Like so many of the best books, Change Starts Here has both universal and personal application. The forty questions in the book take individuals or groups on a deep, useful, reflective journey through change: a topic that every living person should be interested in.
Jim Knight Founder and CEO of Instructional Coaching Group
Change Starts Here is a beautifully crafted roadmap, guiding readers through the often tangled forest of organisational change. Shane Leaning and Efraim Lerner act as expert trail guides, providing both a compass and a lantern to navigate the complexities of transformation in education.
The authors dont just hand you a map and wish you luck; instead, they walk alongside you, encouraging you to pause at critical junctures to reflect on the terrain. Their "double diamond" framework feels like a sturdy bridge over turbulent waters, connecting the islands of aspiration and reality. Each stage of the journeyConnect, Discover, Define and Align, etc., is mapped with powerful questions which feel like trail markers, ensuring you never lose your way.
This book is not a pre-packaged tour; its a call to adventure, inviting everyone in the community: teachers, leaders, parents and even students, to join the expedition. The stories sprinkled throughout serve as both cautionary tales and inspiring beacons, reminding us that while the forest may be dense, the view from the summit is worth every step.
Leaning and Lerners focus on dialogue and inclusivity transforms change from a lonely climb into a shared hike, where every voice adds strength to the collective effort. Their emphasis on psychological safety and shared values as the foundation for meaningful change ensures that the path is not only clear but sustainable for future travellers.
For anyone ready to embark on the challenging yet rewarding journey of educational transformation, Change Starts Here is more than a bookits the guide, the gear and the spirit you need to reach the summit together.
Dr Haili Hughes Director of Education at IRIS Connect and Principal Lecturer in Professional Development at the University of Sunderland
Many of us working in schools will recognise the change fatigue that comes from the constant cycle of new initiatives, which do not always yield the improvements we seek. We also know that the problems we face in schools are complex, and cannot be addressed by simple, one-size-fits-all solutions.
In Change Starts Here, Shane Leaning and Efraim Lerner make the compelling case that our tendency to look outward for answers is leading to a loss of organisational confidence. By outsourcing thinking, we miss opportunities to build deep contextual expertise and empower the professionals doing the work on the ground in our schools. Meaningful change, they argue, must come from within, deeply anchored in the school community, responsive to its unique challenges and respecting its strengths.
Drawing on their extensive international experience of school improvement and leadership development, the authors offer a practical, easily applicable framework to guide the deep thinking needed to build meaningful change. They do not shy away from its complexities but embrace it as a dynamic process and a collective endeavour. They show how, by starting with asking powerful questions, we can engage everyone in our school communities in open, honest reflection and deep purposeful collaboration, building and shaping solutions together. This is how we break the cycle of change without improvement and reclaim our profession.
Change Starts Here is a salve for a broken system. It is a call to stop waiting for someone else to take action, but to be the change we seek: a manifesto for people-powered change which empowers and humanises. It is a deeply important read for everyone who works in education.
Sam Gibbs Director of Education, Greater Manchester Education Trust, UK
