Abstract: Educators shape learning every day—but they are rarely empowered to shape the environments where that learning happens. As a result, many classrooms remain misaligned with contemporary teaching practices and student needs.

This interactive 60-minute workshop explores the intersection of educational leadership, learning theory, and the built environment. Through a structured panel discussion and small-group activity, participants will engage directly with practicing educators—hearing firsthand how schools can redefine success, build a Portrait of a Graduate, and cultivate an innovation mindset(to update based on panelists themes) that reshapes how students experience learning and space.

Grounded in the Accredited Learning Environments Planner (ALEP) Core Competencies framework, the session demonstrates how Educational Visioning serves as the connective tissue between educator insight and actionable planning and design outcomes. Participants will leave with practical strategies to engage educators as active co-designers—generating richer conversations, surfacing needs earlier in the planning process, and producing learning environments more responsive to the communities they serve. 

Learning Objectives:

1. Explain how participatory design methods can engage educators as co-designers in planning learning environments, leading to spaces that better support health, safety, and student well-being.
2. Evaluate how classroom configurations influence key HSW factors—including safe circulation, supervision sightlines, ergonomic furniture arrangements, and environments that support student well-being and neurodiversity.
3. Apply strategies for articulating the impact of learning environments on teaching and learning—translating educator insight into actionable design and planning requirements.
4. Apply a rapid co-design workflow enabling architects and planners to collaborate with educators more efficiently, generating richer insights and more responsive learning environments earlier in the design process.