Heart at the Center

In Heart at the Center: An Educator’s Guide to Sustaining Love, Hope, and Community Through Nonviolence Pedagogy, high school teacher Mike Tinoco examines what it means to reimagine classrooms and schools as spaces that humanize, resist violence and injustice, and center love.Offering both a framework and a set of practices that are grounded in different nonviolence traditions, Heart at the Center asks readers to consider what a pedagogy of nonviolence looks like, sounds like, and feels like in the classroom.Written with warmth, expertise, and humility, Mike Tinoco invites us into his classroom, drawing on stories from his own life and powerful examples from civil rights movement leaders to explore questions such as:● How do we create classrooms and schools that are grounded in needs and match our vision for the kind of world we dream of?● How can we challenge conventional classroom management practices, welcome conflict, and truly nurture relationships with and amongst our students to foster positive peace?● How can we embed love in our curriculum and be inclusive of our students’ lives, centering community, healing, and justice?● How can we slow down and take care of ourselves without compromising the urgency to fight for justice? When can voluntary suffering meet our needs and empower us?● How can educators navigate conflict, build community with one another, and create their own professional development opportunities that support collective care?Heart at the Center is a book for educators who believe that a different kind of classroom, a different kind of school, and a different kind of world are possible.

Given the current state of our world, we need a (re)centering of love more than ever. In this very important book, Mike Tinoco helps educators to (re)imagine a different and better world—moving readers toward the inner, reflective, and pedagogical work. Heart at the Center is an urgent call for truth, love, and justice for every educator and community member who deeply dreams of and seeks peace. Beauty is manifested on each page.—Gholnecsar (Gholdy) Muhammad, Associate Professor of Curriculum & Instruction at the University of Illinois ChicagoDr. Vincent Harding, civil rights leader, author, historian, pastor, and professor is known for drafting the 1967 anti-war Beyond Vietnam speech given by his beloved friend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. He was also my cousin-in-law, my family. Vincent shared that before Dr. King was killed, he was thinking about what it means to create nonviolent revolutionary change. Today, as we bear witness to horrendous acts of violence locally, nationally, and globally, I wonder what Vincent and Dr. King might say. What does it mean to dedicate ourselves to the work of nonviolence? Heart at the Center: An Educator’s Guide to Sustaining Love, Hope, and Community Through Nonviolence Pedagogy addresses this call. Mike Tinoco builds upon the tools provided by educators and activists of the past and helps us recognize the historical and holistic pathways that can move us forward. I urge educators to read this book so we can radically reorient ourselves away from the conditions and mindsets that cause violence and turn toward a lifetime commitment to caring for ourselves, the collective, and to love.—Dr. Sonja Cherry-Paul, Founder, Red Clay Educators, adapter of the #1 NYT bestselling Stamped (For Kids): Racism, Antiracism, and YouMike Tinoco is one of the most grounded and visionary teachers I have ever met. He has built a way of being in the classroom that reflects a holistic and loving embodiment of justice and care through a framework of nonviolence that is tangible, visceral, and possible. Heart at the Center is a gift to all teachers, as Mike provides a path for us to both heal and develop clarity in our evolving visions for our classrooms, schools, and communities. The book guides us through a process of deep reflection and urges us toward realistic possibilities for love and justice in classrooms that are too often devalued and discouraged in school systems. I am grateful to have this book as a tool for transformation for myself and for the teachers and future teachers I support.—Marcos Pizarro, Associate Dean, San José State University College of EducationHeart at the Center is not just the book I wanted to read; it is the person I hope to become. In an age where the world expects teachers to do everything, Mike Tinoco’s recognition of our shared humanity and the importance of our mission is such a wel

Mike Tinoco is a high school educator and nonviolence trainer from San José, California. His practice draws from Kingian Nonviolence, Nonviolent Communication, and aikido, with the aim of strengthening interconnectedness, healing together, and fighting for collective liberation. He is committed to working alongside his students, educators, and everyday people in creating a world that demands justice, centers love, and holds room for everyone to be part of the Beloved Community.