What is Innovation?

For my MA module, I have been asked to consider this question using the following prompts. How do I define and understand this term? Am I uneasy or uncertain about using it? Is innovation always a positive thing? What other interpretations am I aware of either in the group or from literature?

Within my context, innovation is most usually used when decribing making changes to the curriculum or incorporating new technologies into the classroom. In fact curriculum innovation is detailed within the Ofsted cireria for 'Outstanding' curriculum. However, with both there are caveats. You can't simply change your curriculum for it to be decribed as innovative and you can't simply start using a new piece of technology for it's use to be described as innovation. Particurly for the ICT, it seems that is is about the way you use it! People describe innovative uses of technology, suggesting that the technology itself doesn't need to be state of the art. Examples might include using mobile phones in the classroom or simply about using features of widely used programs such as Smartboard software. It is about how they are used, for effect and appropriately to do something positive. Similarly, with curriculum innovation it is not about the changes you make to the curriculum necessarily but how you rearrange the way things are taught in order to make best use of time, to ignite the children's interest, to make links more meaningful.

The idea of curriculum innovation being necessitated by the need to 'fit so much in' and of time being such a premium makes me wonder if innovation is often brought about by lack of resources, in this case time. There isn't enough time to fit in everything which needs to be taught in separate chunks so we are forced to find a different way. You could extend this to the use of ICT. The children are so used to technologically rich environment that in order to maintain their interest we have to find a new way - innovate. I don't feel it fits as well here though. Watching Charles Leadbetter on TED http://www.charlesleadbeater.net/home.aspx,

seems to back up this idea though. He has examined how schools/ education cope in extreme circumstances such as in slums with very limited resources. He believes that the innovative practices they develop could teach us a lot. I'm thinking of that quote "Necessity is the mother of invention."

The concerns I have over using the term innovation is how it relates to other terms. Is innovation the same as creation? In the literal sense, no. Innovation suggests a change to existing practice whereas creation suggests something completely new. And yet being innovative is probably very similar to being creative. Both involve coming up with new ideas, imagination, thinking differently. However, we would never talk about how we had seen excellent curriculum creation in a particular school!

I'm also interested in what counts as innovation. Is it only innovative if you are the first ever person to do it? Or can it be an innovation if it is new to you? When we ask teachers to make changes to their practice we are not asking them to innovate because we are telling them what to do. I think there is more ownership involved in innovation, the ovator has to have come up with the idea in oder to make the innovation, or at least recognise the merit in the change. This might be why we talk about 'adopting' innovation. That way, even if it wasn't your idea in the first place you have taken it on as if it were.