As a school principal, I always look forward to summer for so many reasons, but one of the biggest is the TIME and opportunities to reflect. John Dewey said, “We do not learn from experience; we learn from reflecting on experience.” How do I reflect as a wife, mom of 2 boys, daughter, and as a principal of a large middle school in a progressive school district? I do this by reading and writing and pondering after I read. During the school year, I may get through one or two educational books…if I’m lucky! I most definitely have the desire, but the energy and other priorities usually take precedence. This summer, I have read 3 nonfiction books about education and one young adult fictional book. Of all of these books, George Couros’s The Innovator’s Mindset has been my absolute favorite. I want the entire world of educators to go read it!
This is an excerpt from the final pages of this amazing book, but don’t fret, this is not a spoiler alert.
“We have always celebrated our top academic students and touted them as being successful, but sometimes they walk out of school only being great at the game of school and not much else. We can be so much more as educators, a fact that Erica Goldson shared in her very powerful high school valedictorian speech in 2010:
I am graduating. I should look at this as a positive experience, especially being at the top of my class. However, in retrospect, I cannot say that I am any more intelligent then my peers. I can attest that I am only the best at doing what I am told and working the system. Yet, here I stand, and I am supposed to be proud that I have completed this period of indoctrination. I will leave in the fall to go on to the next phase expected of me, in order to receive a paper document that certifies that I am capable of work. But I contest that I am a human being, a thinker, an adventurer – not a worker. A worker is someone who is trapped within repetition, a slave of the system set up before him. But now, I have successfully shown that I was the best slave. I did what I was told to the extreme. While others sat in class and doodled to later become great artists, I sat in class to take notes and become a great test taker. While others would come to class without their homework done because they were reading about an interest of theirs, I never missed an assignment. While others were creating music and writing lyrics, I decided to do extra credit, even though I never needed it. So, I wonder, why did I even want this position? Sure, I earned it, but what will come of it? When I leave educational institutionalism, will I be successful or forever lost? I have no clue about what I want to do with my life; I have no interests because I saw every subject of study as work, and I excelled at every subject just for the purpose of excelling, not learning. And quite frankly, now I’m scared. We are more than robotic bookshelves, conditioned to blurt out facts we were taught in school. We are all very special. Every human on this planet is so special, so aren’t we all deserving of something better, of using our minds for innovation rather than memorization, for creativity rather than stagnation? We are not here to get a degree, to then get a job, so we can consume industry-approved placation after placation. There is more, and more still.”
I share this with you to not only capture your attention, as it did for me majorly, but to make you really think. How can we get out of this cycle of crazy that our educational system is currently STUCK in due to accountability gone wild? Please don’t ever misunderstand me on this, I believe accountability is important. But our current testing system is absolutely ridiculous for children. ABSOLUTELY.
My purpose is to share with you a book that can truly change your mindset about how to create innovative mindsets in today’s education systems. I’ve beat my head against the wall so many times about how to do this when we have such standardized measures and practices that occur because of current accountability systems. I’ve always wondered how you do what’s right for individual children in a personalized world with standardized measures. How do you allow students the opportunity to really learn? Not just recite and “do tests” as the incredibly insightful Erica Goldson shares. This book will teach you how to think differently. Couros himself states, “If we only teach students the curriculum, we have failed them.” But he goes on to say, “I believe you’ll find that small change may be enough to get things moving in a new and better direction.”
This book is structured into 3 parts: Innovation in Education; Laying the Groundwork; and Unleashing Talent. Without going into too much detail, I want you to know that there is some philosophy, as that’s important. BUT there are so many concrete and relevant ideas and suggestions! This is why I love the book so much, as to have these “real” ideas is a rarity. I felt like my educator toolbox expanded after reading this, and that was a wonderful feeling. I cannot wait to initiate these mindset changes beginning August 17th (when staff returns to school)! Couros says that the book is “not meant to give answers but to provoke questions.” Yes, it makes you think and ask, but it also gives so many ideas. If you’re an educator, please read it. And, I sincerely hope all of my sons’ educators read this book. My boys, Liam and Luke, are my inspiration every day to be a better person and better educator, so I want them to have classrooms where their teachers don’t teach them how to take a test. I want their teachers to help develop their passions and grow in their learning and challenge them to think and create, and create, and create. This book will help you do this.
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Couros passionately and takes the idea of “innovation” and makes it accessible to all educators!
Reviewed in the United States on November 29, 2019
The Innovator's Mindset: Empower, Unleash Talent, and Lead a Culture of Creativity by George Couros is by far one of the best educational reads to inspire, motivate, and empower educators. Couros speaks to his audience in a voice that is relatable, empathetic, and practical. I was searching for a book to utilize for a book discussion with the new teachers in the Mentor Program I lead in my school district, and when I came upon this read, I looked no further. Couros immediately captured my attention as he passionately and seamlessly takes the idea of "innovation" and makes it accessible and meaningful to all leaders and teachers! He talks about how innovation does not have to be a complex idea, but can be a movement toward making intentional shifts that will transform an educators' current instructional practices; he encourages educators to reimagine their curriculum, instruction, and assessments while keeping the learner at the center of all decision making. Furthermore, the 8 Characteristics of The Innovator's Mindset should be the cornerstone of how all educators approach leadership, teaching and learning in an educational organization! Couros values the idea of leading with empathy, developing relationships, connecting, networking, and building trust; with relationships at the core of what we do, the important work of risk-taking, creating, problem-solving will propel learners into self-discovery, develop their social, emotional, and academic capacity, while using their imagination and creativity in dynamic, energetic, and rewarding ways!I cannot tell you how much positive feedback the book has received from the educators I work with. They have been extremely excited and motivated to immediately implement the many practical ideas George Couros suggests; one being Identity Day-where educators and people in the educational organization get the opportunity to share their passions and interests with the school community; an extremely empowering learning experience where student voice and choice is the heart of the activity!My advice....RUN to get this book because your lens on education, innovation, creativity, and learning will be impacted in the most inspiring, thought provoking ways!
Reviewed in the United States on November 29, 2019
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Laura Wheeler
Start a discussion with your colleagues today!
Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on January 5, 2017
Rossleighbrisbane
Now is here whether we know it or not!
Reviewed in Australia 🇦🇺 on January 19, 2016
