Guardrails for Innovation: Freeing Teachers to Do Great Work

Whether you’re leading a school or organization, do the teachers or staff trainers feel safe to take risks as they design experiences for learners? Leading learning in the Information Age is dynamic. Adaptation and innovation are paramount. When teachers are afraid to try new things, schools and get stuck and students get bored. When staff trainers or coaches feel their hands are tied, professional development programs become irrelevant and a waste of time. What if all educators had the courage—and the cover—to innovate things for the betterment of learners? What would that do to the culture of our organizations?

To empower educators to experiment and explore novel approaches that enhance learning, leadership teams can establish clear "guardrails for innovation." These guardrails serve as guiding principles, akin to the banks of a river that guide its flow, the edges of a sandbox where children play and experiment, or the canvas of a painter on which art takes shape. In what follows, I’ll share more about the what, why, how, and how to evolve guardrails for innovation.?

What are Guardrails for Innovation??

Guardrails for innovation are more than just abstract concepts. They are tangible guidelines that shape what’s expected as common practice vs where educators are intentionally invited to play, experiment, invent, and put their own spin on things. For example, a guardrail might be “Every Socratic discussion with learners starts with an inspiring story or fact that ‘hooks’ learners and inspires them to pay attention.” The guardrail is the inclusion of a captivating story, but what story is up to the educator. There is an infinite amount of stories from which an educator can choose.

Similarly, guardrails are not just ideas. They are guidelines that are actively integrated into various contexts. For example, there can be guardrails for all sorts of learning modalities ranging from discussions, project-based learning, lectures, direct instruction, morning meetings, brain breaks, webinars, workshops, and more. Guardrails are used to define the qualities of these different learning modalities.?

Lastly, Guardrails serve as creative constraints, or boundaries, that enable educators to operate from a place of co-creation rather than following a set of predetermined rules and regulations. Scott Barry Kaufman, Ph.D., author of Wired to Create, notes that creativity “involves variability — different ways of doing things” but also “involves constraints, which can either promote or preclude creativity.” Guardrails are a form of constraints. When designed rightly, they can empower and bring out the best in educators.?

To give an example of a guardrail, imagine a school with the following guardrails for project-based learning:

1. The project includes an interesting overarching narrative that gives learners authentic roles and work to do.
2. The project helps real people and involved feedback from experts.
3. The project requires that learners make a mixture of public and private work products as well as group & individual ones.
4. The learning process mirrors design thinking.
5. Math and science are integrated regularly.
6. Learner work is shared publicly at an exhibition.

As long as teachers design projects aligned to those guardrails, imagine all the other creative decisions they have to make. Examples are:

• Choice of Authentic Narrative: Educators can decide on a captivating and relevant narrative that engages learners’ interests and connects with the learning goals.
• Selection of Real-World Problems: Educators can choose real problems or issues that require learners to apply their knowledge and skills to make a positive impact on the community or environment.
• Expert Collaboration: Deciding which experts to involve and how to engage them in providing feedback or guidance to students during the project.
• Balancing Public and Private Work: Determining when certain project work should be kept private for reflection and when it should be shared publicly for feedback or presentation.
• Group Dynamics: Creating groups or teams with diverse skills and roles that encourage collaboration and effective problem-solving.
• Design Thinking Phases: Planning how the project will progress through various phases of design thinking, such as empathizing, defining, ideating, prototyping, and testing.
• Exhibition Format: Deciding on the format and platform for the public exhibition of learner work, whether it's through presentations, displays, or digital portfolios.
• Assessment Strategies: Designing innovative assessment methods that evaluate not only final outcomes but also the iterative learning process, including self-assessment and peer assessment.
• Resource Allocation: Determining how to allocate resources like materials, technology, and guest speakers to enhance the project's overall quality and impact.
• And more…?

The last thing a good educator wants is a script to follow. Guardrails ensure this never happens.

The Importance of Guardrails for Innovation

Much is at stake without clear guardrails. Guardrails reshape the educational landscape for learners and align and excite stakeholders. Here are eight reasons why leaders should embrace guardrails for innovation.

