“An ambitious book! The authors aim to show reformers at all levels of schooling what and how we could and should respond to the demand that ‘all children’ succeed. Each chapter is filled with practical accounts of real life stories of teachers and students who aren't willing to comply and give up. Instead, the narrative of Timeless Learning demonstrates the power of democratized and collaborative progressive education designed for contemporary learners.”

– Deb Meier, public school teacher for half a century, author of Schools Belong to You and Me

“Pam, Chad, and Ira have written a manifesto; they are not spouting blanket statements but rather revealing the intricate facets enmeshed in learning, teaching, and living. They are big dreamers and just as big doers, and their ideas and hopes are built from real experiences in walking the halls, breaking down walls, and hearing students and teachers alike. I've had the incredible fortune to spend time in conversation with these three, and this book is the next best thing.”

– Stephanie Chang, Director of Educational Programs, Maker Ed

“A thought‐provoking and insightful read highlighting the rapidly shifting landscape of public education and the fixes that we so urgently need in our public schools. Moran, Ratliff, and Socol have crafted a thorough and detailed walkthrough of how one of Virginia's leading school districts has charged full‐speed into the progressive era of education. This book serves as an excellent reminder of how far we've come from the comparatively primitive classrooms of the industrial era and gives a front‐row seat to how America's public schools are embracing a new world of pedagogical possibility, and rethinking what it means to learn.”

– Julian Waters, youth educational provocateur and aspiring policy maker

“Schools do not transform. School administrators, teachers, and staff have to personally transform in order to cocreate individualized, meaningful learning journeys with every student. The authors with radical transparency share such a journey – a ‘learn by doing’ journey of overcoming financial restraints, physical space, fears of the unknown, and resistance to change by inspiring, trusting, and enabling teachers and students to cocreate the learning that will better prepare students for the Smart Machine Age. This book will capture your mind and your heart; it is an inspiring and practical read!”

– Ed Hess, coauthor of Humility Is the New Smart: Rethinking Human Excellence in the Smart Machine Age, Professor of Business Administration and Batten Executive‐in‐Residence, UVA Darden School of Business

“Maker Learning is about providing students with opportunities to explore ideas that are personal to them. We give them a voice when we allow them to identify and create solutions to problems that are pertinent to their lives. Pam, Chad, and Ira have worked with the members of their community to create schools that support processes and spaces that provide fluidity in addressing the learning needs and desires of all students, and adults. Backed by a body of knowledge and direct experience, the words on the pages of this book will be an inspiration, as they provide ideas for establishing learning constructs for the learners of today and the future.”

– Lakeysha Washington, Principal, Benjamin O. Davis Middle School, Compton, CA

“A must‐read book by three of America's leading public school educators. Socol, Moran, and Ratliff paint a picture of what learning must and can look like in the twenty‐first century, and how to transform outdated schools into places of powerful student‐centered engagement and learning. An inspiring, rich narrative from the front lines of K–12 education. Bottom line: If they can do it, so can you!”

– Grant Lichtman, author of #EdJourney: A Roadmap to the Future of Education and Moving the Rock: Seven Levers WE Can Press to Transform Education

“This book is the enactment of modern‐day progressive education in Virginia and the shining example of how school and district leaders are an essential factor in the development of systems and dispositions that support youth and adults in becoming their best selves. It should be required reading for any educator interested in empowering teachers and students and investing in the future of public education. After years in the classroom, in schools, and in leading school districts, these exceptional educators share their blueprint for designing learning spaces for youth to own their learning and cocreate knowledge with teachers. At the heart of this blueprint is the belief that teachers and students should cocreate learning environments that are meaningful for them.”

– Jessica Parker, Director of Teaching and Learning, the Exploratorium

“The single most important challenge our country faces is how to transform existing schools to prepare children for their futures. This remarkable team has done exactly that, advancing learning outcomes for kids in every school in a district that reflects the full spectrum of socioeconomic circumstances. Read this book and treasure it for the insights and pragmatic advice it provides!”

– Ted Dintersmith, author of What School Could Be and executive producer of Most Likely to Succeed

“Contemplating the visionary tool kit in Timeless Learning, one is shaken up, the mind is opened, and we are offered an open space to prepare for the critical evolutionary leap our schools must make. The authors provide an illuminating X‐ray‐like analysis of what has gone before, where past academic trails have led, and their clearing away and innovating forward in confidence breaks down walls to construct new open spaces, foster real world learning and promote an education our learners want and will need underpinned by a deep, palpable cherishing of all our children. A must‐read tool kit for twenty‐first‐century learners of all ages.”

