At Big Picture, we believe that schools must be personalized, educating every student equally one student at a time. In addition to designing and supporting a network of over 60 Big Picture schools with this design, Big Picture is committed to spreading our philosophy and practice to as many individuals and communities as possible. Through our annual Personalization & Real World Learning Conference, we strive to share our work with a wide range of educators of every kind – from teachers to students, from district-level administrators to interested parents. In this piece, participants from the 2008 conference reflect on their experiences during the conference.

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In this interview, Huber speaks about his life in Oakland, the culture of his neighborhood, and way the educational program at MetWest helped him integrate his personal experiences, his political beliefs, his passions, and his learning.

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Ed is a civil engineer and the inventor of the Hurriquake nail. The nail, which took Ed over a decade to develop, is revolutionary - it gives a structure twice the resistance in high-wind conditions and up to 50% more resistance in earthquake forces. Elliot had a chance to sit down with Ed recently to talk - not just about the Hurriquake nail, but more about how Ed discovered and developed his life’s work. Elliot thinks his experience building the window boxes for his mother as a child has central influence to who Ed became as an adult.

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Big Picture Schools seek both to inspire and nurture student passion as well as to connect students with people who are passionate about their work. In this short piece, Elliot Washor interviews Gunther, a famous Italian chef in the Dolomites. Elliot probes and poses questions to try to better understand how Gunther came to be connected to his work as a chef so deeply. Elliot’s description of what he hears in the interview is the root of what BP schools strive to accomplish: a personal connection to the work, the use of hands, life to text and text to life, a mentor relationship, and authentic outcomes.

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The psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, author of Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience, describes a state of being as flow, when a person is wholly engaged in an activity and a deep focus and connection with that activity is achieved. These are ultimate experiences for people – experiences like these provide the best internal motivation to learn. In this segment, we hear from Jay Carter, a senior at Mapleton Preparatory High School, a Big Picture school in Denver, Colorado. Botany and science are Jay’s interests and what he has pursued throughout his high school career. How has Jay, with the help of his advisor and mentor, taken this interest and turned it into deep learning and work? In this piece, Jay presents an update of his work to visiting Big Picture principals.

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Of the three R’s - rigor, relevance, and relationships - rigor has become the most talked about of the three. Rigor is a lightning-rod word suggesting high expectations, standards, and consistent quantifiable assessment. For Big Picture schools, Rigor means something very different from test scores or GPAs. It lives in deep projects, real products, and student performance. Rigor grows out of relevant work. This podcast explores how Big Picture schools define and continue to redefine what rigor means, what rigorous work looks like, and the possibilities that grow out of rigorous work.

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Over the past few years, Big Picture has enjoyed a series of positive exchanges with educators from the Netherlands. Resulting from these relationships is a formal partnership with the KPC Groep, a Dutch educational consulting group. The Big Picture Learning concept of finding and pursuing one’s passions appeals to many educators around the world. In this segment, we hear from three Dutch Educators (Paul Delhaas, Hanneke te Braake, and Eelco Hogendijk) who find inspiration in the Big Picture design - for themselves, their schools, teachers, students, and families. Their perspective on Big Picture school culture, our philosophy, and implementation of the design has helped us learn tremendously about our work.

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This I Believe was the theme of the 2006 Principals’ Retreat in Denver, CO. For a three-day retreat, over 40 Big Picture principals gathering Denver to visit the three Big Picture Schools in the area, discuss issues foremost in their minds in a day long Open Space session, and continue to build relationships and solidify our network of schools. This audio piece, produced by Sam Broun, served as the finale of our weekend that focused on belief, commitment, the Big Picture Design, and listening.

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The Big Picture Learning design grapples deeply with the culture of schools and how it makes deep learning as well as community possible. We are always asking the following questions: how can our schools be welcoming and transformative places for students, staff, and families? What is the relationship between school culture and the success of our students? How can school staffs work intentionally on school culture? In this podcast, you’ll hear collages and interviews from Big Picture staff, students, advisors, principals, and visitors to schools discussing their reactions to the culture in our schools.

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During the 2006 Principals’ Retreat, Big Picture invited all network principals to each write an essay called a ‘This I Believe’ statement, modeled after a NPR weekly segment. The principals shared their essays with one another, and a few principals we moved to record them. Some people have beliefs forged over long periods of time, others are born in an instant, a single moment of truth with ones-self.

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