Innovator's Mindset - Week 2 Reflection

Innovator’s Mindset - Week 2

A group of us aspiring innovators at Forest Hills have joined the second installment of the Innovator’s Mindset MOOC (Massive Open Online Course).  The author, George Couros is the instructor of the course!  It is my commitment to post reflections from the book, twitter chats and webinars each week. Here is this week’s installment:

Innovation - Creating Something New and Better:

Way back in the mid 1980’s, I was but a young, unengaged eighth grader slogging my way through the school day. One day, I walked into my social studies class and my world changed. In previous weeks, we would come into class on Monday and work on defining vocabulary from a list written on the board. On Tuesday, we would review the vocabulary and then take guided notes from a lecture that was written out on the overhead. On Wednesday, we would read a chapter in the book and on Thursday, we would write out long form answers to the questions at the end of the chapter. Friday would end the week with a quiz. If anybody asked me what my favorite class was, I certainly would not have responded with “social studies.”

But that Monday, something changed. That Monday my teacher, Mr. Malik, threw a curve ball at us. We were going to gather into groups, be given a randomly selected country from anywhere in the world and run it! Over the course of a month, we were going to have to learn about the government, imports and exports, military and political history, climate and political standing with the rest of the world. Mr. Malik then threw another curve ball at us and created an event that could throw all of the countries into war. Our groups had to come up with a response to this event and chart out or moves through press conferences, newspaper articles and forms of propaganda. We still learned all of those vocabulary words and concepts, but this time, we were inspired to apply them and, at least for me, the concepts finally made sense and rang true.

This activity was singularly the most amazing thing that ever happened to me in the classroom. It was NEW and BETTER! For the first time ever, we had to create our own understandings of the concepts. We had to be able to apply these concepts in new situations. Mr. Malik took a huge risk and it paid off with a higher level of excitement and engagement in his classroom. Instead of sitting in rows, acting as islands in a sea of material, we got to have a voice, not just with the content, but with each other. We were able to collaborate and create!

I have no idea what inspired Mr. Malik to take this kind of risk, but here we are, 30 years later, challenging teachers to be innovative. To find ways to no longer be the center of the classroom but to “think inside the box” and offer students new and better ways to be learners.

Summary - Key Concepts from Chapters 2 & 3:

Reading these two chapters gave me the encouragement to try something that is new to me personally.  Something I had yet to do but have talked about for the last several months with colleagues and coachees.  I even posted an article encouraging teachers to give student the opportunity to give it a shot on the FHSD Innovate Blog this past week.  Below is my first attempt at Sketchnoting.  It is a visual representation of the critical information shared in Chapters 2 and 3.

Chapter 2:

In the second chapter readers learn the operational definition of the innovator’s mindset.  If you are familiar with Carol Dweck’s teaching on growth mindset, the innovator’s mindset is a further extension of these principles.  In recognition that intelligence is dynamic rather than static, the innovator’s mindset focuses on the how in developing intelligence.  George Couros asserts that learning happens via creation.  Growth Mindset + Creation = The Innovator’s Mindset.  

There is diversity in every learner in our classrooms.  The genesis of the  innovator’s mindset in education starts within each driven and uncompromising educator who will not simply give up on his/her struggling learners.  Educators who are successful innovators must first come to realize two key tenants: 1) Production is King: How someone learned a demonstrated skill is erroneous in terms of output: production is the only litmus test worthy of consequence. 2) Innovation begins with “inside of the box “ thinking: achievable solutions to difficult challenges must have realistic action steps that work within the confines of the present conditions until those conditions change.

Readers also discover that failure itself should not be celebrated.  When innovators meet failure with resiliency and grit this can lead to new discoveries.  This is what we should celebrate in our learners.

The final thoughts of this chapter reflect upon current teaching practices at large and how these practices do not meet all learners.  Not even our best practices.  They most certainly do not develop innovators.  The author asks a very important question that all educators should ask themselves especially when complacency begins to set in: “Would I want to be a learner in my own classroom” (p 39)?

When we answer this question most of us will start to see how teacher centered our classrooms actually are.  Hopefully this will challenge us to think deeply about how to be innovative within our environments as we aspire to foster classrooms that are learner centered.  The author concludes, “This does not mean replacing everything we do, but we must be willing to look with fresh eyes at what we do and ask, ‘Is there a better way?’” (p 42).

Chapter 3:

The third chapter focuses on effective leadership.  This message is targeted toward classroom educators and administrators alike.  The author contends that “effective leadership in education is not about moving everyone from one standardized point to the next, but moving individuals from their point ‘A’ to the their point ‘B’”(p 47).  It is the challenge of administrators to understand the needs of each of their faculty members and to provide supports and accountability along their path to personalized success.  Classroom educators across the country frequently complain about unproductive professional development and pointless staff meetings.  

Although staff meetings and professional development are an area begging for innovation in education, it is interesting that the same ineffective elements that educators complain about regarding pd and staff meetings take place in most classrooms every day.  These ineffective elements exist primarily because educational leaders (i.e. administrators and classroom educators) do not understand a key element to the innovator’s mindset: Success for everyone is found in empathy.  I.e. corporate success is found by “meeting people where they are - to help them find or create solutions that work for them” (p 47).

Couros continues by identifying how solutions are found by delivering the 8 characteristics of the innovator’s mindset:  

1. Empathetic - See the situation from your learner’s point of view.
2. Problem Finders - Rather than providing the problems to your learners, cultivate learners who can find the problems for themselves.  Become the ‘guide on the side’ as opposed to the ‘sage on the stage’
3. Risk Takers - Be willing to question everything.  There are no sacred cows.  In modeling this to your learners they will learn to effectively and appropriately question as well.
4. Networked - Connection breeds innovation. Surrounding yourself with other innovative people provides the necessary fuel and confidence to attempt new and better things.
5. Observant - Curate in order to innovate.  See what others are doing.  This might spark an iteration or an entirely unique idea/invention of your own.
6. Creators - Knowledge is something a learner creates.  It is not a passive task, it requires action and requires physical evidence.
7. Resilient - Innovator’s will face adversity from other colleagues and their learners because real learning is hard work and change is threatening but do not stop as long as your innovation is answering the question; what is best for my learners?
8. Reflective - Look backward to move forward.  Learners should be given an opportunity every day to Drop Everything And Reflect.

Contributed by Kyle Mack @ProfKyleMack & Melanie Zolnier @libary_techer

What requires innovation in your classroom or school building?  Don’t just stop at being a problem finder, take a stab at resolving it with innovation.  Go the extra mile.  Get networked.  Connect with others in the field that have already made great strides in educational innovation.  Be observant.  Think critically and creatively to find a solution that fits your specific needs.  Share your thoughts in the comments field below.