04 Which role should the teacher have to play
To teach something, but in particular a skill such as innovation or creativity, the teacher has to lead by example. His or her classes have to be interactive, creative, and different in some sense.
During the parts of the session specifically dedicated to the innovation competency, the teacher acts as a facilitator of the sessions: proposing activities, observing behaviors, providing feedback/feedforward on behaviors (reinforcing those that are positive for innovation, improving those that are not fully displayed by the students). However, at other times (if it is preferred to transmit content in synchronous sessions and not delegate it to asynchronous materials), the teacher can have a more expositional role.
The teacher’s role is also to provide feedback on the student’s self-assessment in a joint discussion. The aim is to help students understand the professional importance of innovation competences. Students must also be critical of their own self-assessment. Here the teacher is a good mirror.
The motivational role is also important: why it is relevant to do self-analysis in the first place.
The role of the teacher is crucial in teaching this skill to students. Below are some examples and counter-examples of how teachers can foster innovation competence in the classroom:
Examples:
– Design class projects that require complex problem solving, which will force students to think innovatively and creatively.
– Promote discussion and exchange of ideas in class, encouraging students to share their thoughts and views to foster collaboration and critical thinking.
– Provide opportunities for students to explore different technologies and tools to develop projects, allowing them to experiment and find new ways of approaching problems.
– Encourage creativity: The teacher can encourage students to be creative and think outside the box. For example, you can use tools such as lateral thinking or brainstorming to encourage students’ creativity.
– Teach critical thinking skills: The teacher can teach students skills to critically analyse and evaluate problems. He or she can have students examine different possible solutions and evaluate which one is the best. In this way, students will be able to develop problem-solving and innovative decision-making skills.
– Encourage teamwork: The teacher can assign projects that require teamwork and collaboration. By working together, students can share ideas and find innovative solutions to problems.
Counterexamples:
– Following a traditional teaching approach based on memorisation and repetition of information. The teacher may be tempted to teach only traditional teaching methods and not encourage creativity and innovation which does not encourage critical thinking or creativity and thus innovation.
– Providing students with ready-made solutions to problems, which limits their ability to think innovatively and creatively.
– Not allowing the use of innovative technologies and tools in the classroom, which limits students’ opportunities to experiment and discover new ways of approaching problems.
– Failure to encourage diversity: If the teacher does not encourage diversity in the classroom, it can limit the creative and innovative potential of students. By limiting perspectives and backgrounds, the teacher may be limiting the students’ ability to think innovatively.
– Not being up-to-date: If the teacher does not keep up-to-date on the latest trends and innovations, it may be difficult for him or her to teach students innovative skills. The teacher must keep up to date and be willing to learn new skills and techniques in order to teach them to his or her students.
The following behaviours can be extracted from these examples:
1-Encourage creativity
2-Providing tools and resources
3-Promote critical thinking
4-Encourage experimentation
5-Encourage collaboration
6-Being a facilitator of learning
7-Promote long-term vision
8-Stimulate passion and enthusiasm
