Viviane Robinson - Reduce Change to Increase Improvement

There are many reasons Viviane Robinson is one of my favorite researchers in the field of educational leadership. Her depth of knowledge and understanding of school improvement make her a standout in the profession. Reduce Change to Increase Improvement is a book all leaders should read because it will help them understand what improvement looks like and how to avoid the pitfalls that too many leaders fall into.

Peter DeWitt, EdD, Corwin Author/Consultant

Finding Common Ground blog (Education Week)

Albany, NY

Viviane Robinsons brilliant new masterpiece is provocatively titled Reduce Change to Increase Improvement. It is a stunning achievement. Every sentence bristles with penetrating insights and practical recommendations in the hands of Robinsons sparkling prose. The sections on engaging respectfully with teachers theories of action should be required reading for every school principal or superintendent. Best of all, this expertly crafted book is a pleasure to read and re-read. It will be cited frequently around the world for years to come.

Dennis Shirley, Professor

Lynch School of Education, Boston College

Chestnut Hill, MA

Finally, a serious, evidence-proven book about educational change that takes a different tackbeginning with the impact on the learner. Reduce Change to Increase Improvement is a treasure trove of concrete information for educational leaders wanting to move away from the frequently used, ineffective Bypass Theory leading to no change in student outcomes to the rarely used, highly effective Engagement Theory that gets at the heart of leading school improvement. Robinson, always cautious about change for changes sake, brilliantly delineates each step of the way for leaders using authentically documented conversations and practical discussion starters that guide us through this collective inquiry approach toward student improvement. She highlights that only by integrating new thinking into current classroom practice will reform be successfulAND only if built on a firm foundation of leaders and teachers rigorously examining shared beliefs and exposing tacitly held disbeliefs about the capacity of all students to learn. All leaders need this concise, clearly stated text to guide their intentional improvement practices.

Dr. Lyn Sharratt, International Consultant and Author

OISE, University of Toronto

Toronto, ON

This is a must read for anyone who is serious about achieving meaningful improvement and understanding more about the potential of engaging with theories of action. With her forensic eye for detail, Viviane Robinson unpicks why current practice is sustained and shows how deep and respectful coaching dialogue can produce mutual commitment and powerful professional learning. Its a book with many applications.

Louise Stoll, Ph.D., Professor of Professional Learning

London Centre for Leadership in Learning/UCL Institute of Education

London, England

Never was a book more welcome than one that addresses why so much change leads to so little impact. Vivianes work gets right to the heart of the beliefs, values, and conditions that lie at the heart of our willingness to either embrace change or resist it. She lays bare the actions of leaders who are passionate advocates of reform, but all too often end up with disappointing results. She gives us an opportunity to eavesdrop on real conversations that model skillful enquiry into the values and beliefs that drive our behaviour and that are more likely to lead to change that pays off. The book both advocates and models enquiry, and the questions posed at the end of each chapter are insightful and powerful. In a world where change is constant and resources are tight, we should all be intolerant of any more failed attempts. I would like to see every Education Ministry, school adviser, and school leader not just reading this book but using it to shape their practice so change can be far less frequent, but have far more impact.

Maggie Farrar, Education Consultant

FarrarChapman Ltd

Formerly interim CEO and Director of Research and Policy at the National College for School Leadership, England

Viviane Robinson has once again managed to connect research and practice in a way that both makes the readers trust her conclusions and gives them concrete ideas of how to enhance school improvement work. Reduce Change to Increase Improvement is a powerful contribution to school leaders who have the ambition of making a difference for their schools.

Omar Mekki, Senior Advisor

The IMTEC Foundation

Oslo, Norway

My colleague Dr. Judy Halbert and I have worked with principals in graduate programs and in professional learning series in six countries over the last two decades. Each and every one of these leaders would benefit from reading this new book by Professor Robinson. She combines her research findings, a logic train that is important and highly usable, a powerful insight into how to redesign thinking about principal well-being and work load, and examples from practice that are invaluable. Her writing has voice and is highly engaging to read. The sooner this book has been published, the better. These theoretically powerful and practical insights are needed and overdue.

Dr. Linda Kaser, Co-Director of the Center for Innovative Educational Leadership

Transformational Educational Leadership Program, UBC

Vancouver, BC

The challenge in our current understanding of school improvement is not knowing what schools ought to do, but knowing how school leaders can get those things done. Leaders ability to engage and involve teachers in improvement processes is a missing resource in many schools. Reading this book will absolutely help school leaders redefine how they should act and behave in order to implement improvements to benefit not only their students learning but also teachers professional development. This book makes a significant contribution to the education management literature in a clear, concise and practical way. A must read for new and established school leaders.

Johan From, Professor in Political Science/Director of School Leadership Masters Program

BI Norwegian Business School

Oslo, Norway

This book is remarkable. It combines a deep understanding of how and why theories of action influence the success or failure of improvement efforts in schools, with a range of intensely practical strategies and examples that illustrate how leaders can work to enhance their approaches to change. Robinson draws on more than 10 years of research and development work with leaders, often based on detailed observation and analysis of coaching conversations and real situations in schools, to identify and make explicit the values, beliefs, actions and consequences that drive behavior and the ways in which leaders can engage with these to create shared understandings and agendas for improvement. The chapter on how this work informed the design of a new leadership development program to address well-being for school principals is particularly fascinating. I cant recommend the book highly enough to serving leaders and all those involved in supporting change and improvement in schools.

Toby Greany, Professor

London Centre for Leadership in Learning

London, England

In her new book, Professor Viviane Robinson provides school leaders with tools and even conversational scripts to move their schools through an improvement process. The knowledge school leaders will gain from this book will help them reframe resistance to change and guide them in helping implementers openly engage in evaluating the relative merits of existing and proposed school processes. This book is a wonderful resource for school leaders in navigating school improvement successfully.