Can Project Based Learning Move the Education Needle?

John Larmer, Editor in Chief at the Buck Institute for Education (BIE), spent time with Dr. Berger at the annual ASCD conference in Atlanta. Larmer discusses the place Project Based Learning (PBL) has in 21st century learning. We also learn how districts approach teaching and learning from a PBL perspective. Larmer shares his advice for young people contemplating a career in education given his vast and diverse professional path.  

Larmer also served as Director of Product Development and Associate Director since joining BIE in 2001.

John writes and edits BIE’s PBL Toolkit Series, and authored Setting the Standard for Project Based Learning, published by ASCD in 2015. He authored and edited BIE’s project-based curriculum units for high school government and economics, and co-authored the Project Based Learning Handbook. He co-develops professional development and instructional coaching materials. John has also consulted on PBL curriculum development for the National Academy Foundation, the Oracle Education Foundation, and Pearson Education.

Prior to joining BIE, John was a Senior Program Associate at WestEd, where he was a consultant to middle schools and high schools in the use of standards and assessments. For ten years John taught high school social studies and English. He co-founded a restructured small high school, and was a member of the National School Reform Faculty and school coach for the Coalition of Essential Schools.

John received M.A. degrees in Educational Technology and in Educational Administration from San Francisco State University, and a B.A. in Political Science from Stanford University.