Creativity and Innovationin Education

Moving beyond best practice

Creativity and Innovation in Education

1. The need for innovation

2. Views of teachers and teaching

3. Teaching: The learning profession

4. The rise of creativity, developing innovation

5. Innovation in education

6. Developing Next Practice

The need for innovationSchooling in the early 21st Century

• International

• National

• Prescription

• Reform

• Review

• Improvement

Resulting in …

• Improved outcomes

• Plateauing of standards

• Deprofessionalising teachers

• Culture of Dependency

• Pragmatism

• Best Practice = Prescribed Practice

• Isomorphism

Educational Imaginary

Public assurance from obsolescence

Feudal system – agrarian

Industrial system – factory

Traditionalist measures

Developing Practice

• Effective Practice – for today

• Best Practice – prescribed practice

• Best Practice – indicative practice

• Next Practice

Views of teachers and teaching

Views of Teachersand Teaching

How do teachers see themselves and their work?

How do others view teachers and teaching?

Views of Teachersand Teaching

Teachers are implementers of policy reforms and initiatives determined beyond the classroom

Teachers are in need of tighter standards and greater accountability

Teachers have been demoralised (Canada)

Teachers have been deprofessionalised (England)

Views of Teachersand Teaching

Teachers can play a significant role in providing solutions to the problems facing education.

“Teachers are the masters of their own fate. The profession has to get it into its mind that it is its own job to solve the problems of the education system.”

Sir Michael Barber, The Risk Takers, Guardian Education (23/05/2006)

Views of Teachersand Teaching

“(T)eachers are not just here to do this job in the classroom – to do a job that is prescribed for them. They’re here to be professionals in which they participate in the business of trying to work out what is best for the school, what is best for the kids and how education should be practiced.”

Dr David Frost, Cambridge University (8/05/2006)

Teaching:The Learning Profession

Tri – Level Structure

Does this model constrain learning opportunities?

How can teachers be engaged in improving practice in authentic ways?

“New” Professionalism“New” Leadership

Informed Professional Judgement

Create a Culture of Learning

Connect Ideas, People and Practice

Transform from within

Interconnectedness

Me and my school

We and our schools

Leadership that crosses

site boundaries

Networking Learning

Key paradigmatic shifts(Fraser, 2006)

From … To(wards)…

Pragmatism Philosophical Enquiry

Informed Prescription Informed Professional Judgement

Culture of dependency Culture of professional authority

Best practice thinking Next practice thinking

Communities of Practice Communities of Learning

Collaboration Networked Learning

Institutional Leadership Educational Leadership

Reforming schools and systems

Evolving schools and systems - Transformation

Distributed Leadership Distributed Knowledge

The rise of creativity,developing innovation

Beyond the download

Creativity

• Solve problems

• Seek New perspective

• Necessary for innovation

Creativity

• Combinatory play – synthesise

• Self-assurance

• Risk

From Richard Florida, Rise of the Creative Class

What do we mean by innovation?

the successful exploitation of new ideas…at least two types of innovation

• Entirely new ideas

• Re-working of an old idea or the transferring and embedding of existing ideas in to a new setting

the nature of innovation ….?

Incremental Innovation

•Minor modifications to existing product

•Swims with the tide

•Starts with the present and works forward

School improvement ?

Radical Innovation

•Significant breakthrough representing major shift in design

•Swims against the tide

•Starts with the future and works backwards

Transformation ?

From presentation by Valerie Hannon, Innovations Unit

The Nature of Innovation

Incremental Innovation

Radical Innovation

LEVEL of INNOVATION

Near to existing

practices

Far from existing

practices

David Hargreaves (2003)

Innovation in EducationA disciplined undertaking

The imperative to innovate

Should the profession engage in innovation?

Does the profession want to engage in innovation?

Can the profession be trusted with innovation?

The answer lies with the profession

• Innovation and creativity doesn’t have to be a lessening of standards.

• Need to bring together a range of professional knowledges in partnerships where all are seen to be equal.

• Innovation requires a risk-analysis and discipline.

• Schools need to be at an acceptable level before the freedom to innovate.

• Test things out – not just pilot, and learn from trying things out on behalf of the profession.

• Management of scope of innovation

• Prioritising areas needing attention

• Network ideas

• Network people

• Quality assurance of ideas

Disciplined Innovation

• Careful planning

• Trying things out on behalf of the profession

• Close monitoring and evaluation

• Risk analysis

• Processes to capture knowledge

Disciplined Innovation

Principles of Teacher-led innovation

1. Strong moral purpose

2. Focused on students

3. Undertaken on behalf of the profession

4. Oriented towards learning

5. Clarity of purpose and goals

6. Builds on and develops professional knowledge

7. Integral to the professional life and work of teachers

8. Context-based developing teachers’ knowledge and skills (“New” professionals)

9. Takes a “What next?” approach10.Networked learning to build

professional knowledge (innovation, creativity, quality)

11.Closely monitored, evidence-based

Principles of Teacher-led innovation

Principles of Teacher-led innovation

Developing Next PracticeGenerating new realities for the future

From Innovations Unit

Next Practice Innovation Model

STIMULATING INCUBATING ACCELERATING

Analyse need

Scan the horizon

Seek innovators

Generate creative options

Support the leadership of change

Broker relationships and alliances

Create communities of practice

Utilise knowledge

management techniques

Synthesise evaluation &

research

Accelerate diffusion

with system agendas

Ideas for Next

Practice Field Trials

Models of Next

Practice in Action

System-level reflection & intervention

Local level action

System learning

Innovation Unit (UK)

Next PracticeStage 1Needs

analysis

Stage 2Horizon

Scanning

Stage 3Mobilisation

Stage 4Generating

creative options

Stage 5 Field Trial

/

• To what extent can teaching, as a profession, solve the problems facing the education system?

• What new ways of thinking required?

Focus on:

• Developing a learning orientation within teaching as a profession and across education systems;

• Building teacher capacity to problem identify, problem solve, analyse and research from within the context of their classrooms;

• Engaging teachers in school improvement through a focus on developing and innovating on good practice;

Focus on:

• Building professional knowledge;

• Developing next practice;

• Laterally transferring new professional knowledge to other sites and teachers so that it becomes new professional practice; and

• Identifying and developing the most creative, innovative and ingenious teachers.

...the virtual school became a reality?

...students created digital learning resources?

...students worked from home or elsewhere?

...students led their own learning?

...timetables were flexible?

Just Suppose...

How can you use your expertise to contribute to the outcomes desired for students and the teaching profession?