Abstract
<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title> <jats:p>The purpose of this book is to help educational leaders rethink their schools and systems in ways that, in turn, help us to rethink children. Based on the author’s ethnographic and comparative research in four elementary schools, which were situated across two educational systems (i.e., International Baccalaureate and Montessori) and two national contexts (i.e., the United States and Canada), the book argues that educational leaders can change culture. More specifically, leaders can use educational infrastructure—both direct and indirect supports to teaching and learning—to improve the way young people are seen and taught. This book offers leaders a framework that helps them appreciate the following: There are a variety of ways leaders can use their educational infrastructure to strategically support their desired culture change, and to systemically improve how their students are perceived and taught. However, the decisions educational leaders make around their infrastructure—how adaptable, aligned, or specified it is—have implications for the work and challenges of leaders, the beliefs and practice of teachers, and the experiences and beliefs of children. With the help of the cases and framework presented in this book, leaders will better understand the levers with which they can tinker when using educational infrastructure to elevate the student experience.</jats:p>