The Imaginari Fellowship

ReImagining EducationReImagining the World

How do we reimagine education in these times?

The Imaginari Fellowship is a grass-roots movement to reimagine education at a moment of possibility and peril.

Our systems of education—like many of the systems of today—are collapsing. Rather than doubling down on antiquated pedagogies and approaches, Imaginari seeks to cultivate transformative learning spaces and practices through which young people can imagine and embrace a new worldview. These spaces, whether in or outside of schools, must be microcosms of the just, joyful, and vibrant world we hope to see.

This work requires us to recognize the stories that dominate our systems, then work together to transform these narratives—not from the top down, but from the wisdom, experience, creativity and energy of teachers and students, artists and activists.

Intergenerational, international and intersectional, the Imaginari Fellowship brings diverse stakeholders into a collaborative inquiry of the narratives that define learning and education, and of the new approaches and practices that will help us reimagine education, and reimagine the world.

Illustration of a teacher and students in a reimagined classroom

People

Theodore Richards, PhD - Educator & Philosopher

Theodore Richards, co-founder of the Imaginari Fellowship, is the founder of The Chicago Wisdom Project, an out-of-school transformative learning space for teens.

He has taught in various settings, from graduate school to afterschool programs on the south side of Chicago. He is the author of eight books and numerous literary awards, including two Nautilus Book Awards and three Independent Publisher Awards. His most recent work is Reimagining the Classroom. He lives on the south side of Chicago with his wife and three daughters.

Learn More About Theodore

Seth Biderman, MA, Ed.S - Educator & Leader

Seth Biderman, co-founder of the Imaginari Fellowship, is a former teacher, principal, and manager of the Institute of Teaching at the Academy for the Love of Learning, a visionary non-profit devoted to reimagining the way we learn.

In addition to 15 years experience working in schools, Seth has founded and directed innovative, community-based learning programs in New Mexico, Washington DC, and Colombia. He has published essays on education in Hechinger Report, The Voyager, The Educator’s Room, and elsewhere. Seth lives in DC with his wife and daughter.

Learn More About Seth

Testimonials

[A]n invitation to dive into the wreckage that surrounds us, and swim as hard as we can toward a fresh approach to teaching and learning, parenting and mentoring. Theodore Richards is a perfect guide: experienced, wise, and courageous. He foregrounds relationship-building, sees the young not as targets of instruction, but as three-dimensional creatures on an immense journey of discovery and surprise. Teaching becomes, then, not an act of transmission, but a transformative voyage for everyone involved.
Bill AyersEducation scholar and activist

Theodore Richards is an inspired educator and artisan of cultural regeneration, a visionary activist.
Bill Plotkin, Ph.D.Author of Soulcraft, Wild Mind, and Nature and the Human Soul

Seth is a skilled guide into places we need to go as teachers. He speaks from a place of profound experience and knowledge, but with an empathy and caring that befits our profession.
Randy GrilloPrincipal and former teacher, Santa Fe Public Schools

I loved how Theodore created a safe and interactive space. And the collaboration was unmatched- it was the meat of the course. The prize was within the experience of learning and thinking.
Andrea Stubblefield, M.EdEarly Childhood Specialist- Office of Early Childhood Education, Chicago Public Schools

Theodore Richards is a unique and gifted social activist, one with a well-nourished brain as well as a conscience. In a previous generation someone of Theodore’s depth and integrity might have worked out his vocation in a monastery. In our time, he finds his way in the urban world of struggle and promise, despair and hope. He is a philosopher-activist who listens deeply and walks his talk.
Matthew FoxAuthor and Theologian