In the concluding part of his series of thought pieces looking at the development of innovative mindsets, Rhys Davies turns his attention to how they can be developed in learners. The first piece in the series, looking at how innovative mindsets can be developed in leaders, is available here, and the second, focusing on teachers, is available here.
HE students studying in further education (FE) and skills providers in England certainly see the benefits of innovation to their own work, to their employers, and to wider society. A BA (Hons) Photography student at Newcastle College for example sees the benefits of innovation from a people perspective. “Innovation in photography means to produce work that draws people in. This could be through a new, unexplored/rarely explored, or reimagined technique, concept, or subject….. Being innovative allows both myself and my work to stand out. This means it can be viewed by a wider audience and has the potential to inspire others.”
Organisations too benefit from encouraging their staff to be innovative. A Level 5 HND Cyber Security student at the South Central Institute of Technology: “Innovation is achieved by nurturing up and coming talent, further developing essential mindset skills that are essential in today’s education and industrial environments. Employers clearly benefit from encouraging their employees to become more adaptable and develop the correct skillsets to succeed in their personal and business goals.” The student adds, “…to an employer, being innovative is important because it also allows the company/client to attract attention. Additionally, employers find it important to push their business a step ahead from their competitors.”
Given that our learners are our future workforce, it is imperative that we equip them with the skills and attributes required to be innovative thinkers. In addition, FE and skills providers very often work with the current workforce. On this subject, Professor Paul Lewis of Kings College London has written about the role of the technician within an employer setting and how VET institutions should engage with such people in order to drive innovative practice in the workplace.
“When discussing the role of skills, and the organisations that contribute to their production, the… literature has tended to focus on universities and highly-qualified graduates and researchers. Such workers make an important contribution to innovation by driving the research and development activities through which many new ideas are created. But far less attention has been paid to the contribution made by technicians and by the providers of vocational education and training (VET) through which technicians acquire their skills and knowledge.” Training the technicians: Full article: Innovation, technician skills, and vocational education and training: connecting innovation systems and vocational education and training (tandfonline.com)
A question which very often gets asked is whether ‘innovation’ is a skill or an attribute that can be taught. A trawl through the literature suggests an emphatic yes, pointing to the ways in which teachers can do this, including teaching transferable skills and concepts and teaching the use of thinking and creativity tools.
A good starting point for educators is to consider how we encourage learners of all ages to develop what Dweck (2017) has called “A Growth Mindset”, i.e., the ability to see setbacks as learning opportunities and to look for growth and personal development in all situations. Encouraging and teaching learners of all ages to learn from their mistakes and how to maintain a positive mindset in the face of adversity goes a long way in developing innovative mindsets in out learners.
One Level 5 Cyber Security students at the South Central IOT testifies to the importance of developing a growth or ‘innovative mindset’: “I believe that one of the, if not THE most important, tools, is having an adaptive, creative mindset. If something is not possible the innovative mindset will not accept “no” until it has examined every corner, exploring alternative options and if something is not possible today in this environment, it leads you to ask ‘what do we need to move through this? What do I need to be able to do this?’, as opposed to stopping at the first hurdle – ‘being innovative’ is looking beyond fearlessly.”
There are two aspects of teaching innovation which are worthy of closer scrutiny: Project-based learning and the teaching of social and emotional skills.
A report from the OECD (2021) details how providers in the FE and skills sector should design and deliver their curriculum to develop the socio-emotional skills sought after by employers:
“To foster socio-emotional skills, pedagogy should emphasise active and experiential learning and collaborative learning, often using ICT as a key facilitator. These approaches should include collaborative learning – working with others, inquiry-based learning – focussed on investigation and problem solving; and active learning – any instructional method that engages students in the learning process and which requires learners to think about what they are doing. The report also provides further helpful insights into how teachers should align different teaching methods to these approaches based on learning goals and objectives.”
Project-based learning (PBL) represents a unique opportunity to develop students’ socio-emotional skills, with problem-solving at its heart. Through engaging with project-based learning, students gain skills valuable in today’s workplace and in life, such as how to take initiative, work responsibly, solve problems, collaborate in teams, and communicate ideas. In project-based learning, students are usually divided into groups and presented with a problem that they are supposed to study and solve. Based on their knowledge, students try to generate a hypothesis of the problem by discussing with each other. After clarifying the problem, students engage in self-directed learning to gather information from many different sources. After this individual study phase, the students meet again in their groups. They evaluate the information they found to gather the essential pieces needed to solve the problem. This social negotiation of meaning is an important part of the learning process. At the end of the process peer- and self-evaluation is usually used.
Students at the South Central IOT and Newcastle College are clear about what works in helping them to become more innovative, pointing to project-based learning, along with being encouraged to push the boundaries and learn from their mistakes. As one South Central IOT Cyber Security HND student puts it, “teachers promote critical thinking, which is a foundation for innovation, by asking open-ended questions and encouraging us to explore different perspectives.” Teachers also “teach innovation” which “cultivates a growth mindset, where failure is seen as a learning opportunity.”
Leaders and teachers should also be mindful of the role that skills competitions can play in encouraging learners to innovate. According to Fei Peng et. al, 2023, by supporting learners’ entry into skills competitions, “vocational colleges can empower students, foster innovation, and bridge the gap between education and industry demands.”
Think about an aspect of your work where you could take a more innovative approach. It could be, for example, leading on a project, meeting the needs of local businesses, managing an under-performing area, or introducing a new initiative.
Consider how you might go about supporting an innovative approach. For example, do you need to consider your own approach to leadership, moving from ‘command and control’ to a model based on genuine trust? Can you give more space and time to your workforce to help them to find creative solutions? If you are considering your learners in this aspect of your work, does the curriculum and the delivery of the curriculum teach and encourage learners to be innovative thinkers?
Becoming more innovative can sometimes feel daunting as it does often involve ‘letting go’. Consider one thing that you can do right now, this week, to develop a more innovative mindset for yourself, for those you lead, and for your learners.
References
Armstrong, E. J. (2019). Maximising motivators for technology-enhanced learning for further education teachers: moving beyond the early adopters in a time of austerity. Research in learning technology. 27.
Covey, Stephen M.R., 2022, Trust and Inspire, Simon and Schuster UK.
Dweck, C.S, 2017, Changing the Way you think to fulfil your potential, 6th edition, Robinson UK
OECD (2021) OECD iLibrary | Teachers and Leaders in Vocational Education and Training (oecd-ilibrary.org)
Forbes, 2013, The Four Behaviors Of Innovative Leaders | Forbes – YouTube
Harvard Business Review Analytic Services, 2019, The EI Advantage. Driving Innovation and Business Success through the Power of Emotional Intelligence. TheEIAdvantage.pdf (hbr.org)
Lewis, P, 2023, Innovation, technician skills, and vocational education and training: connecting innovation systems and vocational education and training, Taylor and Francis online, Full article: Innovation, technician skills, and vocational education and training: connecting innovation systems and vocational education and training (tandfonline.com)
Peng, F., Wang, S., and Yang, T. (2023), Enhancing Vocational Education through Innovative Skills Competitions: Challenges and Solutions, Beijing Polytechnic, (PDF) Enhancing Vocational Education through Innovative Skills Competitions: Challenges and Solutions (researchgate.net)
Ryan, B, McGarr, O., McCormack, O., 2020, Underneath the veneer of techno-positivity – exploring teachers’ perspectives on technology use in further education and training, University of Limerick, McGarr_2021_Underneath.pdf