What makes you Innovative?

I recently read a blog titled, “No. Your 3D Printer does not make you innovative.” I’ve also recently attended an Educational Technology Conference where (surprisingly) there was a lot of Technology on show, but the prevailing message was that Pedagogy drives Technology, not the other way around. Technology is a tool that is used to enhance learning. These recent events got me thinking about what does make you an innovative Teacher? If it’s not the technology, what is it?

I’ve been lucky enough to work in a school where we have continually provided in our budget to refurbish rooms. We’ve painted walls, bought new furniture and hung different displays and resources. However, I’ll be the first to admit I don’t move the furniture that often. However when I have moved it, I realise how much more I should be doing this. This is the same with referring to resources and displays. What point are they if they are not there as references or inspiration for our students?

I have this ‘bug bear’ about people referring to a certain classroom as theirs. Is it really? Or is it your students? Are you in that room to teach or are the students in there to learn? As Teachers our focus should be on Learning NOT Teaching. Therefore our language needs to change to support that. If we are to support our students learning by letting them have input into their learning environment, then the language must reflect this. If we want them to take ownership and feel comfortable in that space then we need to change our language. It’s all about the learning!

If we want to be innovative in our teaching we need to be constantly working on our practice to try different things and hopefully learn like our students. Education keeps evolving and research into education keeps evolving. We need to constantly evolve with this to provide a meaningful education for our students. The minute we stop learning is the minute we give up and start failing in our role as educators. Failing is a buzzword in Education at the moment. Letting students fail and learn from that failure is vital in developing as a learner. We must be prepared to model this behaviour and allow ourselves to be vulnerable. But this does not mean not trying or evolving our practice. 

While I mention Teachers as learners, we need to learn, not just through trying new things, but learn through the plethora of opportunities there are for Teachers to learn from other teachers or areas of our community. Earlier this month I blogged about the value of Twitter for Teachers. Twitter has been brilliant for me to connect, share, discuss and learn. But there are so many more opportunities. The obvious are Professional Developments, conferences, professional conversations and PLC’s.  However, online you can connect through social media, blogs, chat rooms, webinars, online courses and connect globally with any of these. To be innovative, you have to be connecting with others and learning through connecting.

Further, to be innovative you need to be prepared to get ‘messy’! You need to step out of your comfort zone and away from the familiar. This doesn’t mean ‘completely throwing everything out and starting again’ but it does mean trying things that you might be uncertain about. Try different strategies, different learning environments or bringing in outside experts. As teachers it is easy to do the ‘familiar’, the ‘comfortable’, the same thing we have always done. But if you are really focussed on your students learning you have to be prepared to step out of your comfort zone and try something different. Don’t think about what could go wrong, think about what could go well!

Just like stepping out of your comfort zone, we also need to be prepared to let go of control. It’s only when we are prepared to do this that we allow students creativity, ownership and engagement to thrive. Let the kids take control. Whether that is the setup of the room at the start of the year, the direction they take the learning through their own interests or the Class Rules. I believe this is an important part of being an innovative Teacher and if you haven’t tried it, give it a go. You will be surprised!

The last thing I believe is important in being innovative is pushing the boundaries. There are lots of rules and policies and procedures that govern what we can and can’t do as teachers but rather than just accept them because it’s easy, challenge them. I’m not saying argue everything all the time, you don’t want to be that person on staff! However, if you believe that it will be beneficial to your students learning than definitely question it or ‘bend the rules’. The policy makers put these things in place to ensure the safety and well-being of our students but they also have to consider what our role and responsibility is and work with us. Sometime doing the right thing isn’t always doing the right thing!

Most of what I have talked about as being innovative really comes down to your mindset. I believe there are two types of teachers. Those that are here to teach students and those that are here to help students learn. I think innovation can be applied to both. You can apply it with fancy new shiny technology or you can apply it with a focus on what’s best for your students learning. I know how I innovate in my practice. How do you innovate in yours?