Retrospective Innovation?

Strong leadership often incorporates notions of creativity and innovation, seeking progress through change. However, change does not always correlate to progress. Much change in the world – especially in education – are made for change’s sake without genuine progress happening. There comes a time – and that time is now – when an innovative perspective is one that peers backward, that reassesses what has been abandoned and forgotten merely for the sake of change.
Educational leaders have, quite often without choice, ridden tidal waves of change brought about by technology, change that has come about not for the sake of academic quality but for reasons of economy and convenience, and sometimes just for simple expectation. Devices in the classrooms means little unless they are being used to escalate engagement, reinforce learning, and improve achievement. But are those results occurring? In my experience as an educator and administrator, I see kids being kept busy by having a device in front of them; I see assignments simplified so they can be done on a device; I see work compromised by the limitations of what can be developed for devices. And I see teachers less engaged with their students.
Online education is making education more accessible but is also making it less rigorous and thus less meaningful. Real, effective education cannot easily happen in remote set-ups and distance relationships., and the vast majority of online programs have taken on-campus programs and simplified them in order to attract students and help the school’s bottom line. The motivations here are not educational or academic. Individual courses developed for online programs are often so watered down, so lacking in rigor, so filled with busy work, that they are mistaken as being effective when in reality they are simply diluted for the masses.
Bold leadership – truly innovative leadership – would call for a return to the ideals of education back when students actually learned and were not simply being prepared for a job. The first bold move would be to return to the decades old mantra of the 3R’s – our schools K-3 should focus on the language arts and fundamental arithmetic. Those subjects are foundational for all other learning, and schools should demand that all students are at grade level in those subjects by the end of 3rd grade.
Our schools are failing our students at all levels. They are placing academic quality and real learning at risk by following fads and adopting materials and approaches that are not educationally sound but can be positioned as being effective and innovative. And the public buys into it all.