Elliot Washor's TGIF 04.03.2026

Are you with me now? AJ Ryder

Third Time’s the Charm

Conference season is almost over—just two more to go: ASU GSV and BPL Winnipeg.

At the Deeper Learning conference, there was finally time built in to actually mingle with, muddle through around things that matter. Funny thing is many of those same people had been at the last three conferences and we had little time to connect.

What I appreciated most was the pacing. Deeper Learning created space—real space. Long breaths between workshop sessions, and evenings that didn’t pile on more talks where everyone had to sit and listen. Instead, there was time to talk, to connect, to play.

Talking “Deeper Learning,” Social Justice, Social Capital…

On the morning of the second day, I showed up at 6 a.m. Don’t ask me why—I’m not sure anyone in their right mind goes to a conference two hours early—but it paid off.

In the hotel lobby, I ran into Justin Wells, Chief Program Officer at Envision Education. Maybe it was because his name is Justin, which is close enough to justice, but we got into a conversation about how educators love putting adjectives in front of words that probably don’t need them: social justice, deeper learning, design thinking, social capital.

At one point during the conference, I asked someone using the phrase “design thinking”: what do designers call design thinking?

Thinking.

I believe I got that punchline from a lunch I had with Andrew and a designer friend of his.

I’ve always struggled a bit with “deeper” in front of learning—and the competencies that come with it. Are we talking about truly deep where learning becomes second nature? Or just something slightly less shallow than traditional academics using projects that make those academics stickier as students work together?

It’s a conversation worth having. Because from the outside, I think this language and our disposition to use adjectives is confusing—especially for communities not steeped in education-speak.

On Social Capital

This morning I came across an announcement from RSA US:

Join Connection Commons to explore the tensions of both the bright and shadow sides of social capital.

Now that feels refreshing.

Here’s a group willing to engage people who don’t all agree—to really interrogate what we mean, and what policies and practices come from these terms. The Coalition always brought people together who disagreed to have a conversation. This doesn’t happen much anymore. Nowadays, panels are more marketing than substance.

I’ve had questions about the pluses and minuses “social capital” from the beginning which is why I tend to frame it this way:

• Who knows you know what you know?

• Who you know—and who really knows you?

I’ll be listening in on this one. Our friend Julia Freeland Fisher is on the panel.

Come Fly with ME - Go Slow to Go Fast

Every time I’m at High Tech High, you can’t miss the planes taking off nearby. Depending on where you’re standing, the noise can take some getting used to.

I’ve always found it annoying. But this time, I watched Kaleb give a talk—and he used it to his advantage.

When a plane roared overhead, he paused. Just long enough. And in that pause, you leaned in more, not less.

In our push for efficiency, we often try to use time too efficiently and talk way too fast. But if you know how to work with your environment, like Kaleb did, it can actually work in your favor.

There’s something powerful in turning what looks like a weakness into a strength.

Here’s to the pause—the one that refreshes and makes us listen.

BPLiving Updates

I had two great calls this week about BPLiving.

First, we’re launching a pilot of BPLiving Fellows in South Carolina with the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC). This came out of a relationship Crishell built with LeeAnn Weaver Hayes, who leads workforce at MUSC, initially around an industrial maintenance program.

LeeAnn attended the Harbor Freight Fellows conference in Charleston, and we had a chance to talk about expanding that work into Lifestyle Medicine. She loved the idea.

Now we have a model that can be contextualized across different communities and fields. And as it turns out, the American College of Lifestyle Medicine already partners with MUSC.

Kismet again.

Then yesterday, I met with the Wonderful Foundation. They’re interested in launching a BPLiving initiative in Lost Hills, where they support a number of charter schools.

Following up on our trip to Australia almost a year ago, Laurine Gagnon’s terrific article—Assessment and Credentialing Beyond Report Cards: What’s the IBPLC? —just came out in Education Reimagined.

Next week, I’ll be in Winnipeg with Sonn, Taylor, and Jeff for the BPL Conference. Carlos, Karla, Chris, and Naz will also be there to kick things off with Leadership Journeys.

Be well.