Will Ryan has worked in schools in Rotherham, South Yorkshire for over thirty years as a teacher, head teacher and Local Authority Adviser. As a head teacher he led a school that prized itself on genuine pupil creativity and was described by Ofsted as 'outstanding'. He is a speaker and Associate of Independent Thinking Ltd.
All heads hope to lead an outstanding school; to do that we need to
think like Brian Smith and think wider than the national
curriculum, allowing teachers to collaborate and create excellence
in ensuring that the learning opportunities being offered are
exciting, engaging and enthral children to reach their full
potential. Read Dare to be Different and you will completely
rethink your approach!Trudi Toms, Head Teacher, Thorpe Hesley
Primary School
Although billed as aa leadership fablea, the content of this tale
resonated with me deeply, as I know it will for many other school
leaders too. The book is expertly written from the perspective of a
fictional headteacher, Brian Smith, a trailblazer who articulates
his trials and tribulations as a school leader, battling against
many challenges in search of excellence and ensuring that his
school community receives the most inspirational educational
experience. What Ryan has skilfully achieved is a protagonist we
can all identify with. Brian's daily thoughts, reflections and
challenges with the education system are themes that are prevalent
in all schools. He's an independent thinker, pulling away from
following the crowd and instead creating a school culture and
climate that is best for his community, which I found inspiring and
energising. Brian mulls over all of the pressures we face as school
leaders, from high accountability and budget constraints, to
education secretaries with questionable policies and leading
communities with vision and clarity. The book begins with our hero
reflecting on the curriculum at his school and why, rather than
driving it though knowledge, he wants imagination and creativity to
be of higher value. He considers the concept of aa
fourth-generation curriculuma needed for Generation Z a the new
generation of young people who are asmarter and more maturea than
the millenials. This fourth-generational curriculum would focus on
imaginative themes, deeper learning and global citizenship. It
would promote independence and ensure learning was always delivered
in a social context. It was affirming to hear Brian describe his
vision for this curriculum so clearly, and it resonated with me
deeply. School leaders across our partnership are currently working
on refining and redesigning our own curriculum offer for our
children and it turns out that what we have navigated our way
towards is everything that Brian articulates! Throughout the book
there are at least 45 significant ideas that will strengthen
leadership and which have the capacity to transform your school as
a learning community. One of the chapters that particularly sticks
with me is chapter five, entitled aWanted: invisible leaders a
apply herea. It focuses on the differences between managers and
leaders and their visibility and invisibility. The invisible leader
is one whose vision permeates the organisation whether they are
present or not, and who is more ambitious for the organisation than
they are for themselves. There are endless evidence-based links to
educational research and the work of others, including Sir Tim
Brighouse, Start with Why, Growth Mindset and The Happiness
Manifesto to name a few. Personally, I found these references
timely and relevant to the point Brian was making; it also prompted
me to recall research and readings I have wanted to return to, and
referred to new educational philosophy and research I wasn't
familiar with and would like to read more about. Without revealing
too much, Brian takes the reader on an inspirational journey via
his headship at Springett Lane Primary School. He reminds us that
without struggle there is no progress, and that to create an
inspirational learning community takes daring and different
leadership. Towards the end he encapsulates all that school leaders
truly want and aspire to for their communities: aChildren should
enjoy a curriculum that provides a rich variety of knowledge and
experience in school. It is essential to prepare pupils for life in
Britain today. Leaders have created a climate in which teachers are
motivated and trusted to take risk and innovate in ways that are
right for their pupils.a All headteachers strive to grow, develop
and lead inspirational learning communities, and Brian's journey
articulates this with a dash of humour. Dare to be different
deserves to be read, digested, shared and treasured by all brave
school leaders, and should take pride of place on the staffroom
bookshelf.Click here to read the review online.Nav Sanghara,
Schools Week
During the final inspection at my school the lead inspector said
something which I have never forgotten: he told me about athe
inspector's prayer'. aAs the team pull up on the car park on day
one of the inspection, ' he said, ayou will see that they appear to
be talking to themselves. They are not. They are uttering the
inspector's prayer, which goes, aPlease let me discover something
different in this school today, amena, but invariably there never
is anything different a everyone wants to play it safe.' Well, this
is not the case in Will Ryan's inspiring new book, Dare to be
Different. Will Ryan has broken the mould when it comes to
educational leadership textbooks! He skilfully weaves a believable
and engaging work of fiction with a golden thread of truly
inspirational educational philosophy which will appeal equally to
the newly qualified as well as battle weary school leaders. Will's
sharp wit and insightful take on current challenges facing schools
makes this a very easy read. By lampooning the pomposity, hypocrisy
and shenanigans of politicians both locally and nationally he
strikes a blow for freedom for those willing to adare to be
different' and take up the very practical ideas which fall from
every page. Through his apposite quotes, reference to current
research and exploration of the mythical agolden age' of education
he is able to convince the reader his ideas are a worthy road map
for successful school leadership. He lays before us a concept of
leadership he encapsulates in the abrave school leaders' who play
by their own rules.Will sticks to what he knows best and what is
proven to work well, good old-fashioned fun learning which engages
and excites the children to discover and causes parents to have to
listen to awhat we did at school today' open mouthed. Above all,
Will inspires teachers young, old or anywhere in-between to adare
