Through Monologues

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Monologue structure graphic organizer

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 Standing in a Character’s Shoes: Deeper Meaning Through Monologues

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 Standing in a Character’s Shoes: Deeper Meaning Through Monologues

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Suggested resources

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Standing in a Character’s Shoes: Deeper Meaning Through Monologues

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Standing in a Character’s Shoes: Deeper Meaning Through Monologues

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Presentation

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Understanding experience follow up

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Background to the poem

'Naming of Parts' forms Part I of a six-poem collection called Lessons of the War, each a parody of British Army training during the Second World War. There are two juxtaposing voices in this poem, the first being that of a training instructor delivering a lecture on the parts of a rifle. The second voice, which comes in halfway through the fourth line of each stanza, is more lyrical and seems to be that of the recruit, daydreaming about a beloved garden.

The lecturer's language is direct, literally 'naming the parts' of the rifle. Noticeably, parts of the rifle which the soldiers 'have not got' are also named, such as 'the piling swivel'. The British Army at the time was under-equipped and the poem emphasizes how poorly prepared the men were for war. They, like the blossoms, 'are fragile' and, like the bees, 'fumbling'.

The contrast between the instructor and the images of nature is profound. The 'naming of parts' at this stage refers to the gun. Is there an implication it will later refer to bodies?

About Henry Reed

Henry Reed was born in 1914 and studied language and literature at Birmingham University, where he associated with W. H. Auden, Louis MacNeice and Walter Allen. He worked as a teacher and journalist until 1941 and served as a translator during the Second World War.

Lessons of the War is Reed's most well-known poem and also one of the most distinctive poems of the war. He mimics the speech of army instructors, precisely echoing the vocal rhythms and including military jargon. The contrast between this seemingly prosaic language and the lyrical, meditative voice that also appears in the poem leads to a poignant exploration of the individual experience. Reed's Collected Poems was published posthumously in 1991.

As well as poetry, Reed produced a number of verse dramas and witty radio plays, including a dramatization of Moby‑Dick. He also worked on a biography of Hardy for many years, though, eventually, he abandoned this project.

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'Naming of Parts' forms Part I of a six-poem collection called Lessons of the War, each a parody of British Army training during the Second World War. There are two juxtaposing voices in this poem, the first being that of a training instructor delivering a lecture on the parts of a rifle.

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Our collection of educator resources includes a wide range of flexible materials. You will find resources that support teaching a complex moment in history or addressing today's breaking news.

Facing History students are 94% more likely than other students to report that their class motivated them to learn.

93% of Facing History students agreed that it is important to work for positive social change.

Current Events in the Classroom

Our current events resources help teachers lead effective and engaging discussions on today's news.
Learn More

"I can trust the materials to be easy to access, implement, and provide a way to engage students on sensitive topics."

Teaching Strategies

Our student-centered teaching strategies improve literacy skills, nurture critical thinking, and create a respectful classroom climate. You can implement these strategies with any academic content.
Learn More

Collections, Units, & Toolkits

Our collections, units, and toolkits provide you with a range of options to introduce students to themes that are relevant to their lives.
Learn More
Lessons & Mini-Lessons

Our lessons and mini-lessons include primary sources and news sources to support their head, heart, and conscience.
Learn More

- Facing History Educator Reflecting on Our Reconstruction Unit

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Find compelling classroom resources, learn new teaching methods, meet standards, and make a difference in the lives of your students.

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Being a Responsible Citizen of the Digital World
Howard Gardner

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Our Space was co-developed by The Good Play Project and Project New Media Literacies (established at MIT and now housed at University of Southern California's Annenberg School for Communications and Journalism). The Our Space collaboration grew out of a shared interest in fostering ethical thinking and conduct among young people when exercising new media skills.

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Interviews & check out his current work with The Good Project http://www.thegoodproject.org/

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January 2017 Lectures: Intelligence, Creativity, Leadership

Click here to view sections of three lectures which Gardner delivered at HGSE on topics that have occupied his scholarly life for decades.

Gardner and Winner on Arts Education

Howard Gardner and Ellen Winner discuss their respective research and its relation to education in the arts.

A Conversation with Noam Chomsky

Watch below a video of Howard Gardner discussing far-ranging subjects with Noam Chomsky in October 2016 at the Harvard Graduate School of Education.

