cc licensed ( BY ) flickr photo shared by kewl
Sometimes I wish that I had more great ideas. I wonder when an awesome idea will pop into my head or I will be inspired and I can share it with our staff and get them really excited about some new learning that can happen in their classrooms. Lately though, it just doesn’t seem the wheel are turning and I am starting to wonder why. I know that I have helped to push some great learning initiatives within our school division, but it doesn’t seem that there have been any new ones coming from my office lately.
So I started to wonder, “why is this happening?”
I started to look at the way I attend conferences and the articles that I read. My interest in information that goes outside of what we are doing already seems to be waning and I just do not have the time to read everything that comes my way. I also do not go to sessions that I don’t believe will make an impact on my work right now and I haven’t done anything “new” in awhile.
In my title, “innovation” is an important part of the description and to me, it means “new” and “better”. So I guess I am starting to understand why I have felt a bit stagnant. I am not really focused on “new” at this point until I see the work that I am doing is making learning “better”. In a role of leadership, I often hear teachers say things such as, “we can just wait for this to pass”, and to be honest, I do not want to bring initiatives to our division that people can just “wait out”. I want to bring initiatives to the division that are long lasting and transform the way that our students and staff are teaching and learning, not just bring in something flashy. I am watching teachers in my school division do some amazingly innovative things and I am extremely supportive of this. We need to allow our “innovators” to be innovative and I am always supportive of that.
It is important to be visionary and forward thinking but it is also important to be supportive and patient. The best leaders will find the balance between the two.
Change is good when it is needed and as leaders we should always be aware of trends in our world and education, but we also have to recognize when it is time to stay the course.
