Westover Faculty Present on Achieving Equity Through Thinking Routines

Westover’s Director of Women in Science and Engineering (WISE)  Dr. Diana Lockwood and History Department Chair Dr. Hannah Higgin traveled to Pittsburgh to present at the Harvard Graduate School of Education Project Zero Conference and engage in professional learning on October 14 and 15. The session they co-ran, entitled “Achieving Equity Through Thinking Routines,” provided a hands-on introduction to tools K-12 educators can deploy at their schools. 

“Diana has a long-standing relationship with the Project Zero team, having previously worked with them as an instructional coach,” Hannah noted. “I was absolutely delighted to discover how many of the same Project Zero thinking routines we have both been utilizing with our students for years despite our different disciplines.”

Thinking Routines are structured protocols designed to promote students' thinking skills, offering a scaffold for inquiry, discussion, and reflection. These routines often take the form of open-ended prompts, which help learners engage with content in deeper, more meaningful ways. For example, the "See, Think, Wonder" routine invites students to observe an object, image, article, or idea, articulate their thoughts, and then generate observations and questions based on their wonderings. 

As an additional nod to their shared teaching tools and the overlapping content of their fields, which are often artificially teased apart and viewed as disparate, Hannah pulled together historical case studies for testing out the featured thinking tools that highlighted women in science and engineering from the 1940s through to the present day.

Both educators believe deeply in the necessity of building equitable classrooms and elevating student voices. One way thinking routines can help educators meet those goals is by giving learners at all levels of comfort and skill an on-ramp to understanding and engagement.

The session ended with the invitation for participants to fill in an “I used to think… now I think…” prompt, and one educator in attendance, who had worried aloud during the first activity that she was doing it “wrong,” wrote, “I used to think thinking routines were something teachers needed to do to “check the box” for their plans. Now I think Thinking Routines are tools for more critical thinking/ deeper thinking for student learning.” 

In reaction to the successful session, Hannah reflected, “It was a real joy to see real-time learning happening and a gift to know what we shared will go on to impact the learning at other educational institutions across the country.”

Diana added, “We were repeatedly thanked for the work we are doing and the impact we’re making. It was an honor to connect with colleagues from other states and to discuss teaching and learning through the lens of DEI. Thank you to Polly, Catherine & Cambria for their support. It was an honor and a privilege to represent Westover!”

Hannah and Diana are excited to bring their teaching and learning back to Westover and keep the conversation, collaboration, and learning going. They are collaborating with Harvard Graduate School of Education Project Zero in a yearlong Leadership Institute to focus on Leading for Understanding. Professional development for teachers and sharing the great work from Westover Faculty & Students with educators around the world affirm the impact of our work.