Circle Ways

A guide for educators, facilitators, and changemakers working with intention and care. For most of human history, we learned in circles. This book is an invitation to return to that practice: to pause, reflect, and listen with greater attention and care. Rooted in the pancultural practice of Circle, the oldest new thing around, and shaped by decades of work in education and community spaces, it blends an educator's lived experience, the joys and challenges, with practical suggestions for using a circle-based pedagogy to create relevance and engagement in all subject areas. Part memoir, part manifesto, part map, Circle Ways: Pedagogy in the Round draws on more than 40 years of practice and teacher training to offer a transformative vision for education. Grounded in the author's work as an educator in the Los Angeles Unified School District, the book explores Circle as both a method and a mindset—one that reimagines how curriculum is shaped, how schools operate, and how communities learn together. Through personal stories, guiding principles, and concrete practices, the book offers a paradigm shift: from control to collaboration, from compliance to connection, from curriculum delivery to co-creation. With clarity and heart, it speaks to educators at all stages, from those just entering the profession to those seeking new purpose after years in the system. This is a timely call to slow down, listen deeply, and remember why we teach and who we're teaching for.