Dare to be Different from Crown House Publishing

“As schools prepare themselves for the next onslaught of government initiatives, as the press continue to blame teachers for all the ills of the world, Will Ryan hands to those willing to take the challenge the opportunity to take back ownership of what happens in the classroom.”
– James Kilner, Director, JEK Education Ltd, former Ofsted inspector

The current educational climate has become obsessed with data and the collection of evidence, but what does having this information actually achieve?

Will Ryan considers himself to be a very lucky man. He has now spent forty-three years going in and out of this country’s best primary schools and classrooms, and if there is one thing he has discovered it is that these wonderful places tend to make up their own rules. In fact, it was Michael Korda who said, ‘The fastest way to succeed is to look like you are playing to someone else’s rules whilst quietly playing by your own.’

The problem in education is that politicians and administrators have constantly been changing and making up rules, leaving behind a workforce that is committed to the children in its care but worn down by political meddling. Will seriously believes that a significant proportion of these actions have been taken by politicians driven rather by a quest for power than by a deep concern for the welfare of children. Indeed, sometimes children’s wellbeing has been totally neglected.

If this is the case, then it really is time for brave school leaders everywhere to start playing by their own rules. However, this can be easier said than done. Will has always been impressed by the influential leadership fables of Patrick Lencioni. He believes they have the capacity to bring about real transformational change. As a consequence, he has always harboured a desire to write a similar leadership fable within a primary school setting, and here it is ... meet Brian Smith: head teacher, hero in waiting.

Dare to be Different is the story of a primary school head teacher, Brian Smith, who listens very carefully to the things his political masters say and then sets out to achieve greatness by doing the exact opposite. While the characters in the story are all fictitious, the wonderful Tom Featherstone and the butterflies he creates (i.e. the little things that make a huge difference) are based around the work of Sir Tim Brighouse.

Those forty-three years of going in and out of wonderful classrooms while trying to make sense of constant government meddling left Will with a story which he has been dying to tell. As Zora Neale Hurston said, ‘There is no agony like bearing an untold story inside you.’ So here comes the story.

Product details

Will Ryan’s Dare to be Different: A leadership fable about transformational change in schools tells the fictional tale of Brian Smith – a primary school head teacher who listens to what his political masters have to say, but then sets out to inspire real transformational change by doing the exact opposite and leading through his own values and beliefs.

Writer and novelist Michael Korda claims that ‘the fastest way to succeed is to look like you are playing to someone else’s rules whilst quietly playing by your own’. Dare to be Different illustrates how real transformational change can occur when a school leader does just that, as Will Ryan shares the trials and tribulations of the story’s fearless protagonist, Brian Smith, as he endeavours to take back ownership of what happens in the classroom.

Exploring the significant challenges that school leaders often have to overcome in order to turn their dream into a reality, Dare to be Different lays before the reader a model of inspirational school leadership in this engaging and humorous take on life in modern schools. The story is told through the eyes and experiences of Brian as he resists top-down government directives on how his school should be run and instead strives to build a vibrant curriculum with which to hook the imaginations of today’s children. Scattered among the narrative’s twists and turns are deeper insights into the nature and purpose of schooling that are sure to rekindle school leaders’ passion for pupil-centred education over policy-led prescription, and which will motivate them to ‘dare to be different’ in standing up for the education they believe in.

Whilst it may be a fable with fictitious characters, Dare to be Different is based on real schools: schools in which the author has worked with leaders and teachers who, by applying their deeply held educational beliefs, accelerate learning and provide exciting learning opportunities for their pupils. Will Ryan has condensed and interwoven his forty-three years’ worth of accumulated experience of going in and out of the UK’s best classrooms into this book, in which you will find:

• At least one-hundred-and-eighteen tips that are based around exciting primary practice and which should make the hairs tingle on the neck of the most wizened school inspector.
• At least forty-five significant ideas that will strengthen leadership and have the capacity to transform your school as a learning community.
• At least fifty quotations that will make you think about how our most inspirational leaders create inspirational teachers who get an inspirational response from their learners.
• Compelling pieces of evidence to demonstrate that primary school teachers are doing a fabulous job, despite what any politician or tabloid reporter would tell you.

Suitable reading for all school leaders – at both primary and secondary levels – who are looking to promote excellence and raise aspirations within their schools and wider communities. See the full press release here.