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Can teachers be innovators too?
- 1. Can Teachers be Innovators too? Gemma Clarke 19 June 2018
- 2. KEY QUESTIONS 1. What does it mean to be innovative in your teaching? 2. Does it really only relate to technology? 3. Are there risks associated with being innovative? 4. And are we rewarded for being innovative? Page 2Can Teachers Be Innovators too?
- 3. What does Innovation mean to you? Login to: https://kahoot.it/ Enter Game PIN: Page 3Can Teachers Be Innovators too? 19/06/2018
- 4. Origins of Innovation Greek origin (καινοτομία; kainotomia), First used in 5th Century BC Kainos New but it meant “cutting fresh into” Introducing change to the established order Mid 16th Centry- Derived from Latin word innovare, meaning “renewed, altered, make new” First time it was used to have a positive sense by Greek Physician Galen (129-199AD) Innovation in Arts and Science But, not under any circumstances = subversion Pocock (1970) “innovation may soon cease to be current, emptied of all meaning by constant overuse” Positive meaning + overuse of the word = last 60 years Rise of disruption from technology Page 4Can Teachers Be Innovators too? 19/06/2018 Innovation = subversionhttp://famousbiologists.org/galen/
- 5. Definitions from Industry Innovation is a word that is often used in the business world and for companies to mean something risky, costly and time consuming (Costello & Prohaska, 2013). To be innovative is to think in problem- solving ways, to exploit new resources or use the existing resources in a more efficient way (Huebner & Fitchel, 2015). When the pace of change outside your organization is faster than the pace within, you will be out of business (Shapiro 2018). Page 5Can Teachers Be Innovators too? 19/06/2018
- 6. Current Understanding of Innovation Innovation is the spark of insight that leads a scientist or inventor to investigate an issue or phenomenon. That insight is usually shaped by an observation of what appears to be true or the creative jolt of a new idea. Innovation is driven by a commitment to excellence and continuous improvement. Innovation is based on curiosity, the willingness to take risks, and experimenting to test assumptions. Innovation is based on questioning and challenging the status quo. It is also based on recognizing opportunity and taking advantage of it. (U.S Department of Education) The most influential innovations a teacher can make are to reflect on your own pedagogical practice and to make the process of learning visible to students. Hattie strives to highlight the importance of students’ expectations and students’ visibility into the learning process (John Hattie). Page 6Can Teachers Be Innovators too? 19/06/2018
- 7. Page 7Can Teachers Be Innovators too? 19/06/2018 https://learningandteaching-navitas.com/dazzling-data-the-top-5-teacher-innovations-that-enhance-student-success/
- 8. Page 8Can Teachers Be Innovators too? 19/06/2018
- 9. Innovative teachers should: 1. Offer choice 2. Allow for failure 3. Allow for other learning mentors 4. Use technology when it is fit for purpose 5. Be collaborative with your students 6. Link learning to real world issues 7. Use standards as guidelines not excuses 8. Be a learner too 9. Expect excellence but be flexible 10. Make learning fun Page 9Can Teachers Be Innovators too? 19/06/2018 https://marriagemissions.com/fish-bowl-conversations/
- 10. Does it really only relate to technology? Scientific calculator Word processed assignments Free software Learning Management Systems Turnitin Interactive whiteboards Laptops Mobile phones Social media Audio feedback Electronic feedback Apps File sharing Bloging Discussion forums Page 10Can Teachers Be Innovators too? 19/06/2018
- 11. Does it really only relate to technology? Group work/ Assessments Flipped classrooms Peer Instruction/ learning Visible Learning Student centered learning Think, Pair, Share Facilitated learning Reflection Self assessment Page 11Can Teachers Be Innovators too? 19/06/2018
- 12. Are there risks associated with being innovative? Page 12Can Teachers Be Innovators too? 19/06/2018 http://www.officeguycartoons.com/product/burning-platform/
- 13. Eric Mazur Page 13Can Teachers Be Innovators too? 19/06/2018 I thought I was a good teacher until I discovered that my students were memorizing information rather than learning to understand the material. http://ericmazur.com.
- 14. Are we rewarded for being innovative? Page 14Can Teachers Be Innovators too? 19/06/2018
- 15. My Innovation Strategy 1. Look for the gaps and do something about it 2. Do some research 3. Discuss my planned innovations with my colleagues 4. Explain the why to my students 5. Reflect 6. Collect feedback in as many forms as possible 7. Share the results 8. Measure the innovation 9. Reflect 10. Keep looking for the gaps Page 15Can Teachers Be Innovators too? 19/06/2018
- 16. What are some innovations that you would like to see happening in your classes? Page 16Can Teachers Be Innovators too? 19/06/2018 What are some of the challenges preventing you from being more innovative?
