Foreword
Preface
Acknowledgments
About the Authors
Prologue: The Wonder Wall
1. The Start of Something Extraordinary
2. A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Future: The Connection
Between Change and Creativity
3. The Imperatives for Creativity: Getting There Is a Three-Way
Street
4. Lead the Way: Leadership Development
5. Condition #1: Storytelling and Listening
6. Condition #2: Moving Beyond Diversity to Inclusivity
7. Condition #3: Making It Personal
8. Condition #4: Celebrating
9. Assessing the Culture of Creativity: How to Get Buy-In and
Fellow Travelers for Your Journey to the Extraordinary
References
Index
Born in Liverpool, England, Peter is the co-author, with Jane Daly,
of The Wonder Wall: Leading Creative Schools and Organizations in
an Age of Complexity, 2017, Corwin, foreword by Sir Ken Robinson;
and Thinker, Learner, Dreamer, Doer: Innovative Pedagogies for
Cultivating Every Student’s Potential, April, 2022, Corwin,
foreword by Yong Zhao.
An insightful, entertaining, and knowledgeable speaker, presenter,
and consultant, Peter brings decades of academic research,
experience, and insightful knowledge, gleaned from his
award-winning career as a teacher and administrator at all levels
of the education system. Through his presentations, workshops,
books, YouTube channel, and website, he explores learning,
leadership, and innovation and their impact on individual and
organizational health and culture. Peter has worked across Canada
and throughout many parts of the world, showing students,
educators, administrators, schools, districts, companies, and
policy makers how to foster that vibrancy in their own
organizations.
Through the course of his work and research, Peter has captured the
voices of hundreds of students and adults alike, video clips that
provide unique and insightful glimpses into the lived world of our
classrooms, schools, and organizations. These clips also provide
critical insight as to how we might imagine our learning cultures
in a way that reawakens the brilliance that lies in all of us, with
a central focus on individual, group, and organizational
well-being.
An adjunct professor with the University of Ottawa, Peter has been
the recipient of many awards throughout his forty-year career. In
2013, he was awarded the Distinguished Leadership Award by the
Ontario Public Supervisory Officers’ Association for the work he
led in Learning, Leadership and Creativity with the Ottawa-Carleton
District School Board. In 2015, he was awarded the Global
Distinguished Leadership Award by the Alberta Teachers’
Association.
In 2020, he cofounded the Canadian Network for Imagination and
Creativity, @CNIC, which holds monthly IdeaJams on a wide range of
topics—and which evoke lots of lively interactive conversation.
Although Jane’s career took her into the marketing and
communications world, she was always fascinated by the field of
education and the seeds of potential in every individual—especially
when one of her own sons had difficulty reading and thus became “a
problem to be solved.” She has worked on numerous communications
projects for educational institutions and has taught at the college
level. She has often observed the challenges and opportunities
that both educational organizations and businesses share when it
comes to organizational learning.
Jane was happy to join Peter Gamwell as coauthor for The Wonder
Wall: Leading Creative Schools and Organizations in an Age of
Complexity and again with Thinker, Learner, Dreamer, Doer:
Innovative Pedagogies for Cultivating Every Student’s
Potential.
Jane freelances as a communications strategist and commercial
writer by day and enjoys fiction writing by night, as well as
spending time with her husband John, and their kids and grandkids,
at the small MacLaren’s Landing beach community outside of Ottawa,
Ontario, Canada.
"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*
"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*
"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*
"Peter Gamwell and Jane Daly have written an alternative
manifesto for boldness, innovation and risk in education. They
do so with respect and regard for the enormous expectations
communities already place on educators. This is an essential read
that holds a code as the global community commits to attain the
UN′s Sustainable Development Goal #4 "Quality Education for
All."
*Kathryn White , President and CEO | Présidente et directrice
générale*
"The Wonder Wall focuses on tapping into the creativity within
ourselves to instill fundamental changes in the way people lead
organizations and schools. Peter and Jane capture the pragmatic
ways in which creativity and innovation can be stimulated and
harnessed by bringing the best out of people in every sort of
organization. This book isn’t just another bag of tricks for
managing organizational change. It is a heartfelt, deeply grounded
manifesto for the more visionary and creative styles of servant
leadership."
*Sir Ken Robinson, Author/Consultant*
"All of my life I have been enthused by two things; creativity and
simplicity. I′m proud that I got in on the creativity thing before
it became uber trendy amongst adults. It′s always been at the heart
of our children′s agenda. As time has gone by, I have become
increasingly concerned that something as primal and elegantly human
as creativity has been stripped of its simplicity by so many, and
as a result, turned into something almost mystical and increasingly
complex. That′s why, from the day I first met Peter Gamwell, I knew
we′d get on. First, because he got it long before I did and second,
because he is one of the gifted few who can strip back the nonsense
and help us all to rediscover the joy of our natural creative
state. This book is Peter bottled; I love it!"
*Richard Gerver, Author of Change: Learn to Love it; Learn to Lead
it*
"At last, a book which stands courageous at the crossroads where
creative theory and practice meet; that Shangri-La where innovation
and imagination thrive. Packed with suggestions and practical
ideas, it draws a map for all those who believe there is always a
better way. It gives leaders the confidence and the strategies to
develop those conditions in which individual and group potential
can be released. A must-read for all threshold adventurers. I have
only one criticism – I wish I’d written it."
*Sir John Jones, Author of The Magic Weaving Business*
"In The Wonder Wall Peter Gamwell and Jane Daly speak with honesty,
integrity, and insight about ‘Leading Creative Organizations in
Times of Complexity’ and express it all with wit, clarity, and
humanity. A delight to read and a read that delights and informs -
both clever and entertaining! This book is a must for anyone
involved in leadership roles or with ambition to find a more
successful model for management."
*Derek Brown, CEO*
"Peter Gamwell understands creativity like few people on this
planet and now, thanks to this stirring, entertaining, and
illuminating book, we’ll all understand it much more. If you’re at
all concerned with making the extraordinary happen in your
organization, you need to read The Wonder Wall."
*Lou Aronica, New York Times Best-selling Author*
"The Wonder Wall has so many important and creative ideas, I
suggest everyone read it more than once."
*Ellen J. Langer, Author and Professor*
"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."
*Jill Gildea, Superintendent*
"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."
*Lynn Lisy-Macan, Visiting Assistant Professor*
"This book will inspire educators who may be stuck in their current
context and encourage them to think out of the box."
*Karen L Tichy, Assistant Professor of Educational Leadership*
"The authors present a compelling and refreshing narrative that
transcends much of the pedestrian nature of education
dialogue. The focus on learning is wonderful."
*Peter Dillon, Superintendent of Schools*
"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."
*Yong Zhao, Ph.D., Foundation Distinguished Professor*
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