I've been writing and speaking a lot lately about "Innovation" and the amazing things that are happening at Tay Shores PS. As with most learning, our work is creating more questions than answers.
One of the frequent questions that I get asked about is centered on the term "innovation". What is innovation? Is innovation the creation of something brand new? Or, is it just the iteration of something already in place? Whether you read the work of George Couros, the author of "The Innovator's Mindset" or the work of Garfield Gini-Newman, the author of "Creating Thinking Classrooms", or if you follow the numerous "Twitter" conversations on this topic, you will find that the definition is hard to nail down and that innovation can really be what you want to make it.
Having said that, here at Tay Shores, we are trying to be very clear with each other about what "innovation" means to this school, both as teacher innovation and student innovation. In all that we do at this school, we remind each other that whatever we are 'innovating' must be in alignment with the foundations and pillars that our school is built on.
While we are literally renovating our school in Victoria Harbour, it is the perfect time to extend the renovation metaphor to our school motto of inquiry, innovation and impact. I came across this metaphor while reading "Creating Thinking Classrooms" and it really captures what we are talking about here at Tay Shores.
The construction workers who are renovating our school are creating some new, innovative spaces in the building. Most of our new rooms will truly be 'state-of-the-art' and they will lead to amazing learning opportunities for our students. What we need to keep in mind is that most of the work is being done on the original foundation - the basic floor plan that exists already. Some of the internal walls have been taken down and re-arranged into new spaces, but the load-bearing walls and the main sections will remain, because they hold the structure together. The extension or addition, has to be aligned with the original building. There are parts of the new building that are simple extensions of what already existed or are completely new rooms that 'fit' with the original design. These new rooms are seamlessly created so that one will hardly be able to tell where the new part began and the original had stopped.
I bring this up, because in a figurative way, that is what is happening at Tay Shores this year, with our PLC work around inquiry, innovation and impact. Our staff is trying to 'renovate' our teaching practices. Now, when we try to come up with an innovative practice, we have to keep in mind that it needs to align with our 'foundation'al beliefs. Some of these beliefs are that all students can succeed or students are inherently curious or learning requires active participation. We constantly need to remind ourselves that our innovations need to be built upon these foundations.
Secondly, we need to make sure that our innovations are 'built' using the 'pillars' or 'support beams' that hold our school together. Some of these principles are we build upon student voice and choice or our work needs to engage and/or empower students or we use authentic assessment tools to measure student achievement of curricular expectations or our assessment and instruction is differentiated for all students. If we aren't using these principles to 'frame' our work, then the whole structure collapses.
Finally, we need to make sure that all of our innovations are pushing student thinking, student achievement and student well-being to its highest point, so that we reach our school goals. When we look to the 'roof' or 'ceiling' of our innovations, we are asking ourselves if we've achieved our educational goals. These goals include students' ability with regards to the 6 Cs (collaboration, creation, communication, critical thinking, citizenship and character) or students' mindfulness or students' digital literacy. If what we are 'innovating' does not lead us towards these goals then we need to rethink our work.
As the principal at Tay Shores PS, I'm so excited to see the literal renovation taking place in Victoria Harbour. When I drive by the building, it's thrilling to think that we'll be working and learning there next September. I'm also thrilled to see the amazing figurative renovations that are taking place in our teaching practices this year. Just this week, two of our teachers will be presenting their 'innovative' practices at the first annual PUSH Conference.
What a great time to be in education!!!!
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