- 17. Reference List Banks, Sarah, "A Historical Analysis of Attitudes Toward the Use of Calculators in Junior High and High School Math Classrooms in the United States Since 1975" (2011). Master of Education Research Theses. 31. http://digitalcommons.cedarville.edu/education_theses/31 Costello, T. & Prohaska, B. (2013) Innovation, IT professional, 15:3, 62-64 Godin, B. (2012b), Innovation Studies: The Invention of a Specialty, Minerva, Forthcoming. Godin, B. & Lucier, P. (2012). Innovation and Conceptual Innovation in Ancient Greece. Project on the Intellectual History of Innovation, Working Paper No. 12. file:///C:/Users/Gemma.Clarke/Documents/Learning%20and%20Teaching/innovation%20presentation/Greeks%20and%20Innovation.pdf Hattie, J. (2009). Visible Learning. Routledge, Oxford Huebner, F. & Fichtel. (2015). Innovation and behavioural flexibility in wild red fronted lemurs. Animal Cognition, 18:3, 777-787 Juliani, A.J. (2018). 10 Commandments of Innovative Teaching. Retrieved from http://ajjuliani.com/10-commandments-innovative-teaching/ Lowe, G. (2016). Dazzling Data, Five Teacher Innovations to Enhance Student Success. Taken from: https://learningandteaching- navitas.com/dazzling-data-the-top-5-teacher-innovations-that-enhance-student-success/ Mazur, E. 2018. Eric Mazur. Taken from: http://ericmazur.com Pocock, J. G. A. (1985), Introduction: The State of the Art, in J. G. A. Pocock, Virtue, Commerce, and History, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press: 1-34 Shapiro, S. (2018). How to create a culture of innovation. Taken from: http://stephenshapiro.com/how-to-create-a-culture-of-innovation/ US Department of Education. (2018). Taken from: https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/oii/about/definition.html Page 17Can Teachers Be Innovators too? 19/06/2018
- 18. Gemma.Clarke@Navitas.com Page 18Presentation Heading - xx / xx / xx
Editor's Notes
- Welcome and thank you for taking the time out of your busy schedule to participate in this webinar. I would like to begin by acknowledge the input from all the members of the Education Development Tuesday meetings where this topic was first discussed using article X as an opening discussion point. Lots of the ideas that are explored in today’s webinar are the result of their feedback and comments. I will warn you up front though that we may go away from this webinar with more questions than answers at this stage- but hopefully the questions we raise will to help push up towards finding greater means to be innovative as teachers.
- These are the 4 key questions around which this webinar is structured. And, being a teacher that loves robust discussion and constructive criticism I hope that you feel motivated to get involved in the webinar today and raise questions and share your thoughts. There are a couple of points along the way where I hope you will feel willing to engage and then there will be 15 minutes at the end for continued discussion and questions. When I refer to innovation in teaching during this webinar by extension I also mean how innovative we are constructing learning for our students. I don’t see teaching and learning as indivisible from each other- teaching is about constructing learning or at least that is my philosophy to teaching and so it will be referred to interchangeably in this webinar
- So I would like to start things off with a quick survey, using Kahoot. Just log into the address above, either using your phone or computer. I thought we could start with these three questions as an introduction to the topic Which industry do you most associate with innovation? (maybe not a Kahoot! question) Do you think you understand what innovation means in the teaching space? Do you consider yourself an innovator in your practice of teaching? Do you believe that your institution actively supports innovation in your teaching practice? Thank you for participating- we will refer back to your feedback throughout the webinar
- I must admit up front that I am very wary of this word ‘innovate’. Personally I see it used so much that I wonder what it actually means anymore. Yesterday I was up in the PWC offices and they have a few chairs clustered around an open space and it was called “The Innovation Hub”- there is something ubiquitous about the word these days, hence my skepticism I wonder about what it’s true meaning is. I am a fiendish Googler, so when I don’t know something my first go to is grab my mobile and find out. So having an interest in linguistics and being a former teacher of history I did a bit of research into what the word was originally intended to mean. I found that the concept of innovation is of Greek origin (καινοτομία; kainotomia), from the fifth century BC. The word is derived from καινός (kainos; new). Initially, in the fifth century καινοτομία had nothing to do with our current meaning of innovation which is now much more closely associated with commercialized technical invention. Innovation then meant “cutting fresh into”. It was used in the context of abstract thinking (“making new”) as well as concrete thinking (“opening new mines”). Which is where Innovation acquired its current meaning as a metaphorical use of this word. In the hands of ancient philosophers and writers on political constitutions, innovation is “introducing change to the established order”. When the Greek physician Galen (129-199 AD) who is pictured here on the slide, in his most famous writing “On the Natural Faculties”, first applied the word “innovation” in nomenclature to