– John Hunter, CEO, World Peace Game Foundation

“To prepare students for a bold new world we need to fundamentally rethink learning. The authors not only provide a compelling case for needed changes to the function of schools but they all have played an integral part in implementing transformative practices at the classroom, building, and district level. If you are interested in how to put theory into practice, then this book is for you.”

– Eric Sheninger, Google Certified Innovator and Adobe Education Leader, and Thomas C. Murray, Director of Innovation, Future Ready Schools

“The authors challenge constraints often cited as barriers to contemporary progressive education. In their work to integrate innovative technologies, teaching practices, and learning environments they show how systems thinking and strategic design can lead to learning opportunities that were inconceivable a decade ago.”

– Richard Culatta, Chief Executive Officer, ISTE

Pedagogy 101

by Alan Shapiro

Suited (I thought) and tied,

earnest as the day was very long,

I taught them when to be still,

why they needed to listen,

where Columbus was born,

how to answer textbook questions

and what the similarity was

between my decrees and their grades.

Sitting at bolted desks

while flies rambled on tall windows

they taught me when to shut my mouth,

why I needed to hear,

where they were coming from,

how to question textbook answers,

and what the difference is

between schooling and education.

18 April 1999

with permission from the estate of Alan Shapiro

None of our work would be possible without our professional colleagues who have worked tirelessly to enable the open and authentic learning that liberates our students. They are teachers and principals, assistant and deputy superintendents, bus drivers and cafeteria staff, department directors and computer technicians, learning coaches and network engineers, custodians, and more.

We also have learned much from the children who inform us of what matters to them. We have learned the power of listening to their voices. Our kids tell us in every way that their relationships with teachers and their peers matter. They want learning that makes sense. And, they want to actively participate in learning experiences fueled by their questions, curiosities, and interests in and out of school.

The educators and learners of Albemarle County Public Schools have courageously taken risks, many over decades, to create pathways to timeless learning for the young people we serve. We never fail to notice the educators who collaborate and work tirelessly before, during, and after school to make sense of today's learners' needs. When everyone believes in their power to make a difference, it does. Education is about everything children see, hear, and experience, and they are indeed fortunate to be surrounded by fabulous educators in our district and beyond.

In addition, each of us owes deep debts to people who were transformative in our professional lives. We appreciate Professor Ed Hess of the Darden School of Business who has kept us focused on social‐emotional competencies such as empathy and that how learners learn is core to preparing young people for life in today's world. And, to Ted Dintersmith for shining a light on the need for deep change in American education. We value that he has shared our work with communities across America.

Pam: I'm grateful to my career mentor, the late Dr. John English, who inspired, taught, and coached me to see children as the priority in every decision. He defined progressive education through his leadership. And also to former superintendent Kevin Castner who said in the face of No Child Left Behind, “We need to keep passion in our classrooms”; from that, Design 2004 was born giving life to our division's work to empower learners. I am so appreciative to my husband, Jon, and son, Jason, who have grown up with me in the world of education. They gave up family time every day so I could participate in a career to better the lives of children and the educators who serve them.

Chad: I would like to thank three mentor educators for believing in me and giving me opportunities that many in their positions wouldn't consider: Tom Fitzgibbons, for my first job in public education. Your professional mentorship changed the trajectory of my life. Spencer Chang, for teaching me the value of character and humility. You made space for the important things and remembered not to take the rest too seriously. Pam Moran, for your tireless dedication to the mission, your ability to draw out the best in those around you, and the patience and unconditional love that sometimes requires.

Thank you to my wife and life partner, Cay Lee, for your perspective and support. None of this would be possible without you. To my brother, Jeff, for trailblazing and always having my back. To my parents, Joe and Linda, for instilling a passion for learning and trying new things. You gave me the confidence and freedom to explore. I owe my optimism and bias toward action to you. And to the best teachers of all, my two children, Spencer and Maya. Every day, you inspire me to be a better human.

Ira: I thank my mother, Ruth Socol, whose open, multiage classroom in the 1970s demonstrated what an elementary school could be. And the late Alan Shapiro, who made education possible, and the late Cleo Cherryholmes, who made postcolonial thinking real. I also thank my family: Jill, my wife, for her constant support, patience, and love, and James, my son, whose brilliance in his interaction with technology and the world is a constant inspiration.

We also thank our professional learning network that makes itself available all hours of day and night to share resources, answer questions, challenge thinking, and connect us with the world's educators.

And we value our Wiley editors, especially Pete Gaughan, who have been with us all the way through the journey.

Please connect with us on Twitter!

Ira Socol @irasocol

Pam Moran @pammoran

Chad Ratliff @csratliff

Children are, or should be, at the center of education because ultimately they are reason for the very existence of educational institutions. But unfortunately, children are too often forgotten in discussions about education. Adults involved in education too often don't see children. They see curricula. They see standards. They see test scores. They see timetables. They see technology. They see battles over funding policies. They see math and reading wars. They see fights over public schools. They see disputes about teacher unions. They see everything about the operation of schools except for the very reason for which schools exist: children.

