Renown educator Dr. David Perkins visits the Center for the second annual Visible Thinking conference

 

Dr. David Perkins, senior professor of education at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Education and director of Project Zero, made his second visit to the United Way Center for Excellence in Early Education, as part of the second annual conference on Visible Thinking, a research-based approach to learning that helps children communicate their thought process through pictures and creates cultures of thinking in classrooms.

Over the years, Dr. Perkins has developed several strategies to enhance learning, thinking, and creativity, as well as humanistic and scientific disciplines, which have been applied in schools throughout the world. Now, Dr. Perkins and the Center are collaborating with Florida International University and five local Miami early care and education centers to continue discussions about the development of visible thinking routines for the early years as part of Project Zero. Dr. Perkins gave a keynote speech, participated in breakout sessions and observed the progress of the Visible Thinking Miami project since his last visit to the Center.

About Visible Thinking

Making young children’s thinking visible is an approach to teaching and learning that emphasizes the use of thinking routines and documentation to make thinking more visible in classrooms. It is a teaching tool, created from over 30 years of research by Harvard University’s Graduate Program in Education.  The result is the enrichment of the current education system, departing from the idea of teaching for a test and instead, teaching how to think. When thinking is visible, it becomes clear that school is not about memorizing content but exploring ideas. This curriculum provides children with a sustainable way of thinking that can be used throughout their scholastic careers, empowering them to be confident in their problem-solving abilities.