If you are a teacher, you will need to submit an educational innovation project from time to time. The aim of the project is to address issues within an educational institution relating to your subject or your students, by proposing innovative solutions. Sometimes, your project will start from scratch because it concerns a subject that has not been taught before.
The main beneficiaries of these changes should be the students, although it is a mistake to focus solely on them, or on the here and now. That is why we are going to look at how to address the challenges coming from the other side: those arising from the school or college where the changes will be implemented, from your own colleagues, or from yourself.
To believe that innovation always involves technology
Perhaps the most common mistake stems from a lack of clarity about what educational innovation projects actually are. In other words, innovation does not always mean introducing new technology, new software, and so on.
This can be resolved by looking at cases where innovation, with proven results, has not always gone hand in hand with investment in software or more powerful computer equipment.
Of course, you’ll need to focus mainly on recent examples and be careful not to fall into the opposite trap. It’s not a question of thinking that all innovation can be achieved without new technology.
To accept as valid what had been done just a few years earlier
To avoid this problem, you’ll have to face up to yourself and some of your colleagues. If we introduced this change five years ago and it’s gone well, “why change anything else next term?”
This reluctance usually comes from people who find change stressful and, of course, from those who hate stepping outside their comfort zone.
It is not a question of changing the curriculum every few years, but rather of embracing continuous improvement. Thus, when an opportunity for improvement is identified, the school systematically assesses it, without waiting for substantial changes to be needed before implementing it alongside other measures.
Remember that, in an educational innovation project, changes must be monitored in order to carry out the evaluation and final report. It is this process that confirms or refutes the hypothesis that ‘teaching this subject using this new approach has been beneficial for the pupils or for their academic performance’.
Thinking only of the pupils or only of the teachers
When developing a multimodal teaching innovation project that takes into account pupils, teachers and school resources, and then brings these elements together, some interesting results emerge.
The main benefits are felt by teaching staff, whose motivation is boosted. This translates into improved performance, which in turn helps to increase students’ interest in the subject. Students benefit from new teaching strategies, including new materials and activities that break the monotony, as well as from improved communication with their teachers (thanks to the latter’s increased motivation).
The other digital divide faced by some teachers
Nowadays, there are computer programmes that carry out computer simulations of possible chemical reactions, displaying structures and orbitals. These are working tools for researchers, although if the school has any of these programmes, it might be worthwhile showing them to the pupils using examples tailored to their level of study.
Depending on the age of the pupils, it may be important for teachers to be proficient in the latest tools—including how to introduce them to their pupils—or it may not. Where appropriate, schools should provide opportunities for these teachers to update their skills, rather than assuming that everyone will keep their technological knowledge fully up to date.
Sometimes, an educational innovation project comes up against a very rigid education system. At other times, it is the teachers or pupils themselves who resist the drive for change, at least initially. And there are also misconceptions, such as the idea that introducing changes always involves higher expenditure on technology.
When your project comes up against obstacles unrelated to financial resources, the way you present it can make all the difference. Briefly outline in your proposal what the main problems are and how you would solve them. Pay attention to the layout, so that your information is easier to grasp when skim-read.
Remember that we can print and lay out your educational innovation project. Drawing on our experience, we can also advise you on the most suitable binding method for your project.
