The Devil Is in the Details

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.ca

By taking both bird′s eye and ground-level view of systemic change, Michael Fullan and Mary Jean Gallagher offer trenchant insights into why a relentless torrent of top-down policies have failed to transform education systems and why countless grassroots, transformative solutions have failed to take root and spread across the system. Drawing upon research and real-world experiences, Fullan and Gallagher show us a way forward, one that encourages leaders at all levels of the system to start with the details—small moves that can transform students’ daily learning experiences—and build improvement plans and education policies up from there. Anyone who shares Fullan and Gallagher’s sense of urgency for providing students with opportunities for deeper learning would do well to read and apply the lessons from this book.

• PrefacePART I: SYSTEM CHANGEChapter 1: The Nature of the BeastThe March of EvolutionThe Dramatic Toll of Rising InequityThe Serious Deficiency of Current PoliciesConclusionChapter 2: The Emergence of System SolutionsThe Limits of ComplexityThe Phenomenology of Good System ChangeTransition TimeLeadership From the MiddleConclusionPART II: THE DEVIL IS IN THE DETAILSChapter 3: The School: The Leading Edge of ChangeLiving LocallyThe New Moral ImperativeEquityExcellenceWell-BeingHow Does a School Improve in These Ways?ConclusionChapter 4: The Middle: Fuel and GlueWho Is “the Middle”?Successful Districts: Still in the MinorityMore System ChangeGuidelines for the MiddleConclusionChapter 5: The Macro: Direction and LiberationOntario, Canada; California, United States; Victoria, Australia: Good Start-Ups at Different Places in the LearningBeware of (Seductive) DistractorsLayered, Connected AutonomyConclusionPART III: THE NEW WORLDChapter 6: Where Do We Go From Here?Details, Details, DetailsSystem ChangeThe Global South and the Global NorthA Necessary ConvergenceConclusion: As Human as You GetReferencesIndexAcknowledgmentsAbout the Authors