What is Visible Thinking?

What is Visible Thinking (VT)? Read my guide to Visible Thinking and how it can be applied within museums and heritage sites using my method ‘Visible Thinking in the Museum’ to facilitate meaningful experiences with art and museum objects.

The Basics

Visible Thinking has been developed over a number of years by researchers from Harvard’s Project Zero with teachers and students. Visible Thinking is essentially a ‘broad and flexible framework for enriching learning’ by fostering deep thinking and a better understanding of content. 

Central Idea

The central idea of Visible Thinking is simple: making thinking visible. The vast majority of what we think is hidden – it stays in our heads and we only articulate a small portion of it.

This approach includes a number of key ways of making thinking – and opportunities for thinking – much more visible in classrooms and other learning environments. By making thinking visible to yourself, to your peers and to those around you, opportunities for learning expand. For example, teachers can establish exactly what understanding already exists on a specific topic. Teachers can then link new information to prior knowledge, which activates student engagement and curiosity. This “visible” element can provide a springboard to further discussion and lines of inquiry too.

Key Elements

• Explain & articulate thinking out loud
• Listening to others articulate their thinking
• Engaging in discussions while forming understanding

Want to find out more about key Visible Thinking practices, such as thinking routines and how 'Visible Thinking in the Museum' can be used by museum educators, heritage professionals, guides and volunteers? Read the full post on the Thinking Museum blog.