Change and innovation are an essential part of schools. After all the core business of schools is learning. This includes the need for school leaders to continuously learn about best practice from any source and to rapidly convert this learning into action. However, we all know the dangers of the school leader coming back from a visit or workshop full of bright initiatives which fall flat as soon as they try and introduce them into their own context.

Whilst it is in the nature of schools as learning organizations to continuously evolve to ensure that it prepares its students to flourish in a fast changing world it is the challenge of the school leader to manage this change so that progress is sustained and people do not suffer from initiative fatigue.

In the following pages we inquire into the following issues and provide you with tools to use with your colleagues:

• Is your school culture one which embraces or resists change?
• What is the nature of the changes schools are facing as they prepare students to flourish in the 21st century?
• How do key stakeholders in your school perceive change processes?
• What is the role of leadership in managing change?
• How can leaders manage change and sustainable development in a constantly changing environment?
• Templates for you to plan a change process.
• Template to help you respond to any resistance people may give when they experience change.

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