My Definitions of Common Key Terms

As an innovator, it is important to have definitions that have meaning to you. For a current course I'm taking, Innovative Teaching and Learning, we were asked to come up with our own definitions for Innovation, Creativity, Teaching, and Learning. I constructed my definitions below by looking at the work of past researchers and putting together a string of information that made the most sense to me.

My current definitions are listed below and I will be using these definitions frequently throughout my blog. I've modified these multiple times already and I plan on changing these regularly.

Innovation: the effective introduction of new ideas, processes, products, and services to groups to benefits the stakeholders. It is a multi-stage transformational process where ideas become reality in order to advance, compete, or differentiate in a given marketplace. Innovation can be characterized as fluid, meaning something is continuously evolving.

Creativity: production of something new, different, and original that is depending on the context. Creative people have a strong desire of discovery and to succeed at problems involving concept formation and driving a change.

Teaching: setting out with the intention of imparting, aiding, encouraging, and inspiring of someone learning something. A focus, that is clear about what the learning intention is. A process of facilitating to people’s needs, experiences, and feelings and making the correct adjustments/interventions along the way.

Learning: acquiring and improving knowledge and skills from instruction, experience, and/or reflection and having them readily available from memory to make sense of future problems and opportunities. Learning involves strengthening correct responses and weakening incorrect responses.

References

Baregheh, A., Rowley, J., & Sambrook, S. (2009). Towards a multidisciplinary definition of innovation. Management Decision, 47(8), 1323–1339.

Clark, R. C., Mayer, R. E., & Thalheimer, W. (2003). E-learning and the science of instruction: Proven guidelines for consumers and designers of multimedia learning. Performance Improvement Advisor, 42(5), 41–43.

Damanpour, F. (1996). Organizational Complexity and Innovation: Developing and Testing Multiple Contingency Models. Management Science, 42(5), 693–716.

Gilchrist, M. B. (1980). The Definition and Identification of Creativity. Asia Pacific Journal of Human Resources, 17(4), 26–34.

Griffith, W. S. (1984). Learning how to learn: Applied theory for adults. Robert M. Smith Chicago: Follett Publishing Company, 1982. Möbius: A Journal for Continuing Education Professionals in Health Sciences, 4