In 2016, the Federal Institute for the Development of Education published a book by Sergey Polyakov, “From Past to the Future. Psychological-educational essays about the socio-cultural context of the development of our national schools.” This author is well known to everyone who is interested in education of our children and in the ways to improve our schools. His work is always oriented towards self-consciousness of teachers, supporting their humanistic orientation and desire for professional improvement. In his books Polyakov describes pedagogy as a modern, lively, and complex reality while the author himself is ‘an experienced optimist’, capable to tell an interesting story of our reality and reflect on it in a deep and profound way. The author has always represented himself as a follower of the research school of the late Ludmilla Nowikova, the school that for many years was orientated towards the analysis of education in various types of children’s collectives. Different postulates, principles, and positions of this school were born in the process of integrating the knowledge from philosophy, education, and psychology together with the objective analysis of the innovative educational practice. Polyakov is also following this approach in his research and his literary style. In this regard this new book is no exception — the above mentioned is present in it.