Cultivating a Culture of Innovation: 5 L.E.A.P. Tips & Voices from the Field

In my book, Take the L.E.A.P.: Ignite a Culture of Innovation, I share L.E.A.P. Tips and Takeaways, along with questions for reflection and discussion at the conclusion of each chapter. The thoughtfully crafted questions encourage educators in all roles to reflect on the essential ingredients that inspire every individual to Take the L.E.A.P. and create the conditions to empower learning. Each chapter is designed to support educators where they’re at in their journey, allowing each of us to move at our own pace and take steps to grow beyond traditional and self-imposed boundaries. Ultimately, my goal is to support you in creating the innovative learning experiences today’s learners need to flourish.

This month, our L.E.A.P. tips focus on creating a culture where creativity and authentic learning experiences flourish in a school– leading to a culture of innovation. All too often I find that when educators hear the word, “innovation,” they think of technology. Although technology can enhance a culture of innovation, our goal is to identify the essential elements that develop the foundation for innovation and learning to thrive.

In The Innovator’s Mindset, George Couros discusses this at length, and shares that innovation is when we design things that are new and better. When I hear innovation, I think about how we can take something that we currently do and improve upon it. It may be that we make adjustments to fit the unique needs of the learners we’re working with. Or, it could be that we are stepping outside our comfort zone to empower students as creators rather than simply consumers of information. When we think about developing a culture that supports innovation, try not to focus just on the technology aspect.

The reality is, innovation is rooted in a strong culture and sprouts by fostering the mindset and developing future ready skills. However, some educators think that “innovation” isn’t for them.

From my experience educators share with me that they have too many students who are disengaged and that their goal right now is to just “get them to learn.” Let me tell you something significant that I’ve learned from being a practitioner in the field of education.

If you have students who are disengaged, engaging in power struggles, or are challenging to manage, creating a culture of innovation is exactly what you need to focus on.

A culture of innovation empowers every individual and begins with knowing your own story and how it contributes to your practice (chapter one of my book) and relationship building. It takes stagnant learning and turns it into engaging experiences that feel meaningful to both us and our students. Here are some steps you can take to create a culture where creativity and authentic experiences flourish in school– leading to a culture of innovation.

5 L.E.A.P. Tips to Cultivate a Culture of Innovation

1. Build authentic relationships with students. Relationships built on a solid foundation of trust allow students to take responsible risks, and want to learn.
2. Celebrate accomplishments, big and small. In cultures that focus on celebrating the accomplishments of individuals, people feel of value and develop intrinsic motivation to continue putting their best forward.
3. Engage students to be codesigners of routines and protocols of learning. Often, students aren’t accustomed to being involved in these conversations. Structure a conversation that seeks student input in an area you’d like to begin with. This could be as small as a new morning meeting activity or as big as asking, what are some ways we could teach others about the message you learned from reading____________.
4. Identify where you can release control and empower learners as leaders. As a teacher, I liked having routines run smoothly. I began to step back and look at what I was doing that students could be responsible for. Once we had a process for what it would look like, students embraced the responsibility and I had less to manage.
5. Explore where you currently provide student choice and take it one step further. For example, if students have a choice in the order in which they complete work, take the learning targets or goals for one activity and provide options on how they can creatively demonstrate their understanding.

Each of us have valuable insights to share about how we can create a culture where creativity and authentic experiences flourish in school to support others to Take the L.E.A.P, creating the #LEAPeffect in our classrooms and schools.

When innovating what we currently do, it’s incredibly beneficial to connect with fellow educators. That may mean the teacher across the hall, a team, or individuals from your professional learning network. I am so fortunate to have an amazing #PLN to learn alongside and from! From last months survey and chats we’ve been in together on Twitter, here are L.E.A.P. Tips from educators in various roles that are specific to developing your culture.

L.E.A.P. Tips: Voices From the Field

Make the experiences real life & relevant to student lives! Also create a safe environment where students feel they can be creative and work through the process without penalty.

-Kristen Gainer @KGainerteacher ‏

Take a step back and shift your mindset that what you are creating is a masterpiece. Imagine if we viewed our work as educators through the lens of a masterpiece like Bach or The Beatles.

-Sean Gaillard @smgaillard

A Culture of innovation starts with 1) Students voicing their questions- What do they wonder about? 2) Exploring and tinkering- Why does__ happen? 3) Empowerment and agency- Who can I help? How can I make ___ better?

-Chanmi Chun @mrschun

Let students know that it’s okay to explore their thoughts and ideas. Know that there is no real “wrong way to do it.”

-Dr. Dan Winkeler @WinkelerD

A positive attitude and the ability to keep trying. You could be one step away from creating something new but if you stop right before, you won’t ever find it.

-Levi Allison @levi_allison42

A supportive learning environment where trust and relationships are built, collaboration, encouragement, and not being afraid to take risks, fail, and try again.

-Rachelle Dene Poth @Rdene915

Each of us are at different places when it comes to taking the L.E.A.P., and I encourage you to connect and join the conversation on #LEAPeffect sharing any of your insights from or on this post.

In moving forward, my hope is that you’ll explore and share how you’ll take bold steps to nurture a culture of innovation in your school or classroom! Remember… it’s not always about doing something flashy, although that can be awesome too. It’s really about intentionally engaging every student and creating the conditions that empower learning. Post your next steps to #LEAPeffect on Twitter or Instagram!

Interested in contributing to our next L.E.A.P. Tip post? Simply share your voice here!