Educational Innovation for All!

So why does educational innovation take so long to proceed? This is an age old question. Just the other day we were discussing in a staff meeting the concept of outcomes based reporting, noncummulative reporting, absence of percentages on middle school report cards, going paperless with report cards and so on. These ideas or concepts have met resistance within the schools and from without as well. For educational innovation to work it needs to include all stakeholders. Not just teachers and administrators, but parents, community members, government officials, post secondary institutions all need to have an investment in the innovation. If any of these groups fail to jump on board the innovation will be doomed to either failure or a very slow uptake by the people it is intended for. Many educators now a days adopt a wait and see stance to new initiatives. There is fatigue in the profession. This is possibly due to the fact that so many initiatives have come and gone. We are a society of innovation and creation (at least we believe so) but there is not a stamina and staying power within education. Something new comes along quickly and messes with the progress of an innovation. We chase the next shiny fishhook at times. For true educational innovation to occur, we need buy in from everyone top to bottom and coming in from the sides.