I believe that teachers should be innovators and consistently asking “how can I improve what I am doing” with students. I would say that this is or should be true of any professional, it is the idea of a growth or improvement mindset. The process of questioning the practices and methods that you use are the best that they can be and if they are not adopting or evolving those practices to be better or more efficient. However this constant process of change in order to be innovative can be tough for those that are not used to change. That is why I believe in the guiding principals for innovation which are: 1) do what is right for students, 2)do what is right for the curriculum and finally 3) do what feeds your passion and creativity. I am a firm believer in that if you are following these guiding principals you should never have to ask for forgiveness or permission to make changes in your teaching practices and you will be drawn into best practices in a natural way that will also build your confidence as a teacher.
1) Do What Is Right for Students
An aspect of teaching that all teachers need to keep in mind for a variety of reasons is that you are a professional and you have professional judgement. I think that if you truly are doing what you believe is right for the students in your classroom, even if it doesn’t always work you are still on the right path as a teacher. I believe that too often things like evaluations and parent concerns get in the way of teachers doing the right things for students. If you are doing what is right for students than you will build good relationships with student’s parents, you will get solid scores on your evaluations. Additionally these concerns or barriers will be less important as you are building your confidence because you are doing what is right for students. You will be able to try new things and find what works and what doesn’t, you will take those things that work and expand them from one class to all of your classes, you will share them with colleagues when they ask what you are doing. I believe that we need to the focus on doing what is right for students at the forefront while balancing it with the other two principals that will be discussed later in this article.
2) Do What is Right for Curriculum
We as teachers are subject matter experts in the classes that we teach, this is a fact that we need to keep in mind. While we may teach on teams or with other teachers if changes need to be made to the curriculum or a new lesson/activity can help to instruct the overall materials than make the change. We do not need to be in lockstep with every single teacher that is teaching the same subject, but students do need to get the same materials, it can be taught in different ways. This is can be very good for the overall program as different teachers can build a broad base of materials to use of subjects and topics with the best units, lessons, materials, activities raising to the top. As was stated before we must be risk-takers and as long as it is in the interests of the principals one and two, you can not be faulted. Building new activities/materials and talking about the reasoning for them with colleagues can also spark meaningful, interesting and productive conversations that can build relationships with your colleagues and support them to take innovative risks.
3) Do What Feeds your Passion and Creativity
Principal three for me is one of the most important as it speaks to teachers directly. We all went into teaching because we were passionate about an aspect of it, many forget what drove them into this profession and that excitement and passion we once had. However there are many other aspects of feeding us that can fall into this principal as well, a few that I am working on practicing are boundaries, creativity and keeping my fire light. In recent years education has seen many educators leaving the profession for various reasons, I think that taking care of ourselves and maintaining the love for our profession/jobs is at the core of principal three. When I talk about setting boundaries, I am doing this to help build a work-life balance so that I can be present with my friends and family when I am off-duty an example of this is turning off all work notifications after 5pm and not checking my email or work accounts until I am leaving in the morning for work. I can glance through to look for any important communications quickly and then deal with the bulk once I am work. Additionally, as a CTE teacher my students are often working on projects of their own design, I like to work on small project along side them. This shows them my creative side, but also builds opportunities for them to ask questions about what I am working on the same way I would ask about their projects. It helps to feed my creativity and to build relationships with students and open communication. These are all things that I have found helps to keep my fire light and my passion strong for what I am doing in the classroom. Principal three gives you the permission and tools that you need to take care of yourself as an educator in the ways that work best for you, but also allows you to creative and express the passion you have your craft.
Innovative teaching should not be an exception, it should become the norm that we as professionals strive to keep at the forefront of what we do. The three principals discussed above can be a guide to help teachers stay on track or get back on track. These can help you to be a positive risk-taker for the betterment of yourself, you students and school.