to be different' and get back to enjoying the job they are proud to
hold as a vocation in life.James Kilner, Director, JEK Education
Ltd, former Ofsted inspector
If you want to create a school in which everybody thinks they can
achieve, and in which they have both a duty to achieve and to help
others achieve, then this could be the book for you. Set within a
compelling fable, Dare to be Different promotes strategies that
inspire transformational school leadership approaches, high quality
literacy and numeracy teaching, outdoor learning, a genuine
twenty-first century curriculum, and ways of teaching those lessons
that will last a lifetime. Dare to be Different is based on real
research in real schools with real children, and I am proud that
our school has been a part of this process.Amanda Wassell, Head
Teacher, St Bedeas Catholic Primary School
In Dare to be Different Will Ryan uses his many years' experience
and his wide range of school contacts to present his take on the
current state of primary school education.By utilising headlines
and reports from the national press and analysing their influence
upon a hypothetical school, he is able to highlight the changes
which have required implementation since 2010 and their impact upon
head teachers and staff. His views on these changes will resonate
with those who despair at education's increasing reliance on data,
the shrinking of the curriculum and the aone size fits all'
approach.Following his well-thought-out analysis, incorporating
evidence from educational and various other sources, he then offers
a wide range of ideas and strategies to meet areal life'
situations.Laced with humour and good practical advice, Dare to be
Different deserves to become required reading material in
staffrooms for years to come.Neil Short, Chair, National
Association of Small Schools
Sure to stimulate debate, reflection, laughter and hope, Dare to be
Different is a fascinating potpourri of a book that abounds in
insights, questions, challenges, ideas and stories. Combining
acerbic political commentary with professional wisdom and a
compelling storyline, Will Ryan builds a powerful model of the
possibilities of authentic education through a judicious blend of
theory and practice within the context of deeply held conviction
and a firm grasp on the real and possible.John West-Burnham,
Honorary Professor of Educational Leadership, University of
Worcester
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,
aThe 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, aThere is no agony like bearing an untold
story inside you.' So here comes the story. Click here to read the
review on Humanising Language Teaching website.Humanising Language
Teaching, Year 20; Issue 3; June 2018
We often talk about asugar coating' as something to be critical of,
but not in the case of this book. Always worth listening to, being
one of the best presenters and trainers that I have come across,
Will Ryan has done a remarkable job of combining a passionate
educational polemic (and a distillation of other thinking) with
practical advice on leadership, curriculum design and practice, and
wrapping it up into a story. Dare to be Different is quite an
achievement and is a treasure trove for anyone interested in
education.David Cameron, education consultant, The Real David
Cameron Ltd
Will continues to inspire us to be different: to play by the rules
but to make the rules fit to what we want. Ever the coach, he
recognises teachers' gifts and a in the most skilful way a draws
out the very best ideas from deep within them. These then become an
unstoppable force as ideas become topics, and topics become a way
of school life.For too long, possibly due to the fear imposed by
Ofsted and ruthless heads, teachers have stuck rigidly to schemes
and objectives which have been thought up in Whitehall. Will's take
on twenty-first century learning, however, is inspirational: aDare
to be different!' Simple in some ways but always with the child's
engagement at the centre, he can take the most boring topic and a
with a few tweaks a bring it to life. Will gives you the confidence
to not be bound by whether an objective is from the national
curriculum, but to ask instead: aWhat value will this idea add to a
child's life? Nothing from a textbook; just planning from the
heart, for the children.These are the three-generational lessons a
lessons which children will be talking about to their
grandchildren. These are lessons which impact children not just in
terms of their learning but also their feelings, their take on
life, their future. These lessons do not get a grade in the Ofsted
handbook, but if there was to be a grade it ought to be called
alife-changing'!Rob Barraclough, Head Teacher, St Josephas Catholic
Primary School
Will Ryan has worked in schools in Rotherham, South Yorkshire for
over 30 years as a teacher, head teacher and Local Authority
adviser. As a head teacher he led a school that prized itself on
genuine pupil creativity. While it is presented to the reader as a
fable with fictitious characters, Dare to be Different: A
Leadership Fable About Transformational Change In Schools is based
on real schools: schools in which Will Ryan has worked with leaders
and teachers who, by applying their deeply held educational
beliefs, accelerate learning and provide exciting learning
opportunities for their pupils. What Ryan has done is to condense
and interweave his forty-three years worth of accumulated
experience of going in and out of the UK''s best classrooms into
Dare to be Different in which the reader 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: A
minimum of fifty quotations that will make the reader 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 proclaim. Exceptionally well written, organized and
presented, Dare to be Different is unreservedly recommended for
both community and academic library Educational Studies collections
and supplemental reading lists. It should be known for the personal
reading lists of students, teachers, and non-specialist general
readers with an interest in the subject that Dare to be Different
is also available in a digital book format.James A. Cox,
Editor-in-Chief, Midwest Book Review
Will Ryan's fable is a clever and humorous work of fiction
interweaved with real world stories of outstanding classroom
practice in the current challenging educational landscape. His
sharp-witted creation of his fictional primary school Headteacher
Brian Smith is one that will surely engage and inspire any new,
aspiring or established school leader. Although it's an educational
leadership textbook that will serve to help transform schools in
this challenging educational climate, this is a work of fiction.
