Why Innovate?

In order to get a plan for change off the ground, you must begin with why the plan is needed.  The following is a look into my why, what, and how statements that will guide my innovation plan for launching blended learning stations in my school.

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​Why Innovate? The Why, How, and What of My Plan

Why: Students deserve an active role in their education through engaging experiences, learner choice and voice, and flexible learning schedules. 

How: To achieve this we must create learner centered experiences through blended learning stations that engage and allow for student control of pacing, voice through discussions and original student products, and create meaningful connections to learning. 

What: Students make connections to learning and create a unique and meaningful understanding of their learning experiences.  

Reflection:  How Will These Statements Help Me Get to the Heart of the Matter?

Change begins with the heart.  In John Carter’s video “The Heart of Change”, he discusses how if you are wanting to make someone think and feel differently you must appeal to the heart first. He further states that many people have failed to make changes happen within their organizations because they appealed to the head first rather than the heart. So, the question I had to ask myself as I created my why, how, and what statements was how can I make this appeal to the heart first? The answer I came up with is that teachers have a heart for their students and want them to be successful and students want to be heard and want to learn on their own terms. 

In the video “Leading Change: Establish a Sense of Urgency” (Carter 2013) Carter says that you need to create a sense of urgency first to get your target group to buy in and make the change you are wanting to create. Ten months ago, teaching and learning changed drastically and overnight. Teachers and students were suddenly forced to stay home and figure out how to continue school. The urgency was there, and school districts immediately responded to the needs of their students. I witnessed many teachers put aside their fears and go to work on making a teaching environment for their students to learn from home. I also saw students respond with open minds to their new school situation. If I capitalize on that sense of urgency and appeal to the heart, I know that the changes I am wanting  for my students and colleagues can happen. 

As I stated earlier, teachers want what is best for students and my statements ‘why, what, and how” statements appeal to that. Students deserve to be active partners in education with their teachers. I think that this does appeal to the hearts of teachers, wanting what is best for students and to students who are tired of not having any say in their learning. The appeal for change is tied back to my “why” statement. I used the word “deserve’ to appeal to the heart and to give a sense that if that change does not happen, students are getting less than they deserve in education right now. I see the recent and drastic changes that teachers have made while teaching in a pandemic as an opportunity for the implementation of my innovation plan. That sense of urgency to meet the needs of students in new ways is already at the forefront of education right now and a successful appeal to the hearts of educators and students can help create the change I am wanting to make. 

 

References: 

Kotter, J. (Director). (2011, March 23). John Kotter - The Heart of Change [Video file]. Retrieved January 24, 2021, from https://youtu.be/1NKti9MyAAw 

Kotter, J. (Director). (2013, August 15). Leading Change: Establish a Sense of Urgency [Video file]. Retrieved January 24, 2021, from https://youtu.be/2Yfrj2Y9IlI