Why Do I Innovate? To Change the World.

A question posed to me recently - Why do I innovate? It took muddling through my thoughts for some time before I realized my answer and when I found it, it was big. It was big and heavy and true so I’m writing it out to get clarity, because in my answer lies my power and my passion.

I innovate for social change. I innovate to make the world a better place. I innovate because I have to believe our society can come to a better place and if I do it right, I can help make that happen. I’m not talking about a traditional or buzzword definition of innovate - using tech or individualized learning or a flipped classroom. I define innovation as the need for change. The need to breathe life back into classrooms, re-engage students in learning that really matters, bring back the humanity in schools and rebuild relationships between teachers and students, students and administrators, families and teachers. When I think about innovation, I think of my students. All high school dropouts, many with criminal records, kids, mental health struggles, substance abuse issues, generational poverty, layers of trauma and so much more. They come to my school because other schools have failed them, sometimes seven other schools have failed them. They come to me because they need love, structure and stability. Innovation at my school does not look like project-based learning, iPads or cool field trips. It looks like “loving kids hard” (thanks, Chris Millow), like an iron fist inside a heart (thanks, Mike Wegner), like high expectations for kids who are not expected to succeed.

I say this though, with somewhat of a heavy heart because the truth is, not all of our classrooms believe the same. Not all of our teachers feel like I do. So this year and in the coming years, it’s my goal to push through our school’s barriers to innovation, to loving kids hard and having high expectations for every single dropout who walks through our doors. Yes, I know you can do this. No, you can’t leave early because you’re tired. Yes, I will support you. No, I will absolutely not let you fail. And we will work together to find your success and your infinite abilities.

I have a plan, currently incoherent, for how I want to do this. But first, I needed to identify my why. Why do I want to continue to see innovation at my school? Because I want us to change the world and to do so with our students. Here’s my why:

If every single one of my teachers can re-engage every single one of our students in what it means to be a student, to make them go crazy with questions, to argue and debate and find answers and create solutions, then those students will go on to graduate as critical thinkers who love engaging in the wonders and problems of the world. They will learn to self-advocate for the resources they need and they will have the skills, willpower and knowledge to develop and provide those resources when they’re lacking. They’ll go back home to their friends and families and neighborhoods and advocate for change. They’ll become social activists who know how to make change happen and more importantly, who believe in their own power to do so. They will become the ones who give voice to the people who don’t have a voice today - the poor, the traumatized, the incarcerated, the ill, the elderly. Because we have taught them to love learning, we have taught them they are all natural learners and we have taught them to believe in themselves far more than than anyone ever has.

This, this is why I innovate. Because we can change the world if we do it right.