This past Thursday we began implementation of Innovation Time.  Rather than our previous format Innovation Day, Innovation Time begins with a 2 hour all-school kick-off day and then allows teachers and students some autonomy as to when they will use the additional  4 hours (minimum) throughout the remainder of the month. The reason for the change was to spread the practice out and allow more time for students (and teachers) to reflect and refine, which is an important aspect of the innovation process.

The other change to our Innovation Time this month was that we decided to hone in on one specific characteristic of innovation to explore it more specifically and to unify us with a shared focus. Both of these changes were our way of fine-tuning our improvement efforts.

Let’s get to the reason for the title…. After the kick-off of the new format someone let me know that several teachers were unclear with the new expectations and they wanted to be sure they were doing the right thing and executing the process the right way. They shared that the staff is a very compliant staff and always want to carry out the directives of the principal to “do what they’re supposed to do.” Herein lies the problem and, I believe, the disconnect with what we are asking our kids to do and what we are comfortable with. – Hence, the title.

Part of the value of giving students more autonomy and encouraging them to be creative and innovative is to let them experience the struggle with learning efforts that are more complex, have more than one answer and may involve risk-taking, initial failures, challenges, frustration, etc.,  is that this is exactly what many heuristic tasks require and much of what they will be asked to do to be successful in the real world. So, why are teachers uncomfortable with “messy” learning endeavors? Are we not willing to explore, to experience learning as a process, to enjoy autonomy?

Full disclosure, I had a sincere moment of weakness following the above mentioned exchange. When the teacher shared this information with me I was taken aback. My knee-jerk reaction after listening to the comment was, maybe we should just scrap the whole thing. I am fully aware that teachers are working harder than ever before, they are, at times, overwhelmed and stressed, and frankly adding this “innovation thing” is one more “thing” on their already crowded plate. I get it.

But… it’s so important – I just can’t take it off the plate because it’s complicated. And that’s exactly what this effort is – complicated. We could take the easy route. Continue with Innovation Day – a popular day with students and parents, mostly because students get to engage in joy as they are learning, and exploring, and problem-solving, and frankly, we don’t provide them with enough opportunities to enjoy learning. If we went back to that model, we wouldn’t be doing anything wrong or harmful; in fact it was all good – I just knew it needed to be better to be really good. And isn’t that why we endeavor to iterate and innovate? Are teachers conditioned to be so compliant that they don’t crave or want autonomy?

Does our professional learning mindset need a makeover? Whenever I hear a teacher say, “Just tell me what you want us to do” it concerns me. Not because I don’t like being a leader and making decisions, but because the assumption with that request is that we are solving “right there” problems and there is one straight-forward known solution. It also assumes that I am the keeper of the knowledge. I know that teachers, and students, may have plans for innovation time that I haven’t thought of. That the key to doing this right is to explore it a bit. Try different methods and find what works in the moment – for you to experience the joy of learning. I am convinced it will come. I am also convinced it will not come without questioning, and without a doubt some of these questions will not have immediate answers.