Education is an ever-changing landscape, with teachers and leaders thoughtfully and intentionally responding to the learning and wellbeing needs of their students.
In doing this, leaders champion innovation: a new idea, method or device. But this may not mean the introduction of something original. Our profession is skilled in determining need through use of quantitative and qualitative data, student observation and/or questioning, and has access to a plethora of strategies to adjust teaching.
They had many examples, but the ones that had the most positive impact were those that served a purpose. They were in response to the specific needs of students in a particular cohort, school or community.
This might mean improving outcomes in writing, increasing a sense of purpose or connectedness, or increasing student agency and engagement.
The bespoke nature of the innovation in these examples contributed to the success of the strategy, but could be a challenge to replicate in other contexts. This wasn’t perceived as a problem. Scalability of an idea need not be the goal.
Recently, Education Services Australia (ESA) CEO Andrew Smith spoke of ESA’s attention to thinking about spreadability as opposed to scalability. This is in recognition that the learning process is a human one and achieving a meaningful exchange of initiatives was of greater benefit than focusing on the capacity of the broader system to handle new work efficiently.
While scalability focuses on managing growth and capacity, spreadability is about achieving wide reach and effectively sharing ideas.
Innovation is, though, a hallmark of our profession. We want the best for the children and young people in our care, we want them to experience the joy of accomplishment, acquire new skills and master new concepts. We want them to have their talents proudly displayed and to be responsible and compassionate citizens. As a result of this commitment, we are always searching for ways to achieve these honourable goals.
We embrace educational research for the insights it provides into effective teaching and learning methods, curriculum development and assessment strategies, and we use Appreciative Inquiry to understand what contributed to the success.
Schools have benefited from rapid advancements in technology that have provided new tools and resources for teaching and learning, for personalising plans and for engaging students. We look within sites and beyond for solutions to tricky problems and through the APPA networks, we connect to colleagues across the nation. And we know that while a problem might be new to one leader, a colleague somewhere has already undertaken work to respond to it.
Does an innovative idea always have a happy ending?
In some instances, an innovative idea can turn out to have unexpected consequences. This is often referred to as the ‘Law of Unintended Consequences’. This concept encompasses situations where actions, especially those of a large scale or involving complex systems, lead to outcomes that were not anticipated. These unintended consequences can be broadly categorised into three types:
Unexpected benefits: Positive results that were not foreseen.
Unexpected drawbacks: Negative effects that were not anticipated.
Perverse results: Outcomes that are contrary to what was originally intended, often exacerbating the original problem.
The Law of Unintended Consequences underscores the complexity and unpredictability of systems, whether they be educational, social, economic, environmental or technological.
In supermarkets and particular fast-food restaurants, we can look at the self-serve checkouts and wonder at the impact that the loss of human interaction has on those already feeling isolated and experiencing loneliness. In some schooling systems, the paperwork to assess and document the schools’ approach to minimising risk has increased teacher workload to the extent that extracurricular activities and excursions for students are reduced.
In medicine, perverse results are called iatrogenic outcomes; adverse effects or complications that result from medical treatment or intervention. A notable example is antibiotic resistance arising from the overprescription and misuse of antibiotics. This makes infections harder to treat, leading to longer hospital stays, higher medical costs and increased mortality.
As with medicine, education strategies need to be thoughtful, fit-for-purpose and prescribed wisely. That we do this daily highlights the expertise of our profession.
This expertise extends to understanding that any innovation must be considered in the context of the humanity of everyone in the school. Our humans are our greatest resource and ensuring they are the centre of our decision-making is critical.
At the heart of the work of teaching remains the human relationship. This might be described as a dynamic exchange of knowledge, trust and support. This relationship involves mutual respect and communication between teacher and student, where the teacher guides, inspires and facilitates learning, while the student engages, takes on board and applies new information. It is characterised by empathy, encouragement and a shared commitment to growth and understanding.
This relationship is even more important now. OECD data tells us that internationally, students’ sense of belonging has deteriorated between 2018 and 2022 (in Australia, sense of belonging among students is -0.19 compared to the OECD average of 0). As Brene Brown says, “True belonging doesn’t require you to change who you are; it requires you to be who you are”. If we are to learn and work well, we need to know we belong, that we are seen and that we are valued for who we are.
We are now seeing evidence that some of the innovations that we have so readily embraced in society have had unintended consequences in reducing belonging. There is research that social media use by young people is contributing to poor mental health and decreased self-esteem.
In primary schools, we are concerned by the amount of screen time young children engage in. This is with family support, as screens can be useful to soothe and amuse.
However, there are many other activities that can achieve the same result that are not so addictive and that enable children to build positive skills in self-regulation and relationship management.
The ability to respond to emerging needs is a key leadership skill, as is effective decision-making. With so many ideas/strategies at hand, how do we choose, particularly with many innovative solutions presented to us? These questions can be useful:
What data/evidence tells us that this innovation is the right fit for the problem we are wanting to solve?
Who will benefit from this new thing?
Are there any groups that might be disproportionately affected by this innovation?
Could it create dependencies or vulnerabilities in any way?
Could this new thing lead to negative health, environmental or social impacts?
What feedback have users or stakeholders provided regarding possible drawbacks?
Are there any unintended uses or misapplications of this innovation that could arise?
What might be lost in adopting this innovation?
What is our process for abandoning ideas?
Primary school leadership is invested in making a positive impact and embracing innovation to foster responsible change. It’s also clear that relationships are central to learning and any planned changes must be assessed in the context of building and maintaining connection and belonging. This is as true for staff as it is for students.
It is significant work, and primary leaders are equal to the challenge.
By Angela Falkenberg, APPA President
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