"Between Literacies and Livelihoods" Webinar

In May 2016, Howard Gardner hosted a webinar organized by at the Harvard Graduate School of Education on the topic "Between Literacies and Livelihoods." This talk used truth, beauty, and goodness as key framing values that all students should understand. Usable Knowledge Click here for a recording of the webinar.

"Ethical Leadership" MOOC, Boston University

In the spring of 2016, Boston University offered a MOOC (massive open online course) on " Ethical Leadership: Character, Civility, and Community" taught by Dr. Walter Fluker, Professor of Ethical Leadership. As a part of the offerings of this course, Howard Gardner participated in an interview in which he discussed leadership trends and ethics with Fluker. Click here to watch the six available videos.

BbWorld Live 2016, Las Vegas, NV

In July 2016, Howard Gardner gave a virtual talk at the annual BbWorld Live conference, organized by educational technology company BlackBoard, about the theory of multiple intelligences and its implications. Watch the video below!

Gardner on Good Work and Bruner

In these two interview clips, Gardner talks about the events that led him to explore the 3 Es of Good Work ( excellence, ethics, and engagement) from the Good Project and speaks briefly about his mentor and friend Jerome Bruner, a fellow cognitive psychologist.

TEDxBeaconStreet

On November 15th, 2015, Howard Gardner delivered his talk "Beyond Wit and Grit: Rethinking the Keys to Success" at Boston's TEDxBeaconStreet event. Watch the video to learn about Gardner's work on intelligence and the Good Project and his current thoughts on what it takes to be successful today. You may also click here for a Japanese translation of the audio.

Additionally, a post-talk interview with Gardner is available below.

2015 Feigenbaum Forum on Innovation and Creativity, Union College

At the inaugural Feigenbaum Forum on Innovation and Creativity at Union College in Schenectady, NY, on November 3rd, 2015, Gardner delivered a talk on intelligence and "doing good." A highlights reel was made available by YouTube. Click here to access the associated news post.

Faculti Media Interviews

In these two short interviews, Gardner discusses his books The App Generation and Frames of Mind for Faculti Media, a company that produces concise videos of experts from across the academic landscape discussing their research and ideas. Watch to learn more about Gardner's work on both of these important texts!

Aspen Institute Arts Summit, Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts

On May 16, 2015, Howard Gardner delivered an address on the topic of arts education at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., as a part of the Aspen Institute's Arts Summit "The Road Forward." Summarizing the history of education in the arts over the past decades, Gardner surveys the current state of the field and concludes that the arts continue to be crucial and may even provide the key to bridging the humanities and sciences.

Brock International Prize in Education Symposium

On March 24, 2015, Howard Gardner was awarded the Brock International Prize in Education for his worldwide contributions to practice in the field of education. Speaking at the Brock Prize Symposium at the University of Tulsa in Oklahoma, Gardner answered questions about his groundbreaking work on multiple intelligences (MI) theory and spoke about his more recent work on the Good Project.

Hunter College Great Thinkers Series

Howard Gardner spoke on February 6, 2015, in New York City at Hunter College's Creative Writing Center as a part of the Great Thinkers Series. Delivering his talk "Beyond Wit and Grit," Gardner spoke about the importance of directing our energies towards positive ends.

"Beyond Wit and Grit" at the HGSE Campaign Launch

As part of the Bold Ideas & Critical Conversations event held during the Harvard Graduate School of Education campaign launch on September 19, 2014, Howard Gardner spoke on the topic of "Beyond Wit and Grit," synthesizing his life's work from Multiple Intelligences to the Good Project and coming to the conclusion that wits (intellectual capacities) and grit (work ethic and perseverance), directed towards "good" aims, will have a positive impact on society.

To view the other seven talks by HGSE faculty, click here.

The Literati Scene

Howard Gardner speaks to Smoki Bacon on the local Boston program "The Literati Scene" about his work on The App Generation in this video from August 2014.

The Traditional College Experience

Howard Gardner and Project Zero researcher Wendy Fischman have been working on a new project on the traditional college experience.

In June 2014, Gardner traveled to Aspen, Colorado, to attend the annual . While there, he participated in a recorded interview with Aspen Ideas Festival The Atlantic concerning the future of STEM education and of four-year residential university education. Excerpts from the interview are featured on The Atlantic's website in videos titled "What Will a Liberal Arts Education Look Like in 50 Years?" and "What Letter Should We Add To STEM?"

