Zachary Herrmann

Adjunct Assistant Professor

Learning, Teaching, and Literacies Division

Executive Director, Center for Professional Learning
Director, Strategic Leadership in Education Certificate Program
Co-Director, Project-Based Learning Certificate Program

Contact

zsh123@upenn.edu

(215) 573-6751

Media Inquiries:
Contact Penn GSE Communications.

Education

Ed.L.D. (Educational Leadership) Harvard University, 2017
Ed.M. (Education Administration and Leadership) University of Illinois, 2013
M.A. (Secondary Teaching) Stanford University, 2007
B.S. (Mathematics) University of Illinois, 2006

Areas of Expertise

Leadership
Collaboration
Team effectiveness
Creative problem-solving
Project-based learning
Negotiation

Programs

Independent School Teaching Residency M.S.Ed.

Urban Teaching Apprenticeship M.S.Ed.

Strategic Leadership in Education Certificate Program

Mid-Career Doctoral Program in Educational Leadership Ed.D.

Teaching and Leading Social-Emotional Learning

Programs

Teaching, Learning, and Leadership M.S.Ed.

Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education Ph.D.

Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education Ed.D.

More Information

Dr. Herrmann’s website

Bio Nav

Biography

Professional Biography

Zachary Herrmann is the Executive Director of the Center for Professional Learning. In this role, he leads the school’s strategy to design and deliver professional learning opportunities for learners across the globe. Dr. Herrmann also serves as the director of the Strategic Leadership in Education Certificate Program, and the co-director of the Project-Based Learning Certificate Program. Dr. Herrmann leads professional learning focused on teacher and leader development, team effectiveness, negotiation, and creative problem solving. Dr. Herrmann is a Faculty Fellow with the Penn Environmental Innovations Initiative, chairs the Penn GSE Committee on Professional Learning, and serves on the Penn GSE Senior Leadership Team.

Dr. Herrmann taught high school mathematics for several years, during which time he developed a collaborative professional development network of schools dedicated to improving teaching and learning with a focus on complex tasks, collaborative learning, and equity.

Dr. Herrmann also serves as a member of the professional faculty at Penn GSE, where he teaches within several of the school’s master’s and doctoral programs. The new courses he has designed and teaches at Penn GSE are Collaboration & Conflict, which engages students in an interdisciplinary exploration of how people work together to solve complex problems, and Teaching and Learning in Student-Centered Classrooms, which explores student-centered approaches to teaching and learning. Dr. Herrmann also teaches the popular elective, Negotiation, within the M.B.A. program at The Wharton School.

Publications

Featured

Core Practices for Project-Based Learning: A Guide for Teachers and Leaders

Teaching a Future President: Equipping Students to Take on Almost Impossible Problems

Selected Publications

Herrmann, Z., & Hausburg, T. (2023). Empowering students to be part of climate-change solutions. Educational Leadership, 80(8).

Herrmann, M., & Herrmann, Z. (2022, September). Getting unstuck on the path of organizational change. The School Administrator.

Herrmann, Z. (2022, April 21). A 4 step approach to planning collaborative experiential learning. Edutopia.

Herrmann, Z. (2021, October 27). 6 ways to guide students to more authentic work in PBL. Edutopia.

Grossman P., Herrmann, Z., Kavanagh, S. S., Pupik Dean, C. G. (2021). Core practices for project-based learning: A guide for teachers and leaders. Harvard Education Press.

Herrmann, Z., Grossman, P. (2021). Leveraging what we know for better PD. ASCD Express, 16(12).

Herrmann, Z. (2021, March 17). Roles that encourage equitable collaborative learning. Edutopia.

Herrmann, Z. (2020). Make your school a learning organization. ACSD Express, 16(1).

Herrmann, Z. (2020, April 17). 4 guiding questions for effective remote collaboration. Edutopia.

Herrmann, Z. (2019). Cooperate or collaborate: Your team’s purpose could determine its process. Educational Leadership, ASCD, 76, 68–72.

Herrmann, Z. (2019). Teaching a future president: Equipping students to take on almost impossible problems. Rowman & Littlefield.

Grossman, P., Pupik Dean, C. G., Kavanagh, S. S., Herrmann, Z. (2019). Preparing teachers for project-based teaching. Phi Delta Kappan, 100 (7), 43–48.

Herrmann, Z. (2018). A strategy for effective collaboration. Edutopia.

Herrmann, Z. (2018). Rethinking Teacher Recruitment. Educational Leadership, 75(8), 18–23.

Herrmann, Z. (2018). All educators are negotiators. Usable Knowledge, Harvard Graduate School of Education.

Herrmann, Z. (2017). Partner up: The role of collaboration in education. Doctoral dissertation, Harvard Graduate School of Education.

Herrmann, Z. (2017). Cultivating classroom capabilities. TranscendEducation.org.

Herrmann, Z. (2017). Finding what’s true: A cross-disciplinary search for truth. Usable Knowledge, Harvard Graduate School of Education.

Herrmann, Z. & Wolf, Z. (2017). Getting beyond the teacherpreneur. Edutopia.

Herrmann, Z. (2017). Flourish by design. Usable Knowledge, Harvard Graduate School of Education.

Herrmann, Z. (2017). The challenge of change. Usable Knowledge, Harvard Graduate School of Education.

News & Media

Penn GSE News

Innovation in climate education

The Project-Based Learning for Global Climate Justice certificate program is a collaboration between Penn GSE and 70 educators around Asia, Africa, and Europe working together on a K–12 education program that emphasizes climate change and social inequalities.

March 13, 2025

Environmental innovations initiative: From the classroom to the real world

The Project-Based Learning for Global Climate Justice research community at Penn empowers teachers to create active education experiences for students to learn about climate issues.

July 26, 2024

Penn Global awards grants to four Penn GSE faculty projects targeting underserved communities around the world

Four projects led by Penn GSE faculty members are among those receiving grants from the Penn Global Research and Engagement Grant Program this year, including A. Brooks Bowden, Bodong Chen, Zachary Herrmann, and Dan Wagner.

May 10, 2023

Experts, educators gather to learn how to teach environmental justice

More than 130 local educators came together at a recent writing conference co-hosted by the Philadelphia Writing Project.

November 1, 2022

Taking small steps towards project-based learning

In an op-ed in EdWeek, Penn GSE’s Dean Pam Grossman, Zachary Herrmann, and Sarah Schneider Kavanagh write that incorporating project-based learning is just like running: start a little at a time.

October 21, 2021

How school leaders can support project-based learning

Project-based learning could change the game for students this fall. Sarah Schneider Kavanagh and Zachary Herrmann have some thoughts on what school leaders need to do to support it.

July 29, 2021

How can project-based learning prepare students for the 21st century?

In a new book, Penn GSE Dean Pam Grossman and GSE’s Zachary Herrmann, Sarah Schneider Kavanagh, and Christopher Pupik Dean say the approach can empower students to be engaged citizens and take on modern challenges.

June 22, 2021

The five challenges facing teacher PD

Writing in ASCD Express, Zachary Herrmann and Dean Pam Grossman define some of the challenges facing teacher professional development and how we might address them.

March 5, 2021

In the Media

Cross-disciplinary collaboration for a healthier planet

Zachary Herrmann and Taylor Hausburg reflect on their Project-Based Learning for Global Climate Justice program and research project and are awarded a second year of funding through the Penn Environmental Innovations Initiative.

Penn Today | April 24, 2023

Penn Global awards $1.7 million in Research and Engagement Awards

Brooks Bowden, Bodong Cheng, Zachary Hermmann and Dan Wagner are among the GSE faculty to receive Penn Global awards this year. The Penn Global Research and Engagement Grant Program prioritizes projects that bring together leading scholars and practitioners across the University community and around the world to develop new insight on significant global issues, a core pillar of Penn’s global strategic framework.

Penn Global | April 19, 2023

School leaders learning from one another

Zachary Herrmann reflects on the challenges and opportunities senior-level district leaders face, and how they can work, collaborative, and problem-solve together.

Harvard GSE News & Events | October 19, 2022

Projects for Progress, two years in

Colleagues from Penn GSE and the Netter Center were honored for being selected in the first cohort of the new Projects for Progress award.

Penn Today | October 18, 2022

Worried about layoffs? 5 tips for job seekers (and job seekers-to-be) in a slowing economy

In an interview with Forbes, Zachary Herrmann encourages job seekers to consider their passions, the impact they hope to make, and the type of organization they hope to work for.

Forbes | July 22, 2022

Inaugural Projects for Progress recipients announced

Caroline Watts, Diane Waff, Zachary Herrmann, Marsha Richardson, and Regina Bynum were selected to implement their initiative “Bridging Gaps and Building Capacity: Student and Educator Supports for School Reopening in Learning Network 2.” The initative will provide evidence-based programming and professional development at one to two summer learning sites in West Philadelphia, followed by network-wide professional learning supports throughout the 2021-22 academic year.

Penn Today | May 18, 2021

4 Guiding Questions for Effective Remote Collaboration

"Teamwork has traditionally played a critical role in schools, and while many of us find ourselves physically isolated, our collaborative work with one another may be more important now than ever," Zachary Herrmann writes.

Edutopia | April 22, 2020

The Educator's Playbook

Guidelines for moving college courses online

Set norms. Check emotional health. And remember that your students might already be pretty good at this.

To build community this fall, think of your class as a team

Effective teams have the same characteristics that teachers are striving toward: a strong sense of connection, support, purpose, and accountability.