The Business of Education

The Business of Education

Education and Innovation

Imagine if your stock broker called and said he had a great investment idea to put all your money into one company.  Would you be a little nervous?  Or perhaps when your doctor told you he was going to treat you with old techniques and medicine from the 80's?  There are certain businesses we demand evolve.  Tech companies, car companies, doctors, and other such professions are expected to innovate, evolve and advance in some way.  But when it comes to education we falter.  Why is that?  I'm always amazed at when it comes time to send our children off to school, we often hope for the best or become complacent as to what actually occurs in the classrooms.  Even when shopping for a private school, there is a check list of data points to hit (facilities, technology, diversity, class size, AP opportunity,etc.), but what actually occurs in the classroom is somewhat of a mystery.  If companies do not to innovate, they fail in a very public way.  It is on the news, layoffs happen, stores close and people are effected to a certain extent.  You may have heard of a few who failed, or are failing, as a result of a lack of innovation (Sears, Kmart, Kodak, Blockbuster, Blackberry).  These are more often than not very public with a very negative result.  But in education those failures are not immediately visible and not often in the news.

It is of no surprise to anyone that there are great teachers and administrators doing amazing things in schools around the country and to be completely fair, often these schools are held hostage by a higher education system that demands schools produce a certain caliber of student within a specific system (think AP test scores, lecture, etc.) that they have little or no control over.  (See another related post about this here!)  High school teacher especially hold dear the autonomy to teach classes their way.  But there is a common ground and steps that your schools can take to ensure innovation can take hold and also give faculty the autonomy to do what they are trained to do.  After all, these are professionals who not only know their subject matter, but how to teach, manage and inspire kids!

" Once we realize that teachers, like our students, need individualized educational growth plans, the sooner we will see innovation and change in the classroom."

Every teacher is at a different level.  Be it in experience, education, or socio-economic status.  These are not things that we just set aside as concerns for our students.  Evaluations are great for administrators for promotions and as a firing mechanism.  But this one size fits all approach doesn't work.  Teachers need more than a few observations and a check list to help them improve their skills.  A "Growth Plan" is more conducive to helping teachers set achievable and observable long and short term goals.  Once we realize that teachers, like our students, need individualized educational growth plans, the sooner we will see innovation and change in the classroom.

Professional development opportunities should begin in-house and happen often.  This should be part of a regular yearly schedule, at least once a month, to expose teachers to new practices, ideas, and technology.  Accountability is always a factor.  Tie this into an educators growth plans and build in observable outcomes (not just observations) for other teachers, departments and administrators to see.  Not just to evaluate, but as a partnership between teachers and administrators.

I always hear that teachers have summers off.  Why aren't these opportunities in the summer?  If fact, many educators use this time to create and attend professional development opportunities.  Make it mandatory but meaningful.  Tie this into their growth plan and have them document what they learned and how they plan to deploy it in the next school year.  Growth plans are a 2 way street - they promote innovation in the classroom and accountability for administrators.

"This is about innovation, and that can occur in a conversation around a table as much as it can in a computer lab or 1 to 1 classroom."

What about technology in the classroom?  I'm not a fan of that phrase. Nor do I like titles like "Technology Coordinator" or "Technology Specialist".  Technology is almost certainly a great part of the innovation occurring in the classrooms, but its only a part.  Perhaps at best, it is the common denominator that ties disciplines together and connects information and people.  But this is about innovation, and that can occur in a conversation around a Harkness table as much as it can in a computer lab or 1 to 1 classroom.  Having said that, teachers need to embrace technology, not shun its use.  Teaching is about relationships that foster knowledge, not just tech tools.  Some would suggest that this shift would push "older" faculty out of the classroom.  I hope that does not happen.  Seasoned teachers are needed more than ever.  They are our mentors and master teachers who are the bridge from the old to the new.  They are amazing practitioners of knowledge and understand more than anyone the pitfalls that lay before us.  We are not making cars and iPhone's after all, but creating knowledge in kids!  It's a process that experienced teachers pass on to younger faculty.  Wisdom like that will not be found on the internet.  I for one cannot imagine teaching without them...in fact, I may be one!

                    "Teaching is about relationships that foster knowledge, not just tech tools."

Some advice:

Administrators:  Don't just evaluate teachers if they use technology, but dig deeper to find out what they are using, how it is advancing their curriculum (and knowledge), and how they are deploying it in their classrooms.  Highlight faculty achievements on social media or your schools website.  Your best advertising can come from within your school!

Parents:  Do your homework.  Ask questions about course management systems (you'll be getting  a lot of email from them after all!) and how they are used, examples of technology driven lessons and teachers, does the school have a "technology coordinator" (not computer teacher) on site and what do they do to train teachers?  Your question will help admissions and administrators shape their educational practices.

Teachers:  Try to continuously evolve and know its ok if you don't know everything.  This is a learning process for you as much as the students.  Make sure your not killing kids with content and not knowledge (see related story here!).  There is a big difference.  Content can be Googled after all... knowledge comes from putting the content together and drawing conclusions.

In the end, education and those stakeholders involved, must address the growing expectations of colleges, parents, students and of course the workforce they are running to.  Almost every small business owner or corporate executive I talk to wants their employees to be critical thinkers and problem solvers, they want creativity and outside-the-box thinking.  You can't get that with a lecture and a standardized test.  How teachers teach, how teachers assess, how teachers relate to each new generation of students and their needs must be met with the understanding that teachers must continuously evolve and learn.  They may be master of content, but not delivery.  After all, if that becomes the prevailing attitude then blockbuster won't be the only business that failed!