Teaching a Future President : Empowering Students to Take on Almost Impossible Problems

This book explores the role educators must play in helping define and pursue an ambitious set of goals for our students.

The purpose of this book is to articulate an aspirational vision for education, one that deeply engages students in complex and meaningful work and prepares students for the personal, social, and societal problems and opportunities facing them and our society. However, simply adopting an aspirational vision for a high quality learning environment isn’t the real challenge. Most educators, students, and parents don’t need a lot of convincing that schools can and should do more. Many educators espouse ambitious goals for their students, articulating the need for “21st century skills,” and classrooms that are more innovative, responsive, and collaborative. However, so many of our classrooms fall woefully short of these goals. That’s because knowing the why and the what is sometimes not enough. Teachers need help with the how. Accordingly, this book does not stop at simply articulating a vision of the possible; the book also helps individuals visualize what it can look like, and supports teachers, parents, and other engaged community members as they work towards closing the gap between what is possible and what is currently realized.