Gardner's words represent a couple points of current thinking that have emerged from his current research project.

The Dalton School

On May 14, 2014, Howard Gardner spent an hour with students at the Dalton School in New York City, discussing his work and the field of social science. View his presentation below, or visit the Project Zero YouTube channel. You can also read Gardner's reflections on this event in a blog post he wrote in reaction to student responses to the talk.

Learning & Mind Series

Into the Classroom Media is proud to announce the release of Howard Gardner's 3-DVD series! In LEARNING & MIND, decades of research culminate in Gardner's definitive treatise on the theory of multiple intelligences, what we know about learning and understanding, and which intellectual capacities will matter most in a rapidly changing world.

To learn more about this exclusive DVD series, please view the video below. To order your copy today, visit the Into the Classroom Media website.

Leadership: A Master Class

Howard Gardner is featured in Daniel Goleman's inaugural video series, LEADERSHIP: A MASTER CLASS, which examines the best practices of top-performing executives. Visit Amazon to learn more about this video series and to purchase Goleman's exclusive interview with Gardner.

Duke Colloquium

A series of lectures Howard Gardner presented at The Duke Colloquium in April 2012 is available online via The Duke Colloquium YouTube channel. Click below to watch the playlist.

Aspen Ideas Festival

While at the 2012 Aspen Ideas Festival, Howard Gardner was interviewed by genConnect. In this interview, Gardner discusses how the individualization of the education system can help improve our country.

Extraordinary Minds Series

In 2011, Howard Gardner conducted a series of interviews, exploring the most extraordinary minds of our time. In this series, Gardner interviewed five revolutionary individuals who have used their brilliance to shape the world. All five interviews can be purchased on DVD from Amazon. Browse the following links to learn more:

Into the Classroom Media Productions

MI: Intelligence, Understanding, and the Mind

In this , Howard Gardner sets his presentation within a sweeping history of changing ideas about the human brain and the nature of 'mental representations.' Gardner powerfully contrasts new views in two critical area of thought: 'intelligence' and 'understanding.' From the first I.Q. test to B.F. Skinner, from psychometric testing to the publication of video The Bell Curve, Gardner illustrates how outmoded views of the human mind continue to dominate our ideas about learning, teaching, and intelligence. Gardner proposes techniques to 'teach for understanding' and explains the role of 'understanding-performances' in learning assessment. He wraps this extraordinary presentation with a stirring call for the appropriate matching of technologies and MI perspectives with the differing needs and intelligences of children.

Creativity & Leadership

In this video, drawing conclusions from the lives of extraordinary individuals like Albert Einstein, Mahatma Gandhi, and Virginia Woolf, Howard Gardner presents a revolutionary new psychology of creativity and leadership. Here, in this dynamic presentation for the classroom, discover where leaders and creators come from. Gardner shatters long held misconceptions and draws profound new lessons about the intelligences, childhoods, and lives of extraordinary minds, and about what is at stake for education, parenting, and society.

MI: Millenium

First, Howard Gardner revolutionized how we think about 'intelligence' and 'understanding.' Now, with this video, Gardner expands and builds upon the foundations of MI theory, bringing twenty years of research and the history of intelligence theory into a timely new focus. In this dynamic presentation for the classroom, Gardner reveals entirely new dimensions of MI, including a verified eighth intelligence and the possibility of a ninth intelligence; new ideas about 'entry points' to disciplinary understanding; what happens to the intelligences as we grow older; and the nature of good work.

Flow: Psychology, Creativity, & Optimal Experience

Csikszentmihalyi's theory of Flow and his seminal work on creativity have revolutionized modern psychology, the social sciences, and even corporate management. Now, for the first time on video, Howard Gardner leads the audience on an intellectual journey through the life and mind of Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi.

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Click here to view sections of three lectures which Gardner delivered at HGSE on topics that have occupied his scholarly life for decades. Howard Gardner and Ellen Winner discuss their respective research and its relation to education in the arts.

