Creating Innovators - Food For Thought

A few months ago I attended a conference where the keynote speaker was Tony Wagner, a researcher affiliated with Harvard University. He recently published a book titled Creating Innovators: The Making of Young People Who Will Change the World. His research and presentation was interesting and engaging, but as an educator, I felt a little uncomfortable because his message was really challenging much of the culture of public schools in the United States of which has been my livelihood for 26 years. We have all read about how jobs are being lost overseas and that our schools are on a spiral downward compared to many other countries. I understand that we need to be more competitive, but he was suggesting that traditional U.S. schools do little to foster innovation in our students.Wagner’s research was done on successful companies and the individuals who were the innovators that helped them get to where they are. His research suggests the qualities these individuals exemplify are:        

• curiosity, which is the habit of asking good questions and a desire to understand more deeply
• collaboration, which begins with listening to and learning from others who have perspectives and expertise that are very different from one’s own
• integrated thinking
• an inclination toward action and experimentation

His book suggests that most U.S. schools reward individual competition and achievement instead of teamwork. He also suggests that traditional academic classes are organized to communicate test specific content rather than focusing on a problem-based, multidisciplinary approach. He contends that U.S. schools rely heavily on extrinsic rewards like grades and grade point average, while employees prefer students who can work in a team, are intrinsically motivated and can problem solve using a more multidisciplinary approach. This is the culture of innovation that you would find at many currently successful companies.

It is difficult to deny that, regarding how students are measured on high stakes testing, we have fallen behind some countries. I believe we should continue to be concerned about that, but I am also concerned that schools are not striving to create a more innovative culture. In our pursuit of high achievement on high stakes tests, have we put less emphasis on creativity, collaboration, and developing an entrepreneurial spirit in our students? These are great questions that our community of educators, parents, community members and students should discuss.

 

 

Dr. Vance Dalzin

District Administrator

Fox Point - Bayside School District