I have been working in education for over 35 years now and doing what I can so that others can see the possibility in reimagining what teaching, learning, and schooling can look like. Thankfully, there are many before me who have been able to manifest new ideas and ideals of schooling, creating new models of learning and education that could far better serve our youth, their families, our country, and the world. These alternative "images of possibility" foreground supporting the growth of students' agency, interests, passions, talent, and opportunity, yet our education system is designed to perpetuate a factory model of schooling reinforced by current federal, state, and local policy and funding structures as well as our conventional view of learning. Today, there are educators who are pushing the envelope of what is possible for schooling, but these innovative and learner-centered models of schooling should not be so far and few between. Such opportunities should exist for all youth and families. So what would it take for this to happen? What actions could be taken by policy actors, school and district leaders, community members, parents, and classroom educators to create a system that incentivizes, supports, and works to proliferate such new school designs? That is what this book is about: What could be done to scale agency and opportunity for all?
I have been working in education for over 35 years now and doing what I can so that others can see the possibility in reimagining what teaching, learning, and schooling can look like. Thankfully, there are many before me who have been able to manifest new ideas and ideals of schooling, creating new models of learning and education that could far better serve our youth, their families, our country, and the world. These alternative "images of possibility" foreground supporting the growth of students' agency, interests, passions, talent, and opportunity, yet our education system is designed to perpetuate a factory model of schooling reinforced by current federal, state, and local policy and funding structures as well as our conventional view of learning. Today, there are educators who are pushing the envelope of what is possible for schooling, but these innovative and learner-centered models of schooling should not be so far and few between. Such opportunities should exist for all youth and families. So what would it take for this to happen? What actions could be taken by policy actors, school and district leaders, community members, parents, and classroom educators to create a system that incentivizes, supports, and works to proliferate such new school designs? That is what this book is about: What could be done to scale agency and opportunity for all?
