Leadership - Diffusion of Innovation

Objectives:

• • Apply diffusion of innovation strategies for initiating innovation in classrooms and schools through simulations and organizational mapping

  • Assess personal leadership traits/strengths/beliefs that impact and influence school effectiveness.

The Simulation

The diffusion of innovation is a theory that explains how new innovations spread through a population.  There are different groups of the population that are easier or harder to persuade with different requirements to reach them.  A school-based simulation of the concept was developed to better teach users about the research they conducted in a hands-on, exploratory manner.   It specifically asks the player to get a teaching staff to adopt a new instructional technique, peer tutoring, in order to improve learning at the school.  The document below is my reflection on the process.  I ultimately "won" the simulation by applying the research and intuition I developed around relationship building and creating buy-in.

Your Artifact Reflection

I was surprised at how many new things I noticed during my first attempt with the simulation.  Initially, I focused on getting a strong core group of people to buy-in through conversation and observation.  This was helped a few, but it meant that I had the adopters and the nons -- two polarized groups that made it even harder to crack into the non-adopters.  On the second try, I was very conscious to create awareness for all teachers early, even if they didn't fully buy in right away.

The other strategies felt more intuitive -- get others to see the skill in action and build trust in you as a person.  Trust gets you the attention and respect to try something uncomfortable for them, knowing that you are challenging them with good intentions and there to help if needed.  Seeing the skill makes it easier for someone to figure out how and when they could use it.  I think the reason I love in-person visits to other schools and classrooms so much is that it allows me to directly see the details of what is happening and allows me to form relationships face-to-face with teachers.