Ulcca Joshi Hansen - The Future of Smart: How Our Education System Needs to Change to Help All Young People Thrive

Having Dr. Hansens special expertise and passion for change in education takes us even closer to ensuring that we can achieve the transformative movement in education we need.

Sir Ken Robinson, TED speaker: Do Schools
Kill Creativity and author of Creative Schools

Too many young people leave their formal education believing they are not smart, not capable, and that they cant measure up to one-size-fits-all standards that define success so narrowly that most children are destined to fail. In The Future of Smart Dr. Hansen reminds us that the challenges of education in America have their roots in a complex system of values. Weaving together science, history and the examples of educators and young people, she challenges us to examine these foundational values and to imagine an education system grounded in a different view of the world, one that embraces the jagged and highly individual nature of human development, learning and human capability as a strength rather than a pathology. At a moment when America is seeking to reexamine its cultural narratives and transform public systems to meet rising expectations, this book is a must-read for thoughtful policymakers, advocates, leaders and citizens.

Dr. Todd Rose, Director of Populace and
author of The End of Average and Dark Horse

Ive known Dr. Hansen to be someone a step ahead, signaling where we need to be to support learners and the systems of learning that (should) support them. In this book, Dr. Hansen does it againgrounding us in what has been, making sense of what holds us back, and offering sensible and smart paths forwardif only we are intentional about remaking the learning landscape for Americas youth.

Gregg Behr, co-author, When You Wonder, Youre Learning: Enduring Lessons for Raising Creative, Curious, Caring Kids

At a moment when we are being challenged to revisit the very purpose and structure of education and reconsider who we talk to and how we engage them, we need a book like this to guide us. For anyone who is really serious about seeing education through a new set of eyes, The Future of Smart is almost a handbook of what positions you to be a real listener. Dr. Hansen took me on a journey and I was left with a new set of tools to engage in critical conversations about education, culture and the future of this country. In this time of COVID-19 disruption, rethinking education systems and social renewal, Dr. Hansen is truly a gifted and purposeful human resource.

Peter McWalters, Big Picture Learning Board Chair and
former President of the Council of Chief State School Officers

For decades, our national discourse for improving the quality and outcomes of American education has been dominated by narrow and technical solutions that tinker on the edges of the factory/industrial model without ever making true leaps towards a new vision of the system that will cultivate young people in all their infinite potential. As a consequence, we have been spinning ever faster on an ossified, paradigmatic carousel, wishing for new insights while recycling old approaches. Dr. Hansens brilliant examination is radical in its effort to deconstruct the assumptions and values that prop up an outdated model of learning and fuel failed policy solutions that will not meet the needs of this century. This book is urgently needed as we wrestle with the ramifications of widening income-stratification and deeply rooted racial injustice, in which our educational system is complicit. If we are to meet the challenges of our age and solve seemingly intractable problems through public institutions, we must embrace new mental models and habits of being. Dr. Hansen offers an astute and historically grounded approach to begin that worthy journey.

Jenee Henry Wood, Head of
Organizational Learning, Transcend

Dr. Hansen provides a refreshingly new, optimistic and compelling perspective on truly revolutionizing American education. Addressing systemic challenges, she provides clarity for a future that can truly unleash the potential of all of our children.

William Browning, Chief
Strategy Officer, United Way

Dr. Hansen and her book are beacons. Through her writing she shines a light on the complexities of modern education. She seamlessly pulls together ideas and thoughts in an accessible way. More important, though, she illuminates the current challenges and highlights the path forward with human-centered and liberatory education. She is able to articulate and put words to the nebulous future, which gives me hope!

Miguel Gonzalez, Director, Embark Education

The Future of Smart is a revolutionary and timely work. Dr. Hansen passionately takes us on a journey through the history of education to reveal how we have arrived at the pronounced inequities of our day and time that prohibit the advancement of education for certain youth. Her work brings a reality to the need for justice-oriented exploits in education and takes us beyond reinventing the wheel. Dr. Hansens research and studies will enhance the future of education for years to come and will provide much insight for design, innovation, and equity in education.

Alexis Gwin-Miller, Principal,
Crosstown High School and Co-chair, Memphis
Interfaith Coalition for Action and Hope (MICAH)

In The Future of Smart , Dr. Hansen challenges us to imagine how an education system can honor and develop environments that acknowledge and build upon students rich assets. She establishes a path to move us away from deficit-based thinking to designing asset-based models that start with students funds of knowledge, cultural knowledge and capacity for moving between different worlds. As someone who works with families who are often systemically marginalized, I know that Dr. Hansens push to transform education to honor different ways of being, knowing, speaking, thinking and engaging with the world would not only transform education, but students lives and our society.

Paola Ramrez, Director of Family and
Community Partnership, Reschool Colorado

Educators do care about the whole child. However, the systems that they teach in/counsel in/lead in are intractable and based on a very (very) old model of education. Continuing to reform the existing system through draconian means leaves everyone at a lossstudents lose, teachers lose, leaders loseour nation loses. Its time to look at what children truly need and create educational opportunities that are just thatopportunities. Not barriers. Not disincentives. Not deficiencies. Dr. Hansen provides us with a thorough analysis of the ways in which our current system was built, is maintained, and leaves our children in educational deficit. She then offers us ways in which to look at our current system and build towards opportunity and abundance for all children. I highly recommend this book to anyone who cares about our children and our nation.

Dr. Lynn Gangone, President and Chief Executive Officer,
American Association for Colleges of Teacher Education

Dr. Hansen compels readers to see development and schooling in a different way, one that is founded in more than just learning experiences but also in learning sciences. Using examples from her own life and schools around the world, she illustrates how to help create the future of smart. For any educator or community member who wants to critically reflect on our current schooling systems and work to envision a more holistic, learner-centered approach, this book is for you.

Dr. Emily Liebtag, Founder, Boundless

Dr. Hansen has a wonderful way of moving between the history and systemic issues that affect formal education in the US and the implications of those issues at the learning level. Her global understanding of education is helpful for advocates, policymakers, educators, and community members alike. For so long, writing about education has been dominated by white, male voices. Im excited and grateful to have Dr. Hansens outstanding perspective on the future of smart added to the canon at this moment when transformation is sorely needed.