Have you noticed how the word “innovation” has become one of
the biggest buzz words right now? Just
google it, and see how many times it pops up.
It’s everywhere! From Forbes, to Business Week, “Social Innovation,” Innovation
Magazines, even the Whitehouse has a page dedicated to innovation.
So what does "innovation" really mean? I decided to find out exactly.
According to Wickipedia, innovation means “the creation of a
better or more efficient product, process, service, technology or idea that is
accepted by people.”
Other definitions surrounding it include “bringing something new into an
environment.”
I realized that I’ve mistakenly assumed innovation
always had something to do with technology. But let’s be
real. The invention of the screwdriver,
the hard hat, and even the toothbrush changed the way we lived our lives and
got things done.
And today, what's really innovative might be how a business or nonprofit achieves it’s mission, or delivers its products and services in an exciting new way. In thinking about
this I reflected on alinea. I realized that if you took apart our
formula of Story + Direction + Relationships, which equals effective community engagement, all the pieces could be considered commodities that any number of people could
say they do for clients.
But what makes alinea innovative and successful with clients however, has less to do with us, and more to do with our clients. The two
most important criteria for success has to do with clients' mindset (we can do this) and their behavior (willingness to learn how to
connect with people) and
less to do with actual resource strategies. We promise them this: If you do what we tell you to do, you will
attract resources!
Innovation in
Wisconsin Schools
You may have noticed me tweeting on the road as I’ve been visiting with almost 20 small public school districts
around Wisconsin. Speaking of
innovation, I’ve been blown away by all the innovating thinking going on. I wanted to share some examples. If you live in Wisconsin, you might be
surprised at all the great things going on right in your own backyard. Check this out:
1.
Mt. Lebanon Lutheran School, right here in Milwaukee, loves working with the
children that other teachers and schools think are too hard to teach. Some of
the parents come to Mt. Lebanon having been told by their last school not to
expect much of their child. I don’t know
about you, but I think a teacher or principal should be arrested for saying
that to a parent.
So, what’s innovative about Mt.
Lebanon? If a child isn’t
successful, Mt. Lebanon teachers find a way.
For example, one of their younger students has sensory integration
issues. The parents informed the school
of a brushing strategy that helps at home.
Now, the teacher takes a couple minutes every two hours to brush the
student, and it makes a world of difference.
This school doesn’t have enough resources to have all the expertise they
need to meet some of these children’s needs.
Instead, they aggressively seek out knowledge, education and training on
strategies that usually only special education teachers employ. This is innovative
2.
Altoona School District in the Chippewa Valley in Wisconsin has an aging
population. As the school district seeks
to become relevant to all community members, they have begun offering adult
education programs to older adults, as well as cross-generational activities
for youngsters and older adults. Something
else that they’re doing really blew me away.
Typically, school districts are very protective of their enrollment,
because there is a time during the year when parents can try to enroll their
children in “any school.” Because
government resources are tied to enrollment, there is tension between school
districts and competition for families.
Altoona school district is in talks with two other school districts in
the area to figure out how best to provide education in a way that meets
student needs and the needs of their communities. This is innovative, because I have never
heard of separate school districts collaborating for what is truly best for
kids. They envision each school district
possibly offering a unique program based on their strengths.
3.
Montello School District in Wisconsin is really on the cutting edge. They have launched the “Montello Idea,” a
long-term plan to become a truly community-based school. They’re on the fast track having already
launched several initiatives. The first
is reaching out to home-schoolers, not to talk them into coming back into the
school, but to offer them resources to improve what they’re doing at home plus
opportunities to fill gaps like group activities, extra curriculars, foreign
language, etc. That is truly innovative,
because typically schools see home-schoolers as taking away resources from the
school and have misperceptions and stereotypes of people who choose to home
school their children. The second is
designing classroom environments that are actually conducive to learning and
meet the needs of different types of learners.
I saw a classroom that looked more like a living room, with soft light,
and a variety of seating and some high top and conference size tables. The children sat more in a big circle where
they could really engage with each other.
There wasn’t a traditional desk or row in the room. The teacher has already noticed an
improvement in attention and performance.
Oh, this next one is really
amazing! Montello is actually allowing
teachers who have expertise in certain areas like science and math to focus on
teaching in their area of expertise.
This is so common sense, but today it is truly innovative to have
teachers who are experts teach the topics that are critical. The results are already there. In addition to students gaining a deeper
understanding of the subject, teachers are so happy and students are more
excited. When you’re being taught by a
teacher who’s really excited about a topic, the impact is going to be greater.
4.
Oconto School District in Wisconsin is seeing the true talent of their young
adults in high school. A group of
students actually prepared a business plan for a small business in town. Community members were blown away by the
professionalism of the plan. Other
students are involved in designing logos for local businesses.
5.
Cedar Grove-Belgium School District already has so much support from local and
surrounding communities. People are just
waiting to invest in their next big initiative.
They have a partnership with a local two-year college to create a
skilled trades program that will be offered to adults as well as students. They envision separate programs and spaces
for trades related to wood, metal, robotics and more. They’ve received significant donations
already for the latest equipment.
6.
Wisconsin Dells School District is in a very unique position. The Dells, known for its huge tourism economy
has very few actual residents compared to vacation homeowners and
visitors. Many of the huge resort and
water park owners grew up in the area and went to the public schools. They realize how important their businesses
are to the local and international young people who get valuable work experience
during the summer. Students who graduate
from Wisconsin Dells Public Schools are used to working with people from all
over the world speaking different languages and from different cultures, have a
strong work ethic and have an entrepreneurial spirit. Right now, led in no small part by the
business community, the Dells is for the first time building their amazing
story and embarking on connecting with all of the tourists and non-resident
property owners.
I haven’t even talked about all the ways these schools are
using technology. But I wanted to give
you a taste of all the amazing innovative things going on in the State of
Wisconsin. I’d love to hear what’s
happening in your community around innovatively delivering quality
education. Please share your story!
