As a holistic educator, he is an advocate of the artistry of teaching and an in-spirited education. He started teaching in a small school in Appalachia, seeing teaching as a kind of engaged service to the world. His experiences there seeded his interest in educational alternatives, and an education that responds to real human needs and that transforms lives in the most profound ways. Together with Renata Nummela Caine and Geoffrey Caine he is the author of the books The Re-Enchantment of Learning: A Manual for Teacher Renewal and Classroom Transformation (1997) and MindShifts: A Brain-Compatible Process for Professional Development and the Renewal of Education (1999)