Innovator's Mindset

Another takeaway I had from George Couros' Leading Innovative Change session (@gcouros) was the belief that the biggest game changer in education is teachers that thinks of themselves as innovators.  When looking at the definition of innovator, we see a person who introduces new methods, ideas, or practices.

At times, educators have a hard time grasping this, as their day is packed with teaching, grading, and meetings; however, if we look at any other professional practice, we know we need to stay on top of new methods, ideas, and practices. If we would go to a doctor who was treating his patients the same way he did fifty years ago, it would be medical malpractice; however, many of today's schools look the same as they did fifty years ago. Desks area aligned in rows with the teacher disseminating information with students regurgitating the answers. We need to move away from education malpractice.

Teachers are busy, I get that. So, how do we make those changes with the little time we have available? We need to take on an innovator's mindset. We can't continue doing the same things as we have always done and then try to add on something new. We don't have time to do it all, so we need to replace something old with something new.

At conferences and even district wide professional development, teachers are flooded with new practices and ideas. (Feeling the guilt, as I do this to our staff). As an educator, take one thing from a session/conference and implement it into your classroom. Start small and only tackle one new thing at a time. With this approach, having an innovator's mindset is doable.