With every new generation of students, educators face unique challenges. To appropriately address the changing needs of students over time consideration should be given to generational trends. Due consideration is precisely what Tony Wagner calls for in his book, Creating Innovators, the heart of which is an insightful look into what the new generation of students considers success. One of Wagner’s most striking points is that if an educator is unable to give a student from the Millennial generation a satisfying answer to why his/her work is important or influential said student will loose his/her motivation completely. While supporting this kind of ‘glimmer of insubordination’ can at first seem inconvenient for teachers and administrators, it is better to understand that this bias exists and face it proactively. Knowing that the coming generation is one of questioners, perhaps it is time for districts to inspect their policies and ensure that things are being done for a clear reason instead of using ‘tradition’ as an overarching explanation for all policy. That is not to say that school systems should ignore or undervalue the importance of tradition. Even the most brazen Millenial needs a rooting in community and tradition. Similarly, as Wagner (2014) says, ‘. . . some of them might not care to admit it, they also need us in order to succeed. They need out expertise, guidance, mentoring, and support, but we have to offer help in a new way’ (p. 22). The question then becomes, how do educators provide mentorship and support that is appropriate for students from a new generation while still navigating in the world of their own traditional views of education?
At a systemic level there are many ways a school district can promote the innovator characterized in Wagner’s book. The Seven Survival Skills he cites in particular highlight the importance of adaptability, a curious imagination, critical thinking, written and oral communication, collaboration and access to creativity and knowledge. However, promoting the growth of these skills in future students can be a daunting task particularly when most parents and teachers rely on their own definition of success instead of the new perspective of the students they mentor. Rather than rising up the corporate ladder, many of today’s students have other goals subsequently making them skeptical of any authority figure that peddles an old model of success. Wager (2014) believes that students today have their own ‘dreams and ambitions that demand time and space’and active nurturing’ (p. 19). Whereas in the past innovators seemed to appear almost out of thin air, it is clear that if school districts do not find ways to produce new innovators they will have exhausted all other options. With other countries actively watering the roots of their next creative generation, school systems in the United States must begin to find a way to foster innovation as an active process more than a passive consequence of luck, hard work and genetics.
Use your promo and get a custom paper on
"A Book Review of Creating Innovators".
One cannot force children to become interested in the subject areas educators wish them to. Instead districts should be promoting vast and varied exposure to many areas of creativity and learning so children can pick and choose between what intrinsically interests them. There are a myriad of ways to foster creativity within the walls of the school itself including: art music, gym, foreign language, drama clubs and after school programs. However, districts must also face the realities that many of the aforementioned programs have been cut across the country. The new task becomes finding ways to both pump funds back into these important areas of learning and/or provide greater access to some of these creative opportunities in an extracurricular setting. Ironically, for educators to produce better innovators, it requires innovation on the part of the educators themselves.
Giving children early access to new modes of play is one of the best ways to foster creative thinking that is engaging and fun for the student. Play, passion and purpose should be the goal of every activity. Learning activities embedded in play can be an excellent way to motivate students. Rather than relying on the traditional lecture model, districts might consider promoting creative teaching such as having students write a play in history class rather than reading from a textbook. Perhaps in literature class students could reinterpret Shakespeare and film their own modernized twist on a familiar story. Student artwork can hang in the hallways to give students a chance to practice a new craft as well as see the results of their hard work each and every day. Upper classman can mentor younger classman in the same way educators can mentor the upper classmen. Districts can promote a model of a community. Administrators can act as guides and helpers as opposed to authority figures.
The brightest point made in Wagner’s book is that the skills necessary to become an effective innovator can be taught. The next generation of students can learn if they are immersed in the right kind of creatively rich environment. Particularly in a world where technology has led to a tenfold increase in our access to knowledge, one of the essential seven points Wagner has delineated, there is no excuse for children not to be exposed to lots of diverse information. There is no excuse for districts to not to require the same creativity from themselves that they ask for from their students. Districts can promote creativity in a systemic way by checking in with teachers periodically to gauge how they are using creative teaching in their classrooms. Increasing the frequency of interactions between teachers, particularly those who specialize in different subjects, would also foster interprofessional relationships and idea sharing. Making school districts with a central focus on communication and creativity will have the consequence of a more effective and pleasant environment not only for students but also for the administration.
- Wagner, Tony (2014). Creating Innovators. Simon and Schuster.
