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CHAPTER 2

Implementing Innovative Practices

It is not enough to be busy. So are the ants. The question is: What are we busy about?

—Henry David Thoreau

When I began teaching in the early 1980s, I sifted through the curriculum on my own and taught what seemed important. There were no grade-level standards, no scope and sequence charts, no state tests that counted for anything, and no common planning time. Curriculum was bundled around frameworks that identified a discrete set of skills for each subject area. Teaching was generally an individual endeavor. For the most part, education remained outside the public eye.

To make things more interesting, I made up my own worksheets and crafted special projects to keep students engaged. Students wrote study guides, solved problems of the day, and gave oral reports. I taught subjects in fifty-minute increments sandwiched between morning recess, lunch, and afternoon break. My reading, mathematics, and gifted groups were organized by ability. Textbooks served as the core resource for instruction and classroom activities.

When technology began to make its way into schools, our principal asked teachers to add computer science to the curriculum. At the time, we had a lab of Apple IIe computers and one Commodore 64 per classroom. With the looming opportunity for students to interact with a multimedia universe, I was determined to ensure my students were ready.

The third-grade team pooled our best thinking to design a three-week computer science unit. After a few hours of planning, we felt we had strong lessons that would make our principal proud. Students would learn what a computer did (even though we didn’t really know ourselves), label all the hardware, and understand the differences among a central processing unit (CPU), monitor, keyboard, and floppy disk. An end-of-unit exam would help us assess what our students had learned. To tie everything together, we invited students to make a computer diorama as an at-home project.

At open house, the students prominently displayed the dioramas around our classroom. I have vivid memories of one dad asking if students ever got to use the computer. I proudly responded, “Why, yes. Every week students get thirty minutes in the computer lab. And for students who finish their work early, they’re able to use the classroom computer.” His next question stopped me in my tracks: “What’s the purpose of my son learning about the parts of the computer without really using the computer?” Of course, there was no good answer. Sadly, I had mistaken the technology surge as a learning outcome rather than a learning tool. Little thought had gone into what students should be able to do with the technology. In fact, the hype of having a shiny new object in my classroom led me to assume students would be motivated by this new object too. By neglecting my own professional development about how this tool might accelerate learning, valuable instructional time became a wasted opportunity. I wonder how many of my former students are roaming the halls of the Silicon Valley telling coworkers what they didn’t learn in third grade.

If the goal is to make learning more impactful, we must revolutionize the student experience in innovative ways—otherwise instruction will remain more about us and less about them. Fluid thinking pushes us to tackle common instructional challenges differently than we handled them in the past. With standards, content, technology, and testing forever changing, educators have to rely on next practices rather than best practices. Best practices are about what we do today. Next practices are a playbook for tomorrow. Standing in front of a whiteboard lecturing is not a next practice.

While the term innovation may have become a bit overused, it continues to encapsulate exciting possibilities within our profession. Work is more magical when we design the physical and mental space to experiment with novel ideas. Innovative educators explore new topics with colleagues, and share what they know. They recast instructional strategies to fit the changing times.

This chapter focuses on the first touchstone for future-ready learning: implementing innovative practices (see figure I.1, page 2). These next practices derive from a sense of selflessness, risk taking, time, flexibility, and trust. Within this chapter, readers will discover six characteristics of innovative educators and eight themes that underscore how teachers can innovate in their classrooms in an easy way. The chapter also offers tips and tactics to help practitioners make room for innovation within the confines of the school day and academic year. As mentioned earlier in the book, readers should not view these strategies as a prescriptive formula to get from point A to point B. Rather, the strategies can be mixed, matched, and applied as needed, depending on where their schools or classrooms currently fall on the innovation spectrum. The chapter concludes with Points to Ponder and Rapid-Fire Ideas to kickstart educators on their journey to implementing innovative practices.

PERSPECTIVES FROM THE FIELD

Teaching disruptively is about reaching students in new ways … then turning them loose on the world.

—Terry Heick (2018), founder and director, TeachThought

Six Characteristics of Innovative Educators

Innovation hasn’t always been a hot topic in schools. Nowhere in teacher preparation courses or professional development days do we hear much talk about innovative practices. In fact, we as teachers work hard to eliminate uncertainty through step-by-step lesson plans and prescriptive learning experiences. We go to great lengths to identify objectives, use direct instruction to teach these objectives, and define problems we want students to solve. Adding to the concern is how our principal or supervisor will judge our performance. Winging it—as some might think of innovation—is a scary proposition.

