The Wonder Wall
Leading Creative Schools and Organizations in an Age of Complexity
Foreword by Sir Ken Robinson
Learn the four conditions most effective for fostering creativity
Sometimes our attempts to foster creativity can actually stifle it. Author Peter Gamwell, a former teacher and superintendent who has spent more than three decades studying creativity, shares a fresh perspective on how to nurture creativity, innovation, leadership, and engagement in a variety of settings.
You’ll learn how to:
- Tap the creative and leadership potential in everyone
- Think bigger by moving from a deficit model of thinking to a strength-based approach
- Develop the lost arts of listening and storytelling to optimize learning
- Handle the inevitable pushback and fear that transformational change can bring
Read Peter's blog post, What's Your Wonder Wall?
Watch The Wonder Wall video
Get The Wonder Wall poster
“I love this book. I am a huge fan of storytelling, and this book is one great story blended with cutting-edge academic work in the field of human mind and creativity. In The Wonder Wall Peter Gamwell and Jane Daly bring together decades of firsthand experience in creativity, leadership and learning into this volume that I indeed will, as the authors suggest, read twice. I would urge you to do the same if you want to be in the frontline of finding ways to improve your schools.”
—Pasi Sahlberg, Author
Finnish Lessons 2.0: What Can the World Learn from Educational Change in Finland, Helsinki, Finland
“Take everything you know about learning and turn it upside down. It is there that you will find Peter Gamwell, Jane Daly and their Wonder Wall of creativity wallowing in wisdom. Yes, we have three imperatives, and four conditions, and therein you will find a treasure trove of ideas for creativity. You don’t have to leave the school system to upend it. Just read Wonder Wall and you will be swept along into doing things that engage all students and teachers. You will even get ideas about how to evaluate creativity. The timing is perfect. Go beyond skills and knowledge, light the sparks that lead to learning. Be excited about the limitless possibilities of education."
—Michael Fullan, Professor Emeritus
OISE, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada
"Be brilliant at what you're best at. Build on your strengths. Belong to something. These are the three imperatives that this great book sets out for young people and those who teach them. It does so with wit, wisdom, up-close experience and a magnificent capacity to tell a good tale of why all people in schools really matter. This book is its own Wonder Wall. When you've closed your Ken Robinson book, open this next. You'll not be disappointed."
—Andy Hargreaves, Brennan Chair in Education
Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA
"Effective and memorable anecdotes will stay in the reader’s mind long after the conclusion of the book. The book acknowledges the drive toward innovative and transformative practices and provides a framework to foster creativity in complex organizations. A strong theory of action, the text highlights creativity, structure, change, and inclusive practices."
"This important book lays out a journey leading to improvement that is strengths-based, and focuses on talent and inclusivity, with the outcome of a creative, innovative, and engaged organization. For engaging students in school, this book is essential."
"This book will inspire educators who may be stuck in their current context and encourage them to think out of the box."
"The authors present a compelling and refreshing narrative that transcends much of the pedestrian nature of education dialogue. The focus on learning is wonderful."
"Inspiring and insightful, The Wonder Wall shows that educational organizations can change, for the better, with the "right" leadership: leadership that sees brilliance in everyone and encourages creativity in all."
