Making Learning and Thinking Visible in Italian Secondary Schools

Globalization and the economy of the 21st century demand the ability to learn and function as part of increasingly diverse groups in which our knowledge of ourselves as individual and group learners is at a premium. Yet, in many schools, the acquisition of knowledge is still primarily viewed as an individual—rather than social and communicative—act. How can teaching and learning extend beyond the passive transmission of knowledge from teachers to students, to engage and inform learners in and outside the classroom? How can we shift the balance in classrooms to include a focus on creating as well as conveying knowledge, culture, and values?

Project Zero and INDIRE (Istituto Nazionale Documentazione Innovazione Ricerca Educativa—the national public research institute responsible for innovation in education, teacher training, and dissemination of best practices in Italian public schools) recently collaborated on a new initiative called Making Learning and Thinking Visible in Italian Secondary Schools (MLTV). MLTV investigated how two key PZ conceptual frameworks—Making Learning Visible and Visible Thinking—could be adapted with integrity in Italian public secondary schools. The ultimate goal of MLTV is to support the creation of cultures of learning, thinking, and understanding in Italian secondary schools and classrooms. To support this goal, in collaboration with teachers participating in the project, we developed a set of Italian-language guidelines and videos offering structures, practices, tools, and classroom examples to be disseminated within Italy through INDIRE’s Avanguardie Educative network of over 500 schools. (Note: These guidelines are currently available only to Avanguardie Educative members.)