Learner-Centered Leadership

How Can Education Respond to a Faster World?

The pace of change in our society is currently accelerating. Old concepts of authority and hierarchy have been challenged by the reality of a networked world, and bedrock ideas about what citizens need to know have been overturned by a constant drive to learn anew. For Devin Vodicka, the response to these challenges is both simple and

all-encompassing: it is the learner who is constant in the new world, and therefore educators must empower the learner to drive their journey.

In Learner-Centered Leadership, Vodicka offers a deeply researched and urgent blueprint for orienting education around the strengths, interests, and needs of individual learners. He makes a compelling argument for the wisdom in giving students the resources to draw their own learning paths and the power of reimagining schools as centers for the intellectual and social development of lifelong learners prepared for a rapidly changing world. Drawing from theories of the mind, change management, and organizational transformation as well as the author’s own experience leading a school district through change, this book serves as an important guide to creating a learner-centered approach to education.

An inspiring book by a visionary and courageous leader.

—Yong Zhao, author of World Class Learners

A fabulous resource and well worth the read!

—Pamela Moran, retired superintendent and coauthor of Timeless Learning

A research-based, experientially grounded framework for educational leaders.

—Thomas C. Murray, director of Innovation, Future Ready Schools, Washington, DC