We're an innovative school. Really? How?

I'm annoyed! And, you should be too.

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My annoyance levels rise when I see the word "Innovation" plastered on school websites and walls.

Why? Isn't that what we want in schools? Isn't this what you have been advocating for, Peter?

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Yes, it's true, I have. But what I haven't been advocating for is superficial innovation—innovation that lives only in words and not in deeds. I'm not saying that all schools are making false promises. Some may actually have evidence to point to, showing students engaged in innovative thought and creative real-world projects.

Most, however, are mere flickers of innovation that occur once a year and end up on websites to promote the school.

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This occurs not because schools are lying to their parents and students, but because school leaders truly believe the school curriculum is innovative and that it does provide students with regular opportunities to deeply inquire, create, and come up with new solutions.

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Time and again, when I peel away the thin layer of promised innovation, this is what I find:

1. An Innovation Room: Why is innovation confined to only one room? If you need to name a room and keep it for innovative activities, it shows a lack of understanding of how innovation should be woven through a curriculum.
2. A one-off experience in a year: Why only once a year? Why shouldn't students have the opportunity to build their innovative muscles each day through problem-solving, collaboration, and having the space to explore their interests and the needs of the world?
3. Technology as an excuse for innovation: Technology has the power to unleash creativity and the ability to network globally and solve big challenges. But too often, I see schools incorporating technology for the sake of appearing modern, leading to superficial student engagement. The learning experience lacks depth and doesn't encourage critical thinking or meaningful interaction with real issues.?
4. Teacher-centered projects: Projects may look interesting on the surface but are driven, designed, and heavily guided by adults. Adult-centric schools, classrooms, and lessons give no space for student imagination, exploration, and curiosity. School design is very different when the child is placed at the center.
5. Projects that solve no real problems and bring no new information to the world: There is a lack of authenticity. Having a robot launch a ball into a basket isn't really an authentic outcome. (Having a robot pick up trash in a playground is).
6. No framework for teaching innovation: Teaching for innovation requires significant professional development. Schools fail to give teachers the tools to effectively guide them. It is not the Project-Based Learning (PBL) of the last two decades. This moves beyond that to real-life projects that require teachers to re-examine teaching, planning, and assessment methodologies.
7. Project-Based Learning (PBL) of the last two decades. This moves beyond that to real-life projects that require teachers to re-examine teaching, planning, and assessment methodologies.

I could go on.

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So, how do we recognize true innovation?

1.???? Student-centered: Students are at the center of the work. It is driven by them.

2.???? Authentic: (tasks that you "see" in the world) "Authentic" learning revolves around real-world engagement and meaningful application.

3.???? Relevant: (to the students) "Relevant" signifies the alignment of learning experiences with the immediate and future needs of students.

4.???? Transferable: (skills, knowledge, and attitudes across disciplines and into the real world) "Transferable" learning encapsulates the ability to apply acquired knowledge and skills across different situations, settings, and disciplines to the world outside the classroom.

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It's time to move away from the thin veneer of innovation speak and actually commit to giving students the opportunities to solve real problems and create powerful solutions while they are at school.

Let's develop future-ready learners!

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In the words of Marc Prensky,

"... let's spend our 'innovation energy' figuring out how to really educate for the future. It will take much experimentation and lots of courage."

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(There's another word that gets tossed around in most schools too that really bugs me: Leadership. More on that next time).

#EducationRevolution #InnovationInEducation #LeadershipJourney

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At The PDL Group, we free schools from an outdated model of education. We strategically advise schools, coach leaders, develop managers, and train teachers to redesign schools that meet the needs of students in the 21st century. We create Future Ready Schools.

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