I love Creating Cultures of Thinking by Ron Ritchhart of Project Zero at HGSE so much, and refer to it so often, that I made these aide-mémoire cards and chapter summaries, and I carry them with me for planning, coaching and collaboration meetings. The front side has a visual and chapter line, and the reverse summarises the key subheadings of the chapter.
Of course this doesn’t replace a deep reading of the book. I find them a useful reminder and a tool for use in conversations. If you haven’t read the book (or taken part in a COT workshop or course), don’t rely on these for understanding.
In my current role as learning & ICT coach, I use the cultural forces as a filter for thinking and development. They can be used to notice and name forces in a situation. Which forces are being influenced with this? Which force(s) might be in high or low resource? How can we make sure the influence is positive? How can we help make it easier to do better things?
Click here to download them as a pdf.
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Other COT resources I keep to hand
Most of these are hosted on Ron’s website.
- The Understanding Map
- 9 Apps for Parents
- 10 (+1) Things to Say Every Day
- Thinking Routines Matrix
- Making Thinking Visible Thinking Routines
- A Typology of Classroom Questions
“Children grow into the intellectual life around them.”
(Vygotsky)
Our role as teachers and parents is to provide an intellectual apprenticeship for learners. As Ron mentions in the video below, via Howard Gardner, their time with us should be “time well spent”. This interview outlines some key ideas from the Cultures of Thinking project, and is well worth listening to.
More Resources
Wayfinder Learning Lab - Stephen Taylor 
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