It's about being brave, challenging the status quo and about
inspiring teachers to adare to be differenta and supporting them in
these endeavours with a road map for successful school leadership
with practical solutions. You relate to the fearlessness of the
protagonist, you support his questions, you challenge your own
beliefs and want to embark upon your own journey of
transformational change. This is a must-read for any school leader.
I was underlining passages, writing notes and scribbling down the
hints and tips as I enjoyed Brian's inspirational tale.Click here
to read the review online.Deborah Maclaren, Love Reading
Working within schools, it is easy to be scared, follow the crowd,
and dance along to a tune which you know, deep down, does not
resonate with the values of teaching and learning you have inside.
Examination systems, accountability structures, and whimsical
policy changes all make individual teachers and school leaders look
like rabbits caught in headlights, being easily bemused by the
latest initiative they are expected to put into place, whilst
ensuring exam outcomes are higher than last year. No one can deny
that high standards and outcomes in schools are bad a we all want
the very best for our pupils a but the narrow pursuit of results
can lead to despair and conformity. Let me introduce you to Brian.
Brian is a (fictional) primary school head teacher in England, UK.
Well, maybe not fictional, as many working in schools will relate
to the story created by Will Ryan in his aDare to be Different'
book. Following the internal dialogues, reflections and incidents
that Brian is faced with on a daily basis, the story unfolds
telling how an individual can strive to take back ownership of what
happens in the classroom and build vibrant curriculum with which to
hook the imaginations of pupils. How? Will has cleverly inserted
over 100 tips based on exciting primary practice, along with nearly
fifty significant ideas to strengthen leadership, and accompanied a
similar number of inspiring quotations throughout the story that
encourages head-teachers to be brave and follow their own rules for
what is best for that school community. Without spoiling the plot,
or ruining the ending (this is not a spoiler alert!), the book
concludes in a reflective manner, reminding the reader that without
struggle, there is no progress. Offering staff the opportunity to
participate in hubs of excellence allows individual teachers to
keep updated with pedagogical advances, a strong sense of efficacy,
and the opportunity to value and celebrate their own learning.
Also, offering three-generational lessons within a
fourth-generation curriculum (earlier discussed in the book) allows
for a rich, experiential and inspiring learning opportunities. One
of Brian's final reflections in his notebook concludes: Children
should enjoy a curriculum that provides a rich variety of knowledge
and experience in school, no matter what their skills and
abilities, and regardless of their personal circumstancesa ait is
vitally important that schools offer a broad and balanced
curriculum that contributes to the social, moral, spiritual and
cultural development of pupils. Ask yourselfa.does your school
reflect this? We are usually confronted with books that can sit on
shelves and be picked up, dipped into and used for pithy activities
whenever suits. Very few books demand to be read from start to
finish, but Will Ryan's book tells a story and deserves to be given
time to follow the flow, absorb the advice, and learn from the
lessons underpinning the narrative. If you are the teacher, or
school-leader who doesn't want to follow the herd, satisfy the
policy-makers, but take action to do justice to your colleagues and
pupils, then this is a story that should encourage and inspire you.
PROS: An easily readable storybook entwined with inspiration and
lessons for leaders. Told from the perspective of a Primary School
Head-teacher in England. Calls for school leaders not to follow the
crowd, but do what's best for your pupils and community.Click here
to read the review on UKEdChat.UKEdChat
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