Reclaiming the Heart of Education
an invitation to remember the wisdom we carry, the humanity education was meant to serve, and the future children are here to reveal.
paperback available now. kindle edition coming soon. audiobook in production, narrated by the author.
what if education is not about shaping children for the future, but about remembering the wisdom we carry so we can walk alongside them as they reveal what they are already here to become?
across classrooms, homes, and communities, many educators, families, and leaders sense that something essential about learning has been forgotten. they feel it in the pressure to measure. in the push to standardize. in the growing disconnect between what children need and what many systems continue to provide. and in those quiet moments when something deeply meaningful is happening, but there is no language to describe it.
The Pedagogy of Remembering emerged from nearly three decades of walking alongside children, educators, families, and communities, and from a growing conviction that the future of education depends as much on remembering as it does on innovation.
this book offers language for what many have long felt but struggled to name. it invites us to pause and look again.
drawing on nearly three decades as a teacher, principal, superintendent, Director of Education, international education leader, speaker, and community builder, jeewan chanicka explores a different possibility for education. one rooted in belonging, imagination, relationship, wholeness, service, and our responsibility to future generations.
this is not a book of strategies. it is not a framework. it is not a step-by-step model. it is an invitation.
an invitation to remember what many of us have always known, but perhaps forgotten how to trust.
that children are not broken.
that learning is relational.
that belonging is foundational.
that curiosity, wonder, and joy are essential to learning.
that imagination and dreaming are professional responsibilities.
that education is about far more than preparing children for the world as it is.
it is also about helping children reveal the world that is waiting to emerge.
education has expanded literacy, opportunity, and possibility for millions of children. at the same time, many educators, families, school leaders, and communities sense that something deeper is asking for our attention.
what does it mean that we continue to educate children in systems that many adults spend their lives healing from?
what if the challenges we see in schools today are not evidence that children are failing, but signals that education itself is inviting us to evolve?
The Pedagogy of Remembering does not offer blame. it does not offer nostalgia. it offers a deeper act of remembering. because perhaps the future of education will not be built by abandoning everything we know. perhaps it will emerge as we remember what has always mattered most.
this book was written for the people who carry education in their hands and hearts: teachers and early childhood educators, principals, superintendents, and system leaders, parents, caregivers, and families, coaches, consultants, trustees, and policy makers, professors and students, and anyone who believes education can become more deeply human.
many books ask how education can become more efficient. others ask how it can become more equitable. The Pedagogy of Remembering asks a different question: what have we forgotten about children, about learning, and about ourselves that education is now inviting us to remember?
rather than offering another reform model, this book invites educators, families, leaders, and communities into a deeper conversation about belonging, imagination, relationship, and what it means to become good ancestors for the children of today and tomorrow.
while this is a decolonizing text, it refuses to make colonization the centre of our becoming. colonization is not our origin story. it is an interruption. this book invites us to remember the wisdom, relationships, responsibilities, and ways of being that have always existed beyond the systems that tried to contain them.
Our children are not broken. They are remembering.
The world needs hummingbirds.
Love is not sentimental. It is structural.
What does it mean that we continue to educate children in systems that many adults spend their lives healing from?
Education is not simply preparation for life. It is one of the ways humanity remembers who it is becoming.
The Pedagogy of Remembering is not simply a book. it is part of a larger conversation already moving through schools, homes, organizations, communities, and countries, where people are asking similar questions.
how do we create learning environments where children flourish? how do we honour diversity without reducing people to categories? how do we remain deeply human in a rapidly changing world? how do we become good ancestors right now, for the children of today and for all children yet to come?
if these questions resonate with you, join a growing community of educators, families, leaders, students, artists, thinkers, doers, and dreamers. receive reflections, speaking events, gatherings, Project Hummingbird updates, new writing, and future offerings connected to this work.
The Pedagogy of Remembering did not begin with me, nor will it end with this book. it is part of a much longer conversation that stretches across generations, cultures, and wisdom traditions.
it stands on the shoulders of Elders, educators, scholars, artists, activists, children, families, and communities who, in their own ways, have helped us remember what it means to be fully human and imagine the world we are capable of creating together, one our children deserve to inherit.
i offer this work as a steward, not as an owner. it belongs to the many who have carried these questions, lived these truths, and continued to make another world possible.
this work continues through keynote speaking, consulting, writing, Project Hummingbird: Reclaiming the Heart of Education, community gatherings, and future learning experiences. together we are exploring what becomes possible when education is understood not simply as preparation for life, but as one of the ways humanity remembers who it is becoming.
may we be blessed to be good ancestors now, for the children of today and for all children yet to come.
the conversations that begin in The Pedagogy of Remembering continue in schools, universities, conferences, organizations, families, and learning spaces around the world.
jeewan chanicka is an educator, speaker, former Director of Education, and author of The Pedagogy of Remembering. whether through keynotes, workshops, community conversations, podcasts, media interviews, or consulting, these gatherings invite people into deeper conversations about learning, leadership, belonging, and the future we are creating together.
it is an invitation to rethink education through the lenses of belonging, imagination, relationship, and our shared humanity. rather than offering another framework or set of strategies, the book invites readers to remember the wisdom we already carry and to consider what children may be revealing about the future of education. it is written for educators, families, leaders, and anyone who believes learning can become more deeply human.
it is written for educators, school and system leaders, parents, caregivers, community leaders, students, coaches, and anyone interested in the future of education and human flourishing. while many examples come from schools, the questions extend well beyond education to how we live together and the world we hope to create for future generations.
for families: although rooted in education, many parents find its reflections speak directly to family life, inviting us to see children not as problems to solve, but as whole human beings carrying gifts, wisdom, and possibility.
for educators: teachers, principals, superintendents, early childhood educators, professors, trustees, and policy makers will all find ideas that invite reflection and conversation about the deeper beliefs that shape teaching and learning.
the paperback edition is available through Amazon. as additional formats become available, including Kindle and audiobook editions, they will be linked here on this page.
a Kindle edition is in development and will be available soon. an audiobook is in production and will be narrated by the author, created to offer a reflective listening experience that honours the rhythm, pauses, and spirit of the work. join the community to be notified when each becomes available.
because many of the qualities needed to transform education are not entirely new. belonging, imagination, curiosity, wonder, relationship, and our shared humanity have always been part of who we are. education's next evolution may come not only through innovation, but through remembering what has always mattered most.
it is intentionally different from many education books. rather than a checklist or step-by-step framework, it explores the beliefs that shape how we think about children, learning, leadership, and community. many readers find that changing these underlying ways of seeing naturally changes how they teach, lead, and relate to others.
yes, in the sense that it invites readers to notice, question, and interrupt the assumptions that have shaped modern education, while refusing to make colonization the centre of our becoming. the book is rooted in remembering relationship, belonging, wholeness, imagination, responsibility, and the wisdom carried by children, families, communities, ancestors, and future generations.
jeewan regularly speaks with educators, schools, universities, organizations, conferences, and community groups about educational transformation, belonging, leadership, human flourishing, and The Pedagogy of Remembering. to inquire about keynotes, workshops, or community conversations, please use the contact form on this website.