Before I began reading this book, there was one
word in the title that made me reflect on whether or not I really knew the
definition of it. That word is innovation.
I thought back on ways that I have seen the word used and one thing in
particular came to mind. It was when Medellín was named ‘Innovative City of the
Year’ in 2013. I distinctly remember Colombians, especially Paisas, having one of two thoughts about
this accolade: they were either overwhelmingly proud of this title or
overwhelmingly critical of it. The criticism came with a bunch of naysayers bringing
up points like how could the city be considered so innovative if there is still
such issues with poverty, if there is still a lack of access to quality
education, if the healthcare system has failed so many, etc. Just as it does
now, I had to really think about what the term innovation meant in the case of
this accolade. At the time, I looked up the definition and realized that when
applied to different contexts the meaning of the word has variances. What is
innovation in one situation may seem like nothing to really remark upon in
another. Another thing is that innovation is often times associated with
technology, but these two things are not synonymous. In the foreword to the
book, the author writes that innovative or innovation is a buzzword today found
across all fields, but especially in education. In reading this book, I hope to
discover what the word really means to the field of education and how
innovation and all its variances can be applied to my real life situation as an
educator. You will find the key ideas from the chapters of the book that help
to provide answers to the before mentioned personal objective in reading this
book or more simply put what I hope to get out of it.
Introduction
The introduction to this book
lays out the base work for what the main building block behind the premise of
being an innovator and inspiring your students to have an innovative mindset is
which is change. The education system as a whole cannot be afraid to embrace
change and neither can teachers. To illustrate this point further, the author
references a commercial from the UK telecommunications company O2. In this
commercial, it portrays a cat that is bored and unhappy with his life. The cat
then has a revelation and decides to embrace life and all the amazing things it
has to offer by taking on the mindset of a dog. The commercial’s tagline is ‘Be
more dog’ and the point of the author referencing it is to emphasize the power
of change and how it is much needed. The message is to accept change and see
all the new, positive possibilities that stem from in. The following video with link is the commercial and watching it will allow you to take in the message setting
yourself up to be more open to the contents of the book: https://youtu.be/LB8dD9c5AgA
Chapter 1: What Innovation Is and Isn’t
“Innovate or die.” (p. 34)
·
What is innovation?
The author defines innovation as a way of thinking that creates
something new and better. It can come from the invention of something totally
new or the change of something that already
exists.
o
Change
for the sake of change is not the definition of innovation and it does not
garner results.
o
Technology
doesn’t mean innovation. Innovation is not about tools like computers, and the
internet. It is how
these things are used.
o
Student-centered
classrooms and individualizing education for the students is the beginning of
innovative teacher and learning.
o
Two
things essential for innovation is to question what we as teachers do and why
we do it.
o
Innovation
does not always have to be something that is a physical creation. It can also be an idea.
·
What innovation isn’t.
Just thinking different or doing something different isn’t enough to
make something innovative or beneficial.
o
When
you replace something with something else that does not make for innovation and
it could actually make something worse than before.
Chapter 2: The Innovator’s Mindset
Fixed Mindset
|
Growth Mindset
|
Innovator’s Mindset
|
Belief that
abilities, intelligence, and talents are fixed traits.
|
Belief that
abilities, intelligence, and talents can be developed.
|
Belief that the
abilities, intelligence and talents are developed so that they lead to the
creation of new and better ideas.
|
* The
innovator’s mindset takes Carol Dweck’s growth mindset a step further because
it leads to the creation of something new and better with the knowledge that
has been acquired.
*Like the growth mindset, the innovator’s
mindset is something that both teachers and students must emulate.
Why every educator should have an innovator’s
mindset.
There are
two things that come into play here: one is struggling students and the second
is budget constraints of the school. You have to constantly think of new approaches
to work with the struggling student to figure out something that works for that
student so they finally “get” what you are trying to teach them. You need to
look at the realities of your situation to create something new. It is thinking
“inside the box” to contend with budgetary constraints.
What role does failure play in innovation?
While failure
is an important part of the process, it shouldn’t be the focus of the process.
It is important to allow for failure as part of innovation. However, even more
important to the process is developing the characteristics of resiliency and grit.
The idea is
that you should never accept failure as a final outcome when it comes to your
students. The characteristics of resiliency and grit helps to show that doing
whatever it takes to ensure that we are successful is what will be best for our
students and their learning. Try and fail until you come to a solution that
works.
Critical questions to ask yourself to help you
become an innovative educator:
· Would
I want to be a learner in my own classroom?
o
This
question helps you to establish a higher expectation for learning
opportunities.
·
What
is best for the student?
o
This
question reinforces the need to know how each student learns best since
everyone learns differently.
·
What
is this student’s passion?
o
This
question reminds us that we need to create better experiences for our students
by finding out about what they love and learning more about them.
·
What
are some ways we can create a true learning community?
o
This
question helps us to embrace the idea that everyone in the classroom is a
teacher and a learner. Remember, the one who usually does the most learning is
the one who is teaching.
·
How
did this work for our students?
o
This
question stresses the need to get regular feedback from the students to help us
reflect on how we are serving them currently.
No comments:
Post a Comment