Although the conditions in schools aren’t ideal for innovation, there are plenty of educators working hard to mix things up. Before we can ask students to be curious, creative learners, we have to understand the context for this work. The biggest question is where to begin—with ourselves, with our students, or somewhere in between?

Whether we are in search of better approaches to use with struggling learners, trying to improve our school’s results, or looking for ways to ease the worries of an anxiety-ridden student, new processes are necessary to solve age-old problems. Although we all deal with the same testing requirements, budget constraints, and demographic challenges, there are six characteristics that innovative educators have in common (Couros, 2015; Miller, Latham, & Cahill, 2017).

1. Innovative educators are problem finders. Rather than wait for a good problem to surface, innovative educators actively search for problems. They’re just as fascinated with figuring things out as their students are. They ask “why” not to be difficult, but to start a ripple effect that leads to applied innovation.

2. Innovative educators issue grand challenges. Grand challenges are difficult—but important—local, regional, or global events that require unorthodox solutions. From climate change to homelessness, clean water, cyber security, school safety, or aging infrastructure, there is no shortage of grand challenges out there. The aim of a grand challenge is to connect learning outcomes to content and grade-level standards.

3. Innovative educators borrow freely. Breakthrough thinking often resides in people with experiences that differ from our own. It occurs when we leave our familiar box to explore less-conventional alternatives. Innovative educators look outside education for ideas. They borrow freely from imaginative industries to challenge the status quo.

4. Innovative educators embrace messiness. Chasing perfection is not part of an innovator’s mindset. Innovative educators welcome a sense of not-yetness—when things aren’t fully under control—by paying heed to the fact that learning and doing are messy.

5. Innovative educators use technology correctly. Innovative educators embrace a coherent approach to technology integration that generates relevant insights. Digitally rich learning comes from using the right technology, at the right time, in the right dosage.

6. Innovative educators are comfortable with mistakes. Innovative educators push the boundaries of teaching by taking risks. Along with risks come mistakes—mistakes with lessons, mistakes with technology, mistakes with timing, mistakes that students make. When teachers make mistakes, they get back up, dust themselves off, decide what went wrong, and have another go at it.

The formula to bring innovative practices into the classroom is actually not formulaic (Couros, 2015). Instead, it’s a combination of methodology, structure, work practices, and ad-libbing. Words like teaching lean, bottom up, and participatory underscore the experience. To avoid innovation limbo, any creative undertaking has to be student-centric and accessible to all.

Eight Themes of Practical DREAMING

By and large, teachers are better executors than innovators. From personal observations and decades working with, supervising, and teaching teachers, I have found that most succeed by sticking with what’s already in place rather than trying something new. With little time to analyze and reflect on professional practice, it’s easier to repeat what learning has been instead of focus on what learning could be. Moreover, the majority of teachers is conditioned to teach students from their own worldview and life experiences. Classroom practices tend to conform to a teacher’s personal beliefs, opinions, and biases.

Within that framework, innovation is an ambiguous term. It can feel like a race with no defined finish line. Hesitation exists among some educators who worry that a less conventional approach won’t work in their classrooms. One California teacher described her own skepticism this way:

Sometimes I think education is a circus. We’re just contained in this tent and we take it down in the summer and we put it back up every fall. In fifteen years of teaching, it never occurred to me to look outside of the tent …. Optimism is not lacking in schools, but it’s all reserved for our students …. If teachers viewed themselves as designers and believed they could affect [sic] change, and really believed in themselves, I think a much better system is possible. (IDEO, 2013)

Clearly, our mindset about the best way to design and deliver content is essential to any innovative process. In his 2011 State of the Union address, President Obama reminded the nation that thirty years before no one predicted something called “the Internet” would lead to an economic revolution. The President noted that while the future is ours to win, we cannot stand still to get there. To compete for the jobs and industries of the era, America has to “out-innovate, out-educate, and out-build the rest of the world” (Obama, 2011, p. 4). So what will give teachers the confidence and permission they need to “out-educate” the rest of the world? And how do we create more fluid learning environments in order for students to become the innovators and entrepreneurs the nation expects?

I would like to present eight themes that underscore high-imagination learning environments that set us on a path to “out-educate’ the rest of the world. Educators who adopt these strategies actualize innovation through practical DREAMING (see the following acronym). Practical dreamers resist the lure of appearances to convert aspirations into reality. They envision a better future for students and take practical steps to get there.

