Abstract This paper describes the experience of change management observed as part of an evaluation of the Transforming School Workforce Pathfinder Project commissioned by the UK Government for the English education system. The 32 Pilot Schools made interventions in organisational practice in ways that required them to think differently about work. Changes in the number, type and deployment of the school workforce combined with thinking about the nature of work have challenged existing practices. In particular, a focus on change management teams drawn from the whole school workforce, supported by an external school workforce advisor, has required schools to examine the nature of decision-making and par- ticipation. We intend to draw on evidence from eight case study schools and through this examine the implications for how change is understood and practiced. We critically engage with the government’s preference for a particular model of change H. Gunter (&) School of Education, University of Manchester, Humanities Building Devas Street, Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9PL, UK e-mail: Helen.gunter@manchester.ac.uk S. Rayner Æ G. Butt Æ A. Lance Æ H. Thomas School of Education, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham, UK S. Rayner e-mail: s.g.rayner@bham.ac.uk G. Butt e-mail: g.w.butt@bham.ac.uk A. Lance e-mail: a.c.lance@bham.ac.uk H. Thomas e-mail: h.r.thomas@bham.ac.uk A. Fielding Department of Economics, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham, UK e-mail: a.fielding@bham.ac.uk 123 J Educ Change (2007) 8:25–39 DOI 10.1007/s10833-006-9017-3 Transforming the school workforce: perspectives on school reform in England Helen Gunter Æ Steve Rayner Æ Graham Butt Æ Antony Fielding Æ Ann Lance Æ Hywel Thomas Received: 2 June 2004 / Accepted: 13 December 2006 / Published online: 11 January 2007 Ó Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2007