John Abbott is president of the 21st Century Learning Initiative, a transnational association of researchers and practitioners. He was a teacher of geography and religious studies at Manchester Grammar School, headmaster of Alleyne's School in Stevenage, chairman of the Royal Geographical Society's Expeditionary Advisory Centre, and director of Education 2000, with nine community-wide projects in the United Kingdom. Over the last six years he has lectured around the world on new understandings about learning. He and his family lived in Reston, Virginia, from 1995 to 1999.