Michael Fullan

Michael Fullan is the Global Leadership Director, New Pedagogies for Deep Learning.

Deep Learning, as described by NPDL, is mobilized by four elements that combine to form the new pedagogies.

They are: Learning Partnerships, Learning Environments, Pedagogical Practices, and Leveraging Digital.

Born 1940, Michael Fullan is a Canadian educational researcher and former dean of the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE).

He is noted for his expertise on educational reform, and has consulted to school districts, teacher groups, research institutes, and governments.

Fullan was born in Toronto, Ontario.

He earned a doctorate in sociology in 1969 from the University of Toronto, and then worked as a graduate teacher, researcher, and leader of in-service programs.

Fullan was appointed dean of the University of Toronto's Faculty of Education (FEUT) in 1988, and remained dean following FEUT's amalgamation with the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education in 1996.

Fullan outlined the complex job faced by school principals in What’s Worth Fighting For in the Principalship? (1997), and outlined strategies to improved school effectiveness.

In 1998, Fullan and British educator Andy Hargreaves co-authored What's Worth Fighting for in Education? The central theme was that teacher quality and morale were fundamental to pupil learning and well-being.

Strategies for empowering teachers were put forth.

He stepped down in 2003, and serves now as Professor Emeritus.

The Moral Imperative of School Leadership (2003) examined the moral purpose of educational leadership and the role principals play in transforming schools.

Fullan served as Special Policy Adviser in Education to the Premier of Ontario from 2004-2013.

Fullan addressed the topic of school change in Motion Leadership (2010), and outlined ways to connect peers to purpose, gain trust, overcome resistance, and provide transparency.

Fullan holds honorary doctorates from Nipissing University in Canada, the Hong Kong Institute of Education, the University of Leicester in England, Duquesne University in Pennsylvania, and the University of Edinburgh in Scotland.

In 2012, he was named an Officer of the Order of Canada "for his achievements in the field of education reform, as a scholar, teacher, writer and adviser to governments in Canada and abroad."

In March 2013, Fullan met with California governor Jerry Brown to discuss the possibility of pursuing educational reforms in California similar to those in Ontario.