describe the changed phlegma to blenna (mucus), and he was without doubt one of the few ancient writers using innovation in a positive sense. And, while novelty was certainly everywhere at this time the idea of novelty in pleasure (arts) and knowledge (science) was accepted, as long as it did not change the divine or natural order of things. However, innovation was not accepted under any circumstances. In fact it was it considered subversive. Fast forward several hundred years and even in the 1970’s there was concern that the term might soon have lost all meaning due to overuse. “the term [innovation] may soon cease to be current, emptied of all meaning by constant overuse” (Pocock, 1971: 3) (Pocock was a historian on political thought) Interestingly, the word innovation in the twentieth century has often been translated for other words, most notably revolution, which many would argue is not always associated in a positive sense. According to researchers, The positive meaning, together with the overuse of the concept, is a very recent phenomenon, dating mainly from the last sixty years (Godin, 2012a). Innovation has become, for many, the emblem of the modern society, and a panacea for resolving many problems.
- So having a little more insight into linguistic history of the word I wanted to look more broadly outside of just the education industry or sector to see what others thought of this term. I think it is interesting to note the words, risk, new, efficiency. Interesting that there is no explicit use of the word technology. When the pace of change outside your organization is faster than the pace within, you will be out of business.” And as we all know, today’s pace of change is crazier than ever. A culture of innovation, when done right, can give you a leg up in a highly evolving marketplace.
- In the world of education, innovation comes in many forms. There are innovations in the way education systems are organized and managed, There are innovations in instructional techniques or delivery systems, such as the use of new technologies in the classroom. There are innovations in the way teachers are recruited, and prepared, and compensated. By their very nature, innovations are new and untested. Therefore, it is unreasonable to expect that innovations be evidence-based. But we have to be careful that we are not doing harm in our eagerness to be innovative. I think that we need to ensure that there is some rigour and evidence based reasons as to the “innovations” we plan to impose on our students.
- 1st insight – any innovation will probably help 2nd insight – start with innovations that have big impacts, on average, most things improve student achievement
- IN Hattie’s Visible Learning, he also strongly pushes the idea that was in one of the earlier slides about the pedagogical reflection and how that in itself might just be the most innovative thing a teacher can do in their teaching practice. I would like to offer my insight into this suggestion, while on the surface it seems such a small and almost insignificant thing to do, almost passive in a way, thinking is not exactly doing. However, the power of insight that comes with action reflection on our teaching practice cannot be overstated enough. I would like to come back to this towards the end of the webinar when we talk about reward for innovation.
- I like to source ideas and examples of what works in classrooms from actual practicionars as opposed to pure theory. This is a list from A. Juliani- and I cannot recommend his blog enough. He is a government employed innovation specialist in Education. Even though the works in the pre-higher education sector I think the principles of what he is promoting are just as relevant for teachers in HE classrooms. He has a great quote, Our job as teachers and parents is not to prepare students for something; our job is to help students prepare themselves for anything
- Let’s consider some of the changes in our recent experience of teaching- these things were considered very challenging at the time. I am sure many were not welcomed as innovations at all. Maybe the fact that we now name change as innovation already indicates that we have a more positive approach to it- we seem to view change as good! The list starts with some really ground breaking innovations, which were very controversial at the time. The scientific calculator (Connecticut in 1986 was the first state in the USA to allow calculators to be used. Only in 1994 did the SAT allow calculators. Graphing calculators in 1997. Graphing calculators- a calculator with an electronic screen that allows students to graph, plot, compare, and analyse mathematical functions (Gunstein & Lipsey, 2001) Computer processed assignments- there was great debate around this, and many institutions and individual faculties pushed back against this for a long time. I started university in 1994 and was one of the only students submitting my assignments in word processed format, there were faculties particularly in the Arts that were very against this “innovation” and they certainly were not using the word in a positive sense. The objectors felt that it would make students lazy, it would make their hand writing bad, it was a form of cheating because of the spell check options etc. Free software- Google Sketch Up instead of CAD in Engineering for example I am sure there are probably a few on that list that some of us might still struggle to see as an innovation in the current positive sense of the word. Can you think of any others?
