Comments on: Innovation + Leadership = Change

By: Graham Wegner

Graham Wegner — Wed, 23 May 2012 11:01:16 +0000

Mike, you make some excellent points. Concepts like homework for younger students are as much a product of parent and societal expectations. Schools that pride themselves on tradition are also particularly bound by expectations of the community that chooses to send their kids there. The balancing act between what they want and what the students need in places like that would be a tricky one to get right and maintain. It has been said before that everyone has an opinion about how schools and classrooms should be run because everyone has been a student at some stage in their life.
But it is interesting that despite all of the real restraints and pressures on the teaching profession, innovation still seeks to get a foothold and there are plenty of educators who feel driven to push at the edges and try something new for the benefit of our students. That innovation won’t go away but in oppressive and trying times, it can certainly be driven underground away from institutionalised eyes.

By: Mick Raike

Mick Raike — Tue, 22 May 2012 21:27:19 +0000

“Education has been labelled, fairly or otherwise, as an institution that is slow to change and is in fact, a very difficult way for innovation to take place and flourish.”

However, does society also stifle the change needed in our school systems? We all know that teachers are the red headed step children of the professional world. We are viewed as the main reason that today’s youth run wild in the streets. Yet, when someone like yourself initiates a program that appeals to today’s young people by using technology to enhance the learning experience, we are painted as giving up and allowing computers to teach for us instead of doing the work ourselves. I believe that parents are just as guilty for stifling the process of change in the classroom. If they could see the amount of good things that technology can be used for instead of the “time suck” that they perceive, our children will be better equipped to tackle the world of tomorrow.

By: Kim Cofino

Kim Cofino — Fri, 11 May 2012 06:55:09 +0000

Thank you so much for including me in your presentation! I still remember the day I watched your presentation, left you a comment and you commented back! What an amazing moment – to think that we can all be connected and inspiring to each other. I’m flattered to be listed among others I highly respect, and here on your blog, my first real entry into educational networking.

Love the point you make about not having to be an “official” leader to have leadership, and the ability to make change happen. Although you do mention the only (in my mind) compelling argument to even consider formal leadership – the ability and authority to change a system. Your school is lucky to have you!