Timeless Learning is a book that directs our attention to children. The authors implore us – everyone involved in education – to see children. They share their lessons about learning to “be much much better at seeing children.”

When we are good at seeing children, we recognize that they are diverse. They arrive at our schools with different talents, passions, skills, knowledge, relationships, dispositions, attitudes, and experiences. Each and every child possesses a jagged profile of strengths and weakness. Each and every child has something that is worth celebrating and developing. Each and every child has a dream that is worth realizing. Each and every child has unique needs that we can help meet.

When we are good at seeing children, we understand that all children are first and foremost human beings before they are students. All children have the universal human right of self‐determination. All children need respect, autonomy, to love and be loved, and opportunities to create value for others. All children deserve to be treated equally in schools as adults.

When we are good at seeing children, we accept that all children are natural‐born learners, although they may be interested in or good at learning things that we may not value. All children are curious and creative. They want to explore, experiment, and express. They are naturally motivated to learn new things for genuine purposes. When they are not engaged in what we want to them to learn, we need to question ourselves rather than blame them.

When we are good at seeing children, we know that schools exist to serve the interests of children, not the other way around. Curricula exist to provide children opportunities to learn, not to limit their explorations. Standards exist to guide the development of learning opportunities for children, not to judge their worthiness. Tests and assessments exist to facilitate children's learning, not to shame and label them. As a result, we are never to allow children's learning to be dictated by curricula, standards, or tests.

Timeless Learning is a journal of three brave educators who embarked on a journey to learn to see children better. In this book, Ira Socol, Pam Moran and Chad Ratliff honestly document their exciting, exhilarating, and emotional journey to “a future destination in which all children will thrive in school because of their diverse interests, range of background experiences, and identities – not in spite of their differences.” They see themselves as humble learners and fallible humans, so they don't hide their frustrations, their stumbles, or their struggles, nor do they hold back their happiness, joy, and excitement along the way.

In many ways, Pam, Ira, and Chad are ordinary people. They reflect on their own experiences as students and realize that they were drastically different. Each of them had their own good fortune and bad luck with their own schooling, just like everyone else. What makes them extraordinary is that they took their reflections many steps further. When they became educators, they realized that they had the power to make changes, to make schools a better place for children like them. Then they went beyond the realization and took actions.

Their actions took place in an ordinary public school district, which suffers from the same suffocating test and accountability educational policies applied in all American schools. They faced the same challenges of inertia, resistance, and the legacy of an outdated education paradigm as change‐seeking educators in schools all over the world do. They had the same concerns and anxiety as every change maker has: the lack of guaranteed success and acceptance of the planned changes. They understood the risks; they learned from others; they prepared themselves; and they took actions. They took “rapid, yet deeply considered actions to change the educational system we have inherited.”

But the actions, they knew, were not a one‐time fix that would solve all the problems once and for all. Instead, the actions – any actions for that matter – will solve some problems and create others. Thus once actions of change are taken, the change maker has embarked on a never‐ending journey of change actions. The authors knew that their “desired state is a world of opportunity and success for every child, but the path to that desired state is a very long, very difficult climb.”

Timeless Learning is not a cookbook, although it contains plenty of recipes for a stimulating meal. Nor is it a prescriptive roadmap, although it provides abundant tips about traversing the difficult terrain of educational transformation from experienced travelers. As I read it, this is a tale of morally driven individuals who want to right the wrongs in education that they experienced. They do not want to see more children suffer from schools that are ostensibly institutions to help them. More important, they want schools to see the children and serve them well.

This is a critical time for education. The human society is going through an episode of tumultuous changes. Political instability, widening economic gaps, environmental degradation, rising racial tensions, growing nationalism, and rapid technological changes are all working together to affect the future world our children will occupy and we (at least some of us) will retire in. This future is extremely uncertain. It is impossible to get our children ready for a future so uncertain, thus the popular idea of readiness such as college and career readiness and future readiness is as absurd as it is popular. Our children cannot be ready to walk into the future premade for them. They have to create this future. Whether they can make their future (and our retirement) peaceful and prosperous depends on what we do in schools today. And what we do in schools should begin with seeing the children. Keep in mind the questions that guided the journey of Pam, Ira, and Chad:

• What do you see when you look at your school?
• What do you see when you look in a classroom?
• What do you see when you watch children in the playground, or on a street, or in a park?
• What does learning look like?
• What does growing up look like?

Yong Zhao

University of Kansas

East China Normal University