Deep Learning

Michael Fullan, Order of Canada, is the former Dean of the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, and Professor Emeritus of the University of Toronto. He is co-leader of the New Pedagogies for Deep Learning global initiative. Michael served as Premier Dalton McGuinty’s Special Policy Adviser in Ontario from 2003-2013. He received the Order of Canada (OC) in December 2012 and holds five honorary doctorates from universities around the world. His ‘interim autobiography,’ Surreal Change, covers his pre-Covid-19 era to 2018. Michael and his colleagues are now working diligently on field-based comprehensive system change in several countries. Under the umbrella of what they call the ‘humanity paradigm’ —equitable-equal deep change that integrates local (school and community), middle (district/regional), and centre (policy) entities. Michael’s latest books are: Spirit Work and the Science of Collaboration (with Mark Edwards, 2022), The Principal 2.0 (2023), The Drivers (with Joanne Quinn, 2023), and The New Meaning of Educational Change, 6th Edition (2025).For more information on books, articles, videos, podcasts please go to: www.michaelfullan.caJoanne Quinn is an international consultant and author on system change, leadership, and learning. As co-founder and global director of New Pedagogies for Deep Learning, she leads the capacity building of a global innovation partnership across eight countries focused on transforming learning. Joanne has provided leadership at all levels of education as a superintendent of education, implementation advisor to the Ontario Ministry of Education, and Director of Continuing Education at the University of Toronto. Recent books include Coherence: The Right Drivers in Action for Schools, Districts, and Systems; The Taking Action Guide for Building Coherence in Schools, Districts, and Systems; and Deep Learning: Engage the World, Change the World. Joanne′s diverse leadership roles and her passion to open windows of opportunity for all give her a unique perspective on influencing positive change.Joanne McEachen is founder and CEO of The Learner First (thelearnerfirst.com), an international education consultancy based in Seattle, Washington. She leads a team of dedicated education and evaluation specialists who support school systems through the processes of assessment, measurement, and whole-system change. Her methodology interrogates systems through the eyes of their least-served learners, supporting them to embrace and celebrate students’ cultural identities and individual interests and needs. Joanne also serves as the Global New Measures Director for New Pedagogies for Deep Learning (NPDL), an international partnership focused on measuring and developing six global competencies of deep learning (the “6Cs”), where she works alongside and in partnership with Michael Fullan, Joanne Quinn, and other educators and system leaders worldwide. With her NPDL cofounders, Joanne coauthored Deep Learning: Engage the World, Change the World, which shares and celebrates the learning emerging from throughout NPDL. Joanne’s expertise spans every level of the educational system. She has been a teacher, principal, superintendent, and national-school-system leader in her home country of New Zealand and around the world, and she has worked with multiple large and diverse school districts in the US to bring deeper learning to life. Drawing from rich and varied experiences tackling the issues faced by schools, districts, education departments, and the individuals within them, Joanne shares measures, tools, approaches, and insights that deepen learning for every learner.

This book elevates deep learning from an instructional tool to a systemic approach designed to create powerful synergies to enhance professional, social, and cultural capital. It is built on the deep belief that all students can learn if school systems shift from sorting talent, where only a minority of winners cross the finishing line, to developing the talent of diverse learners. Deep Learning’s power lies in providing practical advice to help school systems evolve, for rules to become guidelines, and ultimately, for good practice to become culture.

• INTRODUCTION: Making Deep Learning a Momentum MakerSECTION I Engage the World Change the WorldChapter 1 THE NEED FOR AND ATTRACTION OF DEEP LEARNINGRelevance UnfoundThe Allure of Deep LearningThe ChallengeChapter 2 WHAT’S DEEP ABOUT DEEP LEARNING?Reimagining LearningWhat Is Deep Learning?Why Deep Learning MattersIt’s All About Re-CulturingFinal ThoughtsChapter 3 LEADING TRANSFORMATIONCoherence Making for Whole System ChangeMaking Deep Learning CoherentA Framework for Deep LearningFinal ThoughtsSECTION II The Living LaboratoryChapter 4 DEEP LEARNING IN ACTIONDeep Learning as a Force for ChangeEmerging DiscoveriesMaking Deep Learning Come AliveFinal ThoughtsChapter 5 DESIGNING DEEP LEARNING: Learning PartnershipsThe New PedagogiesLearning PartnershipsFinal ThoughtsChapter 6 DESIGNING DEEP LEARNING: Learning Environments, Leveraging Digital, Pedagogical PracticesLearning DesignLearning EnvironmentsLeveraging DigitalPedagogical PracticesMaking the Four Elements GelFinal ThoughtsChapter 7 COLLABORATION COUNTS: Inquiry That Shifts PracticeCultivating Collaboration and CapacityThe Collaborative Inquiry ProcessCollaborative Learning DesignCollaborative AssessmentFinal ThoughtsChapter 8 CONDITIONS THAT MOBILIZE WHOLE SYSTEM CHANGEWhat Is Whole System Change?Learning Conditions That Foster Deep LearningThe New Change DynamicDeep Learning in ActionFinal ThoughtsChapter 9 NEW MEASURES FOR DEEP LEARNINGNew MeasuresEarly FindingsThe Global Moderation ProcessFinal ThoughtsSECTION III A Precarious FutureChapter 10 SIRENS OR SALVATION: Deep Learning Hell or HeavenThe SirensThe Plot ThickensAppendix: The Seven CountriesReferencesIndexAcknowledgmentsAbout the Authors