1. Mission: Guardrails infuse educational experiences with purpose and align them with the school's or organization’s mission. Without this sense of direction, institutions risk drifting aimlessly.

2. Learner Outcomes: Guardrails ensure that learning experiences directly impact the desired outcomes for learners. They help educators and trainers cultivate the skills and knowledge learners need in a rapidly changing world.

3. Stakeholder Clarity: Clear guardrails create shared understanding among all stakeholders, ensuring that everyone comprehends the educational journey's nature and purpose.

4. Values: Education should mirror the values of the community. Guardrails convey and reinforce these values, ensuring that the educational experience aligns with the institution's core beliefs.

5. Organizational Efficiency and Unity: Well-designed educational experiences minimize inefficiencies and empower staff to focus on what truly matters. Guardrails promote unity and prevent the dispersion of efforts in countless directions.

6. Equity: By consistently applying guardrails, schools and organizations can address variability within the system and increase the likelihood that all learners have an opportunity to succeed.

7. Staff Empowerment: Guardrails empower educators to take ownership of their teaching methods and experiment with new ideas. This autonomy fosters professional growth and enthusiasm.

8. Uniqueness: Guardrails create a unique identity for each institution. By adhering to specific guidelines, schools or organizations distinguish themselves from others and offer distinct learning experiences.

In these ways, guardrails serve as a strategic compass that guides institutions toward mission-driven, efficient, equitable, and uniquely impactful educational experiences for learners and stakeholders alike.

Evolving your Guardrails for Innovation

There are good reasons for treating guardrails like a draft that needs to be reevaluated, revised, and improved over time. For example, staff might have an excellent idea for a new signature learning experience. Or, they might have an idea for a new name for it. Or, staff might have a new idea for a new assessment or curriculum. Or, something might not be working well and the desired outcomes are being missed.?

For those or other cases, leadership teams can define a process for revising the guardrails collaboratively so that the organization is always learning and improving. For example, at The Forest School our process for revising the guardrails is as follows:

1. Guides (our term for teachers) or administration have an idea for learning, culture building, or school improvement.?
2. Guides or admin consider the existing guardrails for innovation.
3. If the idea fits within the guardrails, then they go ahead and enact the idea they have!
4. If the idea goes against the guardrails—or includes the design of a new or revised signature learning experience or organizational process—then they pitch the idea to the leadership team before implementation.
5. Decisions are made as a team and then communicated to all stakeholders.

This way no one feels stuck with the guardrails, and the organization can organize to execute and learn simultaneously.??

How Else Guardrails Can Be Utilized

Thus far, I’ve emphasized using guardrails for the design of learning experiences. However, the same principle can be applied to a school’s or organization's systems and processes. For a school, guardrails could be applied to any of the following core components of a school model…

• Curriculum, pedagogy, and assessment
• Schedules and routines
• Roles, development, and management model
• Community practices and school culture
• Bridges and partnerships
• Tech and tech infrastructure
• Continuous learning and improvement mechanisms
• Space and facilities
• Budget, operations, and logistics
• Communications
• Admissions / onboarding (Independent / charter)

For organizations that aren’t schools, leadership teams will know the nuanced core components of their business model to which guardrails can be applied.?

The Final Word

In the ever-changing work landscape we all face, it is imperative to provide staff with the freedom to innovate while maintaining a clear sense of purpose and direction. Guardrails for innovation, whether seen as the guiding banks of a river, the structured edges of a sandbox, or the canvas upon which educational experiences take shape, offer a structured framework within which educators can experiment and create purposeful learning experiences.

Further, our learners young or old deserve an education that is intentionally designed, aligns with their values, and empowers them to excel in a rapidly evolving world. By embracing guardrails for innovation, institutions can take meaningful steps toward achieving these goals and ensuring that every learner has the opportunity to thrive. In a world where innovation is the key to success, it's time to navigate the waters of education with clear, purpose-driven guardrails.

If this resonates, what are your organization's guardrails?

Dr. Thigpen is Academic Director of the Leading School Transformation program at the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education, and head of The Forest School and Institute for Self Directed Learning in Trilith south of Atlanta.