Learn to Transform

There has never been a greater opportunity to personalise and transform schools; this book presents an empowering and workable approach for genuine breakthrough. Written by the Director and the Head of Achievement Networks at the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust, it presents realistic strategies for change and helps staff and students become more strategic in what they do day to day. Is mass public education the best way forward for schools? Ruled by the bell, with rigid timetables and set routines, this is a model designed not for the 21st century but for the factory age. "Learn to Transform" presents an alternative model for today's world based around what lies at the heart of schools: individuals and personal relationships. It shows how schools can: create real change through, short and long term strategies; manage existing demands and pressures to create greater capacity; create positive cultures through strong leadership; maximise time and potential at all levels; and, share success and good practice both within their own schools and with others.

Table of Contents:
Contents; Introduction; 1. Making a difference to your school today; 2. First steps to transforming schools; 3. Doing what we say - saying what we do; 4. The importance and role of leadership; 5. Defining transformation; 6. Learning how to transform; References.

About the Author :
David Crossley is currently Director of Achievement Networks at the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust. Graham Corbyn is currently Head of Programmes within Achievement Networks Team at the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust.

Review :
The English Secondary School system is in a time of profound transformation. This process has two key characteristics. First, schools are increasingly taking responsibility for their own development rather than relying on Government or external intervention; and secondly and crucially, they are also taking responsibility for each others' development. It is this commitment to system reform that is radically changing the landscape of the secondary system in England. In 'Learn to Transform' David Crossley, a leading member of this movement, describes in concrete detail some of the key strategies and processes involved. This book provides a valuable contribution to the literature on School Transformation. It clearly indicates what needs to be done, eloquently describes strategies for transformation and provides tangible evidence that the transformation is indeed possible. 'Learn to Transform' is at the same time both practical and optimistic. --Sanford Lakoff There has never been a greater opportunity to personalize and transform schools. This book is the most important and valuable publication on the transformation of schools I have ever read. It is also the most credible. David Crossley's personal experience and success have few parallels in any nation. He led the transformation at King's College in Guildford that had been closed previously. He now leads the remarkable Raising Achievement Transforming Learning project that has resulted in significant improvement in hundreds of schools in less than two years. He draws from these schools and many more in several countries to show how schools in all settings can be transformed. It has become a cliche for favourable reviews to declare that a book is a 'must read'. I would go beyond such a declaration: if there is just one book that school and system leaders at any level should read and act on with total confidence, it is this book. --Sanford Lakoff