To encourage innovation in classrooms, practical dreamers:

1. Discover—Practical dreamers look through multiple lenses to provide a deeper sense of what learners want, need, and deserve. They pursue opportunities to refine instructional approaches beyond the world of education. Practical dreamers pay attention to random events that lead to interesting results. A key question for the Discover theme is, Do I have imaginative, yet actionable, insights that translate into winning propositions for students?

2. Reach—Practical dreamers quantify their compelling vision of classroom innovation with a set of clear goals and metrics. They view innovation as a critical process for student growth. A key question for the Reach theme is, Do I have a compelling vision, clear goals, and reachable targets that are substantial enough for me to act without being over the top?

3. Explore—Practical dreamers distinguish worthy ideas from flavor-of-the-month pursuits. They study shifts in pedagogy to separate inconsequential changes from changes that revolutionize learning. A key question for the Explore theme is, Do I pursue with high value opportunities and technology that promote experimentation?

4. Accelerate—Practical dreamers eliminate barriers between a great idea and the end user (students). They test their ideas to ensure they reap the intended outcomes. A key question for the Accelerate theme is, Do I launch new ideas through fast implementation and assessment without throwing the baby out with the bathwater?

5. Mobilize—Practical dreamers infuse engagement and collaboration throughout the school day—not just during “innovation” time. Their classroom structures allow ideas to flow freely. Their students see themselves as leaders of innovation too. Key questions for the Mobilize theme are, Do I foster a learning environment where ideas flow freely, no matter if they come from my students or me? Do students have the knowledge and resources to contribute?

6. Inventory—Practical dreamers select activities and assignments through discerning choices, even when something is too new to know if it’s worth the effort. They weed out low-yield activities in favor of high-yield experiences. A key question for the Inventory theme is, Do I conduct ongoing reviews of activities and assignments and determine the value of these activities and assignments for optimal effect?

7. Network—Practical dreamers use vertical and horizontal networks to connect to thought partners within their own schools, districts, and regions. They pursue experts outside the field of education as valuable contacts and inspiration. A key question for the Network theme is, Do I strategically engage with a variety of practitioners and partners to pursue novel perspectives and new learning?

8. Gauge—Practical dreamers test new concepts against the capacity and infrastructure necessary to sustain them. They ensure that both teachers and students have a chance to react to a concept before getting too far down the road. A key question for the Gauge theme is, Do I conceive and test concepts at the right time, at the right magnitude, with the right intentions?

Consider the type of innovator you are now. Are you visionary—someone who sees a shift coming before anyone else? Or are you more strategic—someone who carefully plans innovation around a specific purpose to gain an advantage? Perhaps you’re a fast follower. Fast followers may not come up with an idea, but they get on board quickly to out-deliver innovation over others. Or are you a disruptor? Disruptors don’t wait for new technology or new approaches to find them. Disruptive innovators, and others like them, are always looking for the next thing that will radically change their work. However you define yourself as an innovator, your actions should align with your goals. Practical DREAMING boosts job performance and brings out the inner innovator in you.

Having introduced the characteristics of innovative educators and the mindset necessary to dream big, this chapter now moves on to strategies educators can use to implement innovative practices in their schools and classrooms.

Strategies to Increase Innovation in the Student Environment

The following sections introduce several strategies readers can use to increase innovation in their schools and classrooms. The strategies include:

• A Lesson in Subtraction

• Habits of Mind That Make Schools Shine

• Hot Teams and the Design Thinking Framework

• The Stickiness Factor

A Lesson in Subtraction

All educators have an interest in improving student learning. Coming up with new ideas is invigorating. But trying to synthesize an avalanche of new ideas without first letting go of old ideas can cause a brain drain. As schools layer new initiatives on top of old traditions, it leaves little room for the best elements to shine. We hear colleagues talk about initiative fatigue, overload, and burnout. The tendency to launch more changes than any staff member can reasonably handle is akin to education malpractice. Emotional responses to mandated changes are thus rarely positive.

Conventional wisdom holds that schools are starving from a shortage of good ideas. In reality, many schools are suffering from a bad case of indigestion. Schools tend to implement new initiatives in a fragmented, haphazard manner. Sadly, most new initiatives have a disappointing track record. It takes time for teachers to develop familiarity and a certain level of comfort with untried strategies. With each new initiative, the time and energy to implement it diminish. Initiative fatigue sets in, leading to resistance and apathy.