EduCon 2026

Most of us became educators because we wanted to help young people grow into thoughtful, creative, compassionate leaders. We believe in students. We believe in learning. But the systems we work in often make it hard to align our daily practice with our deepest values.

Instead of bold action, we wait for mandates, for new initiatives, for permission. In the meantime, schools default to what’s safe and familiar: ranking, sorting, testing, standardizing. The very opposite of the learning experiences we know students truly need.

It’s time to change that.

Not with more top-down reforms or vague "portraits of a graduate"—but with a shared commitment to designing real, transformative experiences that reflect the kind of humans we hope our students become.

Experiences rooted in relationships, in connection, in story—not just data points.

Experiences that give students space to be curious, to take risks, to ask big questions, and to practice empathy in real ways.

Experiences that move beyond compliance and toward agency.

This isn’t about waiting for the next big thing. It’s about seeing our schools as sites of action research, where educators are leaders and designers of learning, not just implementers of mandates.

So let’s stop asking each other to “remember our why,” and start doing the much braver work of redefining our how.

Let’s name the shared experiences that every student deserves—and build a path that actually leads there.

This is our opportunity.

Not just to reimagine education, but to rebuild it—together.