Speaker ◦ Scholar ◦ Teacher Educator

I help teachers and schools make their classrooms transformative.

I am a educational researcher at TU Dortmund University and a Senior Lecturer of Ethics and Multiculturalism at the HSPV NRW. I give talks and workshops for educators around Europe and the USA on central topics of educational practice. In 2024 I was awarded the Life Worth Living Teaching Fellowship at Yale University, and in 2021 I was awarded the TU Dortmund prize for excellence in teaching.

Whether you want to create transformative lessons and course designs, increase intrinsic motivation and a love of learning, advance democratic values and skills, or cultivate the character and moral understanding of students in your school, I am here to help.

In the Media.

How can teachers truly inspire students?

The most pressing problem facing education is the “motivation gap”. How we can capture the imagination of young people, when they are so immersed in sensational media? How can the Pythagorean Theorem ever compete with a 15 second TikTok dance sequence? The answer to these questions is simpler than you think. Check out my TEDx talk to find out.

Upcoming Events.

  • Leidenschaftlich demokratisch

    Presentation at Die deutsche Schulakademie, 2025

  • Begeisterung wecken! Eine Anleitung

    Presentation at Didacta 2025, Stuttgart

  • Teaching Controversy in the Classroom

    Workshop for Teachers at HÖB Papenburg

Just Published.

  • Post & Lintel Books, 2024

  • Reclam, 2023

  • Cambridge UP, 2023

  • J.B. Metzler, 2022

  • Routledge, 2021

  • Cambridge UP, 2023

Yacek lays a striking new path forward for educators seeking to develop a classroom of transformation."

Hannah Morgan, high school English teacher in South Chicago, on The Transformative Classroom

Yacek inspires the reader to a vision of the transformative classroom . . . that ignites the imagination. . . . I am confident Yacek’s book will inspire educators to take ethically justified risks in their pursuit to become truly transformative teachers.

William Merrifield, Director of Education at IDEAS (ideasworld.org), on The Transformative Classroom

It is rare to see a volume on moral education that . . . relates moral education to issues in today’s world. I strongly recommend this new volume which . . . adds nuance and substance to salient moral topics.

Kristján Kristjánsson - University of Birmingham, UK, and Editor, Journal of Moral Education on Moral Education in the 21st Century

A true landmark, for many years to come.

Rainer Forst - Goethe University Frankfurt, Germany, on The Cambridge Handbook of Democratic Education

There is so much to appreciate in this boldly imaginative book.

Megan Laverty, Columbia University, USA on Moral Education in the 21st Century

Who I Work With.

Workshop Testimonials.

  • “What I liked most was [Mr. Yacek's] friendly demeanor and his excellent integration of video clips."

    Participant in Workshop “Controversy in the Classroom”

  • “Mr. Yacek has a passion for the topics he teaches and a strong commitment to student motivation.”

    Participant in Workshop “Awakening Student Engagement”

  • “I found [Mr. Yacek's] combination of educational research and teaching experience really interesting.”

    Participant in Workshop “Grappling with Intolerance in the Classroom”

  • “Really well prepared and executed! I thought the transitions between info and group work was great.”

    Participant in Workshop “Awakening Student Engagement”

Get in Touch.

Every note submitted is read and I will do my best to respond to you in a timely manner!