Mercy was fortunate to host Dr Ron Ritchhart this week to continue our learning around Cultures of Thinking, the framework that guides our teaching and learning at the College. Teachers from across the Diocese joined our own staff in Learning Labs, where they observed Ron co-plan, co-teach and debrief a lesson facilitated by a Mercy teacher, based on a thinking routine.

The day gave participants the opportunity to discuss with colleagues the ways in which we can foster greater critical and creative thinking in our students and engage them as independent learners. All Mercy staff were then able to hear Ron speak in the afternoon on ways to promote thinking within our classrooms through the use of new thinking routines.

It was a valuable opportunity to work so closely with the senior researcher at Project Zero, Harvard Graduate School of Education and build on the work we have done to create a thinking culture at Mercy over the past few years. 

Mrs K Fairbanks
Professional Development and Teacher Accreditation Coordinator