Elliot Washor

Elliot has always held that the key to education—and really to humanity—is to have students and staff—and people in general—mingle with and muddle through problems that matter to them and their communities. If this seems simple, it’s intended to. As co-founder of Big Picture Learning and The Metropolitan Regional Career and Technical Center, Elliot’s educational philosophy—one which is embedded at the core of Big Picture’s successful school design—is that practice should inform theory and that theory should inform practice, a cycle that can lead to profound change, and one that has earned Elliot wide acclaim and recognition. Elliot was selected as one of the Twelve Most Daring Educators in the World by the George Lucas Educational Foundation. His dissertation on Innovative Pedagogy and New Facilities won the merit award from DesignShare. Elliot has won a regional Emmy for his work as an Executive Producer on Big Picture Learning’s early Public Service Announcements and recently his short film, Navigating Our Way was awarded best animation in the Boston International Film Festival. His latest book is Learning to Leave – How Real-World Learning Transforms Education. Elliot lives in sunny San Diego with his wife and dogs.