“Transformational teaching in the information age” is an integrative project that seeks to reaffirm the identity of education by exploring pedagogy from a timeless perspective that places learners in the center of the classroom and asks why we teach those learners. (Preface Pg. ix) Also, it refers to teachers who like to reflect about what they are doing right or wrong, or asking themselves if they are making the difference. Additionally, teachers must know how to inspire their students and how to learn from them because being teachers does not make them persons who know everything. Teachers make mistakes all the time during their process of teaching, so, they have to reflect on them and think about what they can do the next time.
On the other hand, teachers have to perform their roles full of hope, which is one descriptor for transformational teachers who are passionate and believe that the world of education is more than an information culture. Also, if teaching is something that they really love, they have to make some key questions that go beyond as “What do we teach?” “How do we assess it?” “What does it all mean?” “What should schools be doing?” “What is the teacher’s role?” “Who are we teaching?” “How do learners learn?” and “How should we teach?” In fact, these questions will make them to reflect in their teaching process and also may guide them to succeed.
“To teach: The journey of a teacher” describes the challenge we have to face in the teaching process. Some of the challenges the author mentions in his book are to decide who we want to be as teachers, what we care about, what we value, and how we will conduct ourselves in the classroom as teachers. Those challenges, also, make us reflect on what we want to achieve to become good teachers. Besides, we are learning to teach because we are also in the process our students are in.
Moreover, according to William Ayers, teachers never become in excellent teachers because our wisdom is achieving new knowledge every day. For that reason, teaching is considered as an intellectual and ethical work; but, how come? Good teachers find ways to stay alert to the needs of their students. Also, good teachers become learners of theirs students because in that way there is a more viable form of a real learning.