As the school year wrapped up, I zipped off and headed to Boston to attend the Project Zero Classroom at Harvard. I feel incredibly lucky that St. Michaels University School encourages and supports life-long learning through professional development. This opportunity was a very inspiring experience.
One of the biggest takeaways that deeply connected to SMUS Portrait of a Learner traits was the concept of enculturation. I was reminded that students don’t simply learn traits like empathy, creativity, collaboration, or critical thinking by being told about them. Instead, they learn these dispositions through the culture and community we create together. In the Junior School, these values are lived and modelled in the experiences teachers nurture every day. We can't teach a disposition in isolation—we as educators (and parents) have to be the disposition alongside our learners.
Ron Ritchhart, a Senior Research Associate at Harvard Project Zero, spoke about curiosity and metacognition. Decades of research point to these two traits as the strongest predictors of student success. I found this deeply reassuring, as the SMUS Junior School already nurtures these qualities through playful, inquiry-based learning. Our students are encouraged to wonder, reflect on their thinking, and, most importantly, find joy. This is what lifelong learning looks like.
Project Zero reminded me that the small, intentional choices we make each day shape the culture of our classroom. I will return to SMUS not just with new strategies and tools, but with a reimagined sense of wonder and an even greater appreciation for the joyful environment we have already built.
A group of educators at Harvard for Project Zero Classroom
A panel discussion at the Project Zero Classroom Pro-D at Harvard
Harvard hallway with notes for Project Zero Classroom
Grade 2 SMUS teacher Michelle Janke on steps at Harvard
