Yacek’s Transformative Classroom in the contemporary K-12 system

Abstract

In his theory of educational transformation, Douglas Yacek outlines the possibility of aspiration as an educational model. In Yacek’s aspirational model, students undergo an awakening, acknowledge their ethical distance, recognize their ethical difference, and then make a resolution to change. After providing the theoretical background in conversation with other theories of transformation, Yacek offers the reader practical tools to actualize the aspirational classroom. This review proceeds to raise questions regarding the applicability of aspirational theory in a contemporary classroom, explicating additional barriers to the project and offering areas where additional research and problem-solving may be necessary.