Julie Wilson dares to turn common sense into an action plan. This is an urgent, important book for all educators and parents.

If you want to understand what it takes to create innovative and lasting change, then forge ahead with The Human Side of Changing Education, and bravely create your own hero′s journey. This is a valuable guide, with practical advice and real-life examples to support you in this very complicated and challenging work.

Julie Wilson’s advice is spot on: Find your north star, embrace the process of change, and focus on the adults in your system. Every educator needs to not only read this book, but also commit to the journey of change that Wilson has thoughtfully implored us to take.

Julie Wilson has emerged as an important thought-leader among those seeking to transform America’s outdated, industrial model of education. With this important book, she has produced an invaluable resource designed to make sense of the myriad initiatives crowding the educational landscape. Concise, thoughtful, and based on a comprehensive review of the field, this book will serve as a catalyst for your own thinking, and for your school’s transformation.

This book is a call to action. Drawing on proven wisdom, Julie Wilson sets out a path for championing change within the education system

At long last, Julie Wilson′s thinking about how to transform school culture and teacher mindsets is now in print for the global education community to consider within their individual school innovation plans. The Center for Transformative Teaching and Learning has greatly benefited from Julie′s on-site workshops and we are grateful to now have Julie′s wisdom for immediate reference when she is not available in-person.

The desire for an evolution in education has reached a fevered pitch over the last few years. Amidst this forward momentum, Julie Wilson’s book serves as a useful pause button; a reminder that education, at its core, has been and always should be a human-centered enterprise. It is worth noting how useful it is to have someone point out something that, once a light is shone, seems so obvious. I thank Julie – and this book – for being that beacon.

I have seen Julie Wilson teach school leaders using the principles she captures here so clearly. This book will offer system-shifting school leaders the practical strategies, skills, dispositions, and tools they need to navigate successfully their journey to modernizing our schools.

Transforming schools is truly a human endeavor. It requires a community commitment to a new set of student learning outcomes, as well as teachers and leaders willing to give students voice and choice over their own learning. Julie Wilson’s book is an essential guide to teachers and leaders ready to take on this challenge.

Huge gratitude to Julie Wilson for illuminating such important dimensions of school transformation. The human side of change – leadership, culture, emotions, and process – can make or break any effort to build models of design that better prepare students to thrive in the 21^st century. This book provides practical tools and inspiring stories from real practitioners who are leading change. A key read for anyone seeking to build the future of learning.

Every now and then, a book comes out that has the power to not only inspire but to also instill change. Julie Wilson′s, The Human Side of Changing Education is this book. If you are passionate about improving education (and yourself), read this as soon as you can. Weaving commentary from a variety of sources, Wilson masterfully merges research with practice and engages the reader in thoughtful reflections on the changing needs of education. This exceptional book not only asks why but gives the reader tools for how they can enact change on a personal and organizational level.

Julie Wilson’s practical insights for bringing the human element into school transformation face major obstacles in a school culture obsessed with data. Nonetheless, her insights deserve attentive reflection and action by every person looking for our children to be seen as flesh and blood learners instead of measurable numbers.

With clarity and grace, Julie Wilson guides educators through the difficult task of unlearning the old habits and lessons of the past to create schools that cultivate the post-industrial skills our students need. She models the innovative thinking and processes required to create the schools our students and society deserve.

For educators to facilitate and sustain meaningful school change, they must first embody the change they envision for their students. Julie Wilson’s book provides a solid explanation of the change process and practical tools for individuals who seek to not only transform the world of education but transform themselves as well.

"A call to arms. This book not only provides a great platform for schools or districts to intimate conversations about change, but lays out an easy to follow scaffold on which an action plan can be developed."

"Very engaging. Offers practical advice to educators who want to be change leaders. I felt enthused and motivated after reading it. Julie Wilson conveys there are no quick fixes."

"A vital subject that is fresh and timely. It will be very helpful to many school leaders."

"This book is right on target with the needs of today to create an efficient, engaging, exciting, learning situation in schools. Julie Wilson left me ready to continue what we are doing in our school. The book is probably one of the most relevant ones I have seen in quite a while."

www.the-IFL.org.  Speaking engagements include TEDx, fuse, the Center for Transformational Leadership, and the Ideas in Education Festival. Julie graduated from Harvard’s Graduate School of Education with a Master’s degree in Technology, Innovation, and Education, and a Bachelors of Arts in Business Administration and French from Queens University in Belfast, Northern Ireland. During her time as a staff member at Harvard, Julie was the recipient of the ‘Harvard Hero’ award for outstanding contributions to the University.

jwilson@the-IFL.org