8 characteristics of an innovator's mindset

A chapter that grabbed my attention in the book, The Innovator’s Mindset was “the characteristics of an innovator’s mindset.” We can all want to effect positive change, but do we have the attitude, the mindset necessary to do so? Looking at the eight characteristics that the author, George Couros, outlines, can be a great help to see if we have a mindset that is open to and willing to cause positive change.

The eight characteristics are: empathetic, problem finders, risk-takers, networked, observant, creators, resilient and reflective.

I would like to focus on empathetic and resilient, as these are the two characteristics from the list with the most room for growth in my own self-observation.

To be empathetic as an educator means that he looks at the classroom environment from the point of view of the student. An example that Couros brings up at another point in the book seemed really interesting to me. One teacher was asked to spend a day shadowing a 10^th grader and another day shadowing a 12^th grader in her school. Can you imagine going back to tenth grade? Would I want to live a day like the 11^th graders I am going to be teaching?

It is interesting, because I think I can honestly say that I liked school. Nevertheless, I have no desire to go back through school again. I am at a school, where the kids form a strong affective bond with the school. I am always amazed at that, since I have never even gone back to the High School from which I graduated.

“Would you want to be a learner in your own classroom?” This is the key question that Couros poses to his reader. And I take this question as my own. Now, I do like the style of classes that I have given, but I am going to make an effort to make sure that things are a little more varied and try to wake up the thirst for knowledge within my students. That should help to make sure that they like it when they are with me. That would be a big win in my classroom.

To be resilient can be a big challenge for me. I definitely feel a bit down when things do not go as well as I would have wished. A lot of times, I think this can be traced back to unrealistic expectations, while other times perhaps I have simply not put in the work necessary to get the job done. But whatever the cause, I can learn to let a few comments slide without affecting me so much.

Couros quotes a Chinese proverb that says: “The person who says it cannot be done should not interrupt the person doing it.” While I may not be the go-getter all the time who is being slowed down by those around me, I can learn to plow through in spite of negative comments, which unfortunately abound.

I will be working on these two characteristics of the innovator’s mindset, before choosing two more I can work on. I think I would like to focus on two per grading period. At this rate, I will have gone through all eight by the time Easter rolls around, and will hopefully have become a better teacher.

What I want to achieve in my first week of classes

Take two… Last year, I had the very new experience of teaching an AP English Language and Composition class to 11^th and 12^th grade students. Being in El Salvador, English is a second language for my students, though I was happily surprised by their advanced level of written and oral expression.

I had to face some very special challenges. I was amazed by the lack of punctuality. It was a big class for the type of course-work we were doing. Some students were unmotivated. But perhaps the biggest problem was “me.”

I do not want to get into details or subject myself to a public flogging, but over the last few months, I have reflected on what I achieved and what I would still like to do. I think there is a lot of room for improvement, at the same time that I feel I can be very proud of what we accomplished this past year.

But as far as my own attitude is concerned, I will be working on empathy. I am very clear that my principal goal for the course is to teach critical thinking. “In this course, we learn to think, by writing.” Because, at the end of the day, it is really a writing course, and a good one at that.

Nevertheless, on a personal note, I will be working on empathy. I want the students to know how much I want to do for them. I want them to learn to write well, think well and argue well. But at the same time, I want to be the teacher they remember because he cared enough to make a difference.

So, we will engage in some different activities the first week of classes. This should help to grab their attention and to establish a personal rapport with me. Hopefully, at the end of the first week, we will know each other well enough in order to be able to work well the rest of the year.

I hope it goes well.

For the students, I want this to lead them to find their own voice. I am thinking of a few different ways I can get them engaged in learning by proposing themes that are important to them. I want to empower them so as to make them professional learners in the time I have them before moving on to senior year and eventually college. The world would be a different place if these young men and women really take it upon themselves to learn according to where their passion wishes to lead them.

Book review of The Innovator's Mindset, by George Couros

This is a great book to help reflect on what one is doing as an educator. I certainly had an interesting backdrop to read it, walking alongside the beach, enjoying fresh ocean air. Perhaps, this is one of the best places to read such a book. The fresh air can open the mind to fresh ideas.

George Couros is able to capture one’s interest by the sheer volume of new ideas he is able to present. His examples are to the point and his very didactic form of summary, aided by the visual summaries by Angela Duckworth make it a very easy read.

“Change is an opportunity to do something amazing.” This is one of the first phrases that Couros emphasizes, and it does serve well to frame the whole book. But for me, the most revolutionary concept was that change often does not work, because it comes too late.

Couros emphasizes a goal-based system that allows for a great deal of flexibility as far as the means are concerned. Something that comes out along the way, is that his own educators allowed him to benefit from such a mindset. Change is not to be seen as the enemy, but rather as a part of life that must be accepted and embraced.

The book is broken up into four sections: Innovation in Education, Laying the Groundwork, Unleashing Talent and Concluding Thoughts. Each of the four parts contributes to the underlying thesis that change in education, when directed well at the right time, can lead to marvelous results. Couros is able to back this up with numerous examples, as well as sharing from his own life-experience.

Reading this book can help educators to reflect especially on their own attitudes regarding school and the classroom. School staff can benefit greatly from reflecting on the discussion questions as a team.

Perhaps for some of us, we do not have to be looking so much at a widespread global change at an institutional level. Maybe it is enough if we are inspired to change ourselves for the better, for the good of our students.

The book inspires to want to inspire. Although this is not the only source of my inspiration, it does help me want to be a better teacher and a better educator this year. I want students to be able to look back at this year and see that my class, but especially me as a person, as something that had a lasting impact on my life. That is the way I am able to look back at my 11^th grade English teacher.