Writings

Innovation, a pre-mortem (written for NapaLearns - Digital Innovator Program)

I will not blame you if you read the title of this post and found yourself rolling your eyes a little bit. Innovation has become one of the buzzwordiest buzzwords across all industries, education included. The echoes, or maybe flat out shouts, of “just be innovative” can be heard in the hallways and staff meetings of schools across the globe. Tell your kids to be innovative and they will solve all the world’s toughest problems. If only it were that simple.

It reminds me of the time Finn confidently tells Han “We’ll figure it out. We’ll use the Force!” in Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Han responds, with great annoyance and gruff, by saying “That’s not how the Force works!” The claim of “just be innovative” is not how innovation works, nor how it should it be conveyed in such simplistic terms to those in education.

So, before we bury innovation in-between “paradigm shift” and “rigor”, I must ask a few questions. 1). How might we as educators become more than just innovative pretenders? 2). How might we actually BE innovative in our own classroom practices so that we may create a better experience for our students and build a better profession for ourselves and our colleagues? 3). What does innovation actually look like (besides next to a roman numeral with the words 15 minutes, on our staff agenda)?

Over the past 3 months I have had the honor of being accepted into three innovator communities, sneaking a glance behind the curtain of what being innovative means to them and their organizations. The Stanford d.School d.K12LAB aspires to build creative confidence in the elementary and secondary education sectors through immersive real-world projects. The Apple Learning Academy trains teachers to bring intentionality of choice and design to the forefront of decision making when planning classroom experiences. Finally, the Google Innovator Academy empowers educators to take ownership of a larger challenge in education and commits to a year long partnership, through training, mentoring and community support, to assist in solving that problem. While all three may have different approaches and mission statements, they all have common themes that are overlooked in the larger messaging of innovation.

Being innovative means to acknowledge the fact that you have the power, knowledge and passion to create change. If you don’t love your problem/challenge, chances are you won’t be stick with it to the end. Look to how others can contribute to the work that you have chosen and build your knowledge base with them. The misconception of “being innovative” is that of a singular act. In reality, people are what fuel innovation. No one walks the path of meaningful innovation alone. Embrace the journey that your challenge will take you on. The innovator path is rarely a straight line. The image below, from thedesignsquiggle.com, is what innovation looks like:

You are going to need some tools to support your work along the way. I highly encourage you to check out the following resources from the Stanford d.School. You have access to an activity called the Rapid Design Challenge, including the facilitator and participant handbook available for download. You can access the resources at bit.ly/rapiddc.

As you think about your classroom, what is something that you want to change? What challenge can you take ownership of? Who can you connect with and gain a different perspective from? Finally, what will you do to see your challenge all the way through?

I would love for you to share your innovator journey with us. Tweet out your challenge and progress to @EduTechAndy, @jellison23 and @NapaLearns using the hashtag #napainnovator. We look forward to working with you and seeing what you create!