- I think there are lots of other examples of innovations in how we teach, here are just a few that spring to mind. The concept of Group work not only in class but in assessments. My partner was telling me about one of his Computer Science courses, a course on systems. It was 1986 at the University of X where the lecturer put them into groups to complete the assessment, they had to do reflective peer marking of the other groups final assessments and he said they had never experienced anything like it, and basically when it started first they had no idea about how to complete College work in a group. It was the first time he experience anything like that and the last. When I went to university certainly in my undergraduate at Wits in Johannesburg, in we did not have a single group assessment in my undergraduate degree. I think my lecturers would have seen that as akin to cheating. Peer instruction (Mazur) in the classroom as a valid learning methodology, in 1997, which is the foundation of the CELTA program. That was only pioneered in 1997 and I never heard of the concept until about 6-7 years ago. Which for me begs the question about when innovation does happen and it has such positive impacts how do we spread the word more quickly? And, do we have a responsibility if we are going to call ourselves innovators in teaching practice to also share our knowledge?
- We touched on this earlier in the presentation and Hattie also warns that when we do decide to be “innovative” that we consider the risks. And, I would like to also acknowledge Ann and Sue Valdek here as they both raised this aspect of the topic as few weeks back when we started this discussion in our weekly ED Dev meetings. What about the risks associated with being innovative? Also talk about danger of treating students like lab rats. Hattie also warns about this. I think that being innovative is about bringing in some change, it might only be small change but it is about doing things differently and I think that we need to ensure that we bring students along on the WHY of our innovation journeys too. So the image above is taken from Change Management processes, which in many ways some of our innovations in the classroom are akin to. To share a real example here, Risky in terms of student feedback- use Sue Valdeck example. Talk about the importance with having a dialogue with our students so that they understand the purpose of the change too- maybe we have to create a sense of a burning platform in our students to encourage them towards that change? I think that our students need to share in the purpose of the innovation, particularly as in so many cases it is “being done to them” and maybe with their input we could make our innovations even more effective? I also think that if we are going to be innovative that we take an Action Research approach to our innovations and that we share what we found, even if what we find is not what we expected. Maybe even more so in those cases. I think that there is a lot of innovation happening across Navitas in our classrooms, for many of us we are teaching in niche sectors like our UP colleagues and we need to become better at sharing our innovations outside our classrooms.
- Another great example in regards to innovation and taking risks, is that of Eric Mazur experience and provide link to his Confessions of a Converted Lecturer. Explain what he did here- first year physics, good teaching, but wasn't showing up in the deep learning of the student answers. He developed peer instruction but ended up getting bad reviews on student survey’s- he wasn’t teaching according to the students, he was almost accused of being a lazy lecturer. But he had the evidence in the students depth of answers to be able to back up that his innovation was working. So why did the students not share in his happiness with their increased learning? We need to bring students along on the learning innovation journey
- Well in the HE sector generally we are not as academics- we are rewarded for research, but I think Mazur is an excellent example of someone that has focused on research into the scholarship of learning and teaching. And, even in HE accreditation like TEQSA it is one of their criteria that institutions need to show they are actively engaging with. And since the OLT in Australia has been disbanded in 2016 it makes research in teaching even more tricky I would like to think that we want to be innovative for the betterment of our students and I think that for all passionate teachers out there that is a great reward. But, as in any profession is it rewarding to be rewarded by your peers and by your industry. So, from my own experience I can recommend here in Australia HERDSA and becoming a HERDSA fellow. Being a fellow requires you to write 7 teaching stories which are basically all about innovations in your teaching and as part of the process you are partnered with a mentor and get to engage in lots of professional dialogue and reflection. I think this is where I really learnt about the power of reflection for my teaching practice. There is also the HEA accreditation and increasingly if you work in HE in the UK it is being asked for and I already know of some universities in London that expect any teaching academic to have it if they expect to teach at this institutions. What can we do in our Colleges and across Navitas to better recognize innovation in teaching?
- Pass this over to the delegates- I would like to see us not teaching students how to create reference lists from scratch by hand, but rather teaching them how to use the technology to create the lists as this will save valuable time and allow them to devote the hours it can sometimes take to create these lists on better research and more editing and reflection time.