Sarah Fine is an Assistant Professor of Education Studies at the University of California, San Diego. Her teaching, research, and leadership are rooted in the goal of transforming PK-12 schools into humanizing and intellectually vital places to teach and learn. Dr. Fine began her career as an English teacher at a public high school in southeast Washington, D.C. After completing her doctoral work at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, Dr. Fine served as the founding director of the San Diego Teacher Residency, a project-based-learning and justice-focused educator preparation program. Her first book, coauthored with Jal Mehta, is In Search of Deeper Learning: The Quest to Transform the American High School. In 2021, the book won the Grawemeyer Award in Education. Santiago Rincon-Gallardo's purpose is to help young people and adults rediscover and ignite the power to learn. He is an education consultant and a key member of Michael Fullan's international team. Through his work, he supports leaders and educators to liberate learning in education systems in North America, Latin America, Europe, and Australia. Santiago worked for over a decade promoting grassroots pedagogical innovations in Mexican public schools located in historically marginalized communities. This work ignited a movement of pedagogical renewal across thousands of schools in Mexico and beyond that continues to spread at this day. He is the author of Liberating Learning: Educational Change as a Social Movement. Santiago holds a doctorate in Educational Policy, Leadership, and Instructional Practice from Harvard University. He completed post-doctoral studies and was a visiting scholar and professor at the University of Toronto. He resides in Toronto with his wife and two children. 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
Reimagine your school district as a thriving ecosystem where young people flourish Middle and high schools are in crisis. Many educators sense that the traditional factory-model approach to secondary education is failing to meet the developmental needs of adolescents, leading to widespread disengagement and exacerbating a growing mental health crisis. Yet, it often feels like we're all trapped in a game that nobody wants to play. This book offers a powerful counter-narrative, showing how districts can move beyond compliance and fragmentation toward a new paradigm for secondary education built for deep learning, belonging, and real-world purpose. Rooted in groundbreaking research and drawing on vivid, story-rich case studies from six diverse school districts in California, Whole Learners, Whole Systems provides a compelling and practical roadmap for transforming secondary schools. It introduces a powerful framework for change built on four key pillars: Shared Vision: Develop a compelling, co-created, and coherent vision for schools that embraces a "whole learner" view of success. Steady Work: Learn to focus on long-term improvement over quick-fix reforms, building the trust and coherence needed for deep, sustainable change. Symmetry: Model the collaborative, inquiry-rich culture you want to see in classrooms by embedding it in your leadership practice and professional learning. Systemness: Foster collective responsibility and interdependence across classrooms, schools, and the central office to break down silos and build a true learning ecosystem. Whole Learners, Whole Systems provides hopeful, solutions-oriented insights and actionable strategies education leaders need to redesign their systems. It's time to create whole systems where all adolescents can connect, contribute, and thrive as whole learners.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ABOUT THE AUTHORS INTRODUCTION PART I: THE CASE FOR WHOLE LEARNERS, WHOLE SYSTEMS CHAPTER 1: WHY WHOLE ADOLESCENT LEARNERS CHAPTER 2: WHY WHOLE SECONDARY EDUCATION SYSTEMS PART II: WHOLE LEARNERS, WHOLE SYSTEMS IN ACTION INTRODUCTION TO PART II CHAPTER 3: LINDSAY UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT: COMPETENCY-BASED SYSTEMS WITH LEARNERS AT THE CENTER CHAPTER 4: OAKLAND UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT: LEARNING LINKED TO PURPOSE AND COMMUNITY CHAPTER 5: FRESNO UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT: BUILDING A CAREER TECHNICAL EDUCATION ECOSYSTEM CHAPTER 6: SHASTA COUNTY OFFICE OF EDUCATION: A SYSTEM OF CARE, CONNECTION, AND CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT CHAPTER 7: MONTEREY PENINSULA UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT: AN ECOSYSTEM FOR ADOLESCENT LEARNING AND WELL-BEING CHAPTER 8: ANAHEIM UNION HIGH SCHOOL DISTRICT: WEAVING THE PIECES TOGETHER COHERENTLY PART III: THE FOUR "S"s OF WHOLE LEARNER, WHOLE SYSTEM CHANGE INTRODUCTION TO PART III CHAPTER 9: SHARED VISION CHAPTER 10: STEADY WORK CHAPTER 11: SYMMETRY CHAPTER 12: SYSTEMNESS CONCLUSION: THE ROAD AHEAD CHAPTER 13: CREATING THE CONDITIONS FOR "WHOLE LEARNER, WHOLE SYSTEM" TRANSFORMATION APPENDIX: A NOTE ON METHODOLOGY REFERENCES INDEX