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Apps for Global Collaboration: Questions and Tools to Inspire a Worldview

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Apps for Global Collaboration: Questions and Tools to Inspire a Worldview

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Some of these tools could be used on the "protected" platform created by Out of Eden

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The Listening Booth represents a small portion of the Woodberry Poetry Room's total collection: The online highlights feature selections from our on-going digitization of fragile phonodiscs and magnetic media, as well as born-digital recordings from our recent Poetry Room events. Unless otherwise indicated, all recordings were made by or at Harvard University.

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 Illuminating Standards: Reconsidering the Relationship Between Standards and Student Work

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 Illuminating Standards: Reconsidering the Relationship Between Standards and Student Work

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Presenter: Steve Seidel Pre-reading for faculty

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Illuminating Standards Video Series | Models of Excellence

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Collaborating with Berger and Seidel on The Illuminating Standards Project, over 30 students at the Harvard Graduate School of Education have explored these questions by choosing projects from the Student Work Archive in Models of Excellence and considering the ways in which those projects did-and didn't-meet specific state standards.

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Good Online Participation: Skills & Dispositions for a Globally Interconnected World

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Good Online Participation: Skills & Dispositions for a Globally Interconnected World

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Presenter: Carrie James Pre-reading for faculty

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Presenter: Shari Tishman   Title: Slow Looking and Big Understandings

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Presenter: Shari Tishman   Title: Slow Looking and Big Understandings

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"Time is the most precious educational resource we have. So to spend it lavishly by asking students to slow down and look closely at just one thing requires strong justification. "

Pre-reading for faculty.

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Out of Eden Learn team member, Liz Dawes Duraisingh, recently discussed our latest iteration of learning goals for students and educators. The first goal on the list is:
Slow down to observe the world carefully and to listen attentively to others.
This theme, of slowing down to look closely at the world -or "slow looking" - has become increasingly important to our team. So it's fair to ask: What do we mean by slow looking? The answer is simple (but not, we hope, simplistic): Slow looking means taking the time to carefully observe more than meets the eye at first glance. It implies lingering, looking long, being generous, almost lavish, with one's attentional focus, in order to see beyond first impressions.

The "slowness" of slow looking is relative; it can't be measured in hours or minutes. It might mean spending seven years walking the world and practicing slow journalism, as Paul Salopek is doing. It might mean taking an hour to walk slowly through one's neighborhood and notice things that go unseen at a brisker pace, as Out of Eden Learn participants do when they take neighborhood walks for Footstep 3. It might mean spending several minutes looking closely at an everyday object, noticing its many facets, and considering their linkages to larger global forces, as students do in Footstep 6. But whether it's seven years or seven minutes, the outcome of slow looking is the same: To uncover the complexity of things.

So what do we mean by complexity? Now that's a harder question. In a sense, the relationship between slow looking and complexity is a logical one: Complexity, almost by definition, eludes immediate apprehension, so uncovering it takes time. The thing is, we often can't know whether something can be fully apprehended in a glance until we look long enough to see the complexity beneath the surface. Instead of asking, "What is complexity?", a more interesting question is: What different kinds of complexity might we see when we take the time to look at things slowly?
The Complexity of Parts and Interactions
Probably the most observable kind of complexity is that of parts and their interactions: A car engine; a busy restaurant; an ecosystem. These are all things that are comprised of many different parts and connections between parts. When parts follow a predictable pattern of interaction they comprise a system, and often a thing's "systemhood" is the complexity we notice first: The engine parts work together to power the car; the cooks and waiters work together to make and serve food; the flora and fauna interact to make an ecosystem. But while complex systems are certainly a rewarding object of slow looking, a great way to enter their complexity is to begin by simply slowing down to notice their multiplicity of parts. A wonderful example of this is the photographer David Littshwager's "one cubic foot" project. The project involves inserting the open frame of a 12 inch cube into variety of natural environments from Central Park in

