John Larmer "JL" Lifelong Learning Award
The John Larmer “JL” Lifelong Learning Award acknowledges teachers who are impacting and expanding the work of Project Based Learning (PBL) for all students. We encourage teachers in the United States to apply for this annual award.
This award acknowledges JL’s significant contributions to PBLWorks and the field of education, advancing high quality PBL for all students for over three decades. JL is the author of Setting the Standard for Project Based Learning and many other books and blogs focused on high quality PBL.
Presented annually at PBL World
The awards are presented to up to three teachers each year at PBL World, the premier event for Project Based Learning. Recipients receive complimentary registration for a 1-day pre-conference workshop and a 3-day workshop of their choice at PBL World.*
*Note: Complimentary registrations are non-refundable and non-transferable. Travel and lodging are not included.
Time & Eligibility
Applications are open until March 7, 2025. Award recipients will be contacted by April 11, and invited to attend PBL World (June 23-26). The awards will be presented during a morning session at PBL World 2025.
Eligibility. Nominations for the 2025 JL Lifelong Learning Awards are open to individual classroom teachers based in the United States and territories.
Prompts for Teachers Interested in Applying
- How do you use PBL in your classroom as a main course?
- What is the impact of your implementation of PBL with all students?
- How have you used high quality PBL to advance racial equity for Black and Brown students?
- What is your greatest accomplishment using PBL with your students?
- What else would you like to share about their PBL journey or the contributions you have made to your students using PBL?
APPLICATION
About JL
For 20 years, John Larmer was a director and editor in chief at PBLWorks/Buck Institute for Education, where he oversaw our written materials and publications, and managed the PBL Blog. He created rubrics for 21st century success skills and other materials for PBL teachers, and contributed to the creation of PBLWorks’s professional development programs and online project library. He co-authored the new PBL Handbooks (PBLWorks 2021), Setting the Standard for Project Based Learning (BIE/ASCD 2015), and Project Based Teaching (BIE/ASCD 2018). For ten years, John taught high school social studies and English, and co-founded a restructured small high school. He was a member of the National School Reform Faculty and a school coach for the Coalition of Essential Schools.
JL has positively contributed to the advancement of PBL in so many ways. First, all of the books, articles, and blogs that he has written, co-authored, and edited. When people think of BIE and PBLWorks, they probably think of the camera lens for the design elements and teaching practices or some video they saw at a workshop. But when I think of PBL, I think of the content that he has developed and curated that helps people grow as educators. His writing style is captivating and makes you want to dig in and do the work. The understanding of PBL that JL has is so clearly communicated and articulated in his work. I think he has moved the needle on the implementation of PBL across the globe, therefore advancing the work, because everything is written for the practitioner. He walks the line of informing and educating others while nudging more developed practitioners to check themselves against the elements of high quality PBL.