Deeper Learning 2026

Learning environments are often designed without the voices of our most important stakeholders: the people we are meant to serve. Imagine instead working together with families to identify needs, co-create solutions, and celebrate growth. If you’re a school leader seeking to foster these genuine connections, join us to experience community rap sessions, a culturally responsive practice that creates space for every voice to be heard. This session begins engaging educators as learners in an immersive experience, then shifts to the structures and planning needed to implement community rap sessions in your own school. Together, we will examine how these practices can become a routine way to engage families and community members meaningfully. As a Deeper Learning by Doing® experience, leave with concrete tools and strategies, personal action steps, contacts for follow-up coaching, and greater confidence to authentically partner with families and communities.

What if your block was the best classroom you’ve never used? Drawn from the WPS Institute’s partnerships with urban schools in Massachusetts, this session introduces Neighborhood Walks as a powerful entry point into community-connected, place-based learning.

We’ll begin by engaging with student voices from Salem and Boston that highlight the learning, connection, and engagement that emerge when young people step outside the classroom. Participants will then experience a Neighborhood Walk near the conference site, guided by lenses such as Making a Living or Being in Community. Along the way, they will practice slow observation, photo documentation, and reflection protocols that scaffold student confidence for learning in the wider world. Together, we will identify the skills and mindsets students develop through these immersions and leave with tools to design neighborhood walks for their own schools and communities.

Note: This DL session also invites attendees from the National Summit on Improvement in Education to participate. Summit is a gathering and rallying point for a vibrant and diverse community of improvers who are working to create educational systems where all young people learn and thrive. In 2026, we're bringing together the powerful Deeper Learning and Improvement communities through select crossover sessions, culminating in a joint closing keynote. You are invited to dive deeper and make new connections at DL26. Check out our Summit and DL26 comparison to learn more.

In this workshop, you won’t just learn about social and emotional leadership skills—you’ll practice how to teach them. You’ll take part in activities that model strategies for helping students develop self-leadership skills like self-awareness, accountability, resilience, and integrity. Through focused protocols and collaborative exercises, you’ll experience how to guide students in building the skills for leading with others, including collaboration, communication, active listening, respect, and consideration. You’ll also design and test out lesson activities that encourage students to expand their leadership impact by cultivating visionary thinking, motivation, encouragement, and confidence. By the end of the session, you’ll leave with practical tools, ready-to-use strategies, and hands-on experience to bring back to your classroom.