New York to Table Mountain in South Africa, and photographing every living creature that lives in or moves through the framed space in a 24 hour period. Here is Littswager's collaborator, the entomologist E.O. Wilson, writing in National Geographic about the "parts" he sees in Littswager's cube:
There are the insect myriads creeping and buzzing among the weeds, the worms and unnameable creatures that squirm or scuttle for cover when you turn garden soil for planting. There are those annoying ants that swarm out when their nest is accidentally cut open and the pesky beetle grubs exposed at yellowed grass roots. When you flip a rock over, there are even more: You see spiderlings and sundry pale unknowns of diverse form slinking through mats of fungus strands. Tiny beetles hide from the sudden light, and pill bugs curl their bodies into defensive balls. Centipedes and millipedes, the armored snakes of their size class, squeeze into the nearest crevices and wormholes.
Of course, the flora and Fauna in Littswager's cube are more than mere parts. They are elements within a larger ecosystem that interact in causally complex ways. Our Project Zero colleague Tina Grotzer has a deep interest in how young people understand the complexity of causal interactions, and her work is quite relevant to the teaching of slow looking. In her recent book, Learning Causality in a Complex World, she identifies six different forms of causal interactions that students can learn to look for: simple linear, domino, cyclic, spiraling, mutual, and relational.

Drawing on research in cognitive science, Tina discusses the cognitive obstacles young people face in "seeing" different forms of causal interactions and identifies opportunities across the curriculum to teach complex causality. Visit the Understandings of Consequence website to learn more about the work of Tina and her team.
The Complexity of Perspective
Another kind of complexity that can be explored through close looking is the complexity of perspective. This has to do with observing the world through different lenses, and it can be explored in a couple of different ways. One involves delving deep into one unique perspective; another involves looking closely at the entanglement of multiple perspectives.

I recently read a book that beautifully illustrates the first kind of perspectival complexity. On Looking, by Alexandra Horowitz, tells the story of eleven different walks the author takes, mainly in her native New York City, along with eleven different companions who help her look closely at her surroundings through eleven different "expert eyes."

For example, in a walk with an urban anthropologist she learns to notice the emergent flocking behavior of a group of pedestrians crossing the street at a stoplight (rule: stay with the group but keep a measured distance from others). In a walk with a geologist, she learns to scrutinize the limestone fronts of office buildings for three-hundred-million-year-old fossilized worm tracks. In a walk around the block with her dog, she learns to see the ground-level evidence of recent human and canine activity - the flurry of cigarette butts in front of a commercial building that signal a recent lunch break; the layers of urine splotches at the base of a baluster that tell the stories of the week's canine commuters.

Paul Salopek, of course, is a master at exploring the complexity of perspective. From an Ethiopian truck driver outside Djibouti City to a wheelchair-bound butcher in Saudi Arabia; from Bedouin tomato pickers fleeing war-torn Syria to a tribal judge in East Jerusalem presiding over family disputes, Paul's dispatches invite us inside scores of unique viewpoints. And in his ramblings across Jeddah, across the Hejaz desert, across Jerusalem, his maps and stories bring alive worlds and histories crisscrossed with the perspectives of multiple peoples and cultures.
The Complexity of Engagement
A third kind of complexity is the complexity of engagement. This has to do with our own experience as observers, and here the gaze of slow looking turns inward. Who are we in relation to what we look at? How do we choose to engage? How do we dwell in complexity, how do we navigate it, react and respond to it, represent it?

As a reporter, Paul surely considers the complexity of engagement as he examines his own responses to the stories he covers. In a modest way, our participants do this, too. As they engage online with other students whose lives differ from their own in unexpected ways, they come to notice assumptions they hold that were previously invisible to them. For example, as Liz points out in her blogpost, students come to their OOEL learning journeys with widely varying ideas about what the term "culture" means. These different mindsets shape the nuances of students' online engagement, and introduce complexity into their interactions.
Looking Forward
As our revised learning goals demonstrate, the theme of slow looking is increasingly central to Out of Eden Learn. This summer we are modifying several of the Footsteps to further emphasize slow looking. We're considering developing mini-journeys that engage students in slow looking in specific subjects across the school curriculum. And we will continue to practice slow looking ourselves, as we examine the many ways in which students are exploring complexity as they participate in Out of Eden Learn.

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Out of Eden Learn team member, Liz Dawes Duraisingh, recently discussed our latest iteration of learning goals for students and educators. The first goal on the list is: Slow down to observe the world carefully and to listen attentively to others. This theme, of slowing down to look closely at the world -or "slow looking" -...

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Overview and Program Objectives

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Broaden your understanding of how effective learning works with the Project Zero Classroom program by the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Gain a deeper understanding of how you can nurture critical thinking and creativity. Click here to learn how you can design learning experiences for any learner.

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These need to be taken as a team of 4-6 educators.

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Project Zero makes its research accessible to educators around the world through online courses offered at various times throughout the year. These professional education courses are research-based and grounded in the day-to-day work of teachers and administrators. Throughout the courses, participants apply what they learn as they learn, receiving personalized feedback from a coach as well as from fellow participants. For the mini-courses, you may register as either a team or an individual. If you register as an individual you will be placed on a virtual team that you will work with throughout the course. Limited scholarship opportunities are available.

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Project Zero makes its research accessible to educators around the world through online courses offered at various times throughout the year. These professional education courses are research-based and grounded in the day-to-day work of teachers and administrators.

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An invitation to slow down, share stories, reflect - with opportunities for students to have conversations with other students their age around the world.

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In January 2013, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Paul Salopek set off from Ethiopia on a seven-year walk around the world.

His route retraces the migratory pathways of our ancient human ancestors.

As he walks, Paul writes about what he observes and reflects on where we have come in our unfolding human story.

Read More Listen to Paul's Message of Introduction

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In January 2013, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Paul Salopek set off from Ethiopia on a seven-year walk around the world. His route retraces the migratory pathways of our ancient human ancestors. As he walks, Paul writes about what he observes and reflects on where we have come in our unfolding human story.

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ID Global: Understanding our contemporary world

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ID Global: Understanding our contemporary world

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Publications to deepen thinking on global competence

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A brief introduction to founding ideas

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What is PZ?

PZ's Mission: Project Zero's mission is to understand and nurture human potentials -such as learning, thinking, ethics, intelligence and creativity -in all human beings. Our research examines the nature of such potentials, the contexts and conditions in which they develop, and the practices that support their flourishment.

Founded by philosopher Nelson Goodman at the Harvard Graduate School of Education in 1967, Project Zero began with a focus on understanding learning in and through the arts. Over the decades, we have continued our inquiry into the arts and arts education, while drawing together diverse disciplinary perspectives to examine fundamental questions of human expression and development. Our research endeavors are marked by a passion for the big conceptual questions, a passion for close collaboration with practitioners, a passion for the interdisciplinary, a passion for the full range of human development, and a passion for the arts.

Today Project Zero is an intellectual wellspring, nourishing inquiry into the complexity of human potentials and exploring sustainable ways to support them across multiple and diverse cultural contexts. Anchored in the arts and humanities, and with a commitment to melding theory and practice, we continue to work toward more enlightened educational processes and systems that support learners, individually and in community, to thrive in, reflect on, contribute to, and change the world in which they will live.

Project Zero First Fifty-Five Years

Project Zero, housed at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, began in 1967. It was founded by the philosopher Nelson Goodman and-facilitated by Dean Theodore Sizer-was initially funded by the Old Dominion Foundation. The initial purpose of PZ-as it is widely known, along with HPZ-was to carry out fundamental research on education in the arts. As Goodman famously quipped, "The state of general communicable knowledge about arts education is zero. We're starting at zero, so we are Project Zero." The whimsical name has stuck, though we trust that we have moved well beyond zero systematic knowledge.

Over the decades, Project Zero has extended well beyond the arts, to cover a great deal of the curriculum. It has ranged over the age spectrum and educational gamut, from young children to mature learners, from schools to institutions like museums and corporations, from teachers to leaders in different fields of knowledge and practice. The appendix to this report lists historical accounts as well as selected reviews of work carried out at Project Zero.

Importantly, Project Zero has always been a "soft money" research project. There is no endowment-indeed, the University receives overhead on every grant and gift. It's accurate to say that those who work at HPZ need to raise their own salaries and benefits. We are aware of very few research centers with such longevity... and such productivity and world-wide influence.

In 1992, with Nelson Goodman as honored guest, PZ celebrated its 25th birthday; in 2018, with all succeeding directors present, PZ celebrated its 50th birthday. For information about these events, please see the appendix.
Read the full report

Project Zero Annual Reports
2018 - 2019 Annual Report 2017 - 2018 Annual Report 2016 - 2017 Annual Report 2015 - 2016 Annual Report 2014 - 2015 Annual Report

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What is PZ?PZ’s Mission: Project Zero’s mission is to understand and nurture human potentials –such as learning, thinking, ethics, intelligence and creativity –in all human beings. Our research