Elliot Washor is the co-founder of Big Picture Learning, co-founder of B-UnBound, and co-author of  “Leaving to Learn.” I still find it hard to believe that it was released 10 years ago. Elliot is co-author with Scott Boldt in his most recent book, “Learning to Leave.” It needed to be written because it was time to go deep as well as broad on what young people are doing out there. We need these conversations for our kids and their future now more than ever. 

Did you know that Elliot was selected as one of the Twelve Most Daring Educators in the World by the George Lucas Foundation?

Just listen to what he shares in the podcast and read the post below. Then you’ll know WHY Elliot was selected as a daring educator. I’m fortunate to have known Elliot for many years and am honored to have this conversation with him.

Your WHY 

WHY real-world learning? The student is the curriculum and the entire community (their town, their city) is the school – education is everyone’s business. I have always held that the key to education is to have students and staff mingle with and muddle through problems that matter to them and their communities. If this seems simple, it’s intended to.

Big Picture Learning

As co-founder of Big Picture Learning (BPL) and The Metropolitan Center, my educational philosophy—one which is embedded at the core of Big Picture’s successful design—is that practice should inform theory and that theory should inform practice, a cycle that leads to profound change.

Big Picture’s Motto is “One-Student-at-a-Time-in-a-Community” which recognizes that every student brings her/his unique abilities, interests, needs, circumstances, and context into school and into their learning. When BPL started, they focused on learning – in and out of school. They asked several questions, “What if we didn’t know what school was – how would we design one? And how can we keep the design flexible so that when we learn how to do things better, the school can change.” This led us to design the schools around what is known as The 10 Distinguishers.



Each student is part of an advisory, a learning community, with an advisor guiding them and, navigating with them, to identify their needs and explore their interests.

Learning to Leave

My newest book written with Scott Boldt, Learning to Leave How Real-World Learning Transforms Education, challenges us to develop new ways, new forms, and new measures in and outside of school. “Leaving to Learn” was written ten years ago to show how real-world learning increases student engagement.

Quote in Learning to Leave p. 109

The worldwide pandemic threatened to disrupt work-based learning on a wide scale, at a time when it’s more important than ever to find ways to engage students in learning and ensure they are future-ready.

It was important to write this new book. Consider Einstein’s quote: “So the questions are the same but the answers are different.”

With Covid, uncertainty, the political climate, and so many things impacting learning, it was time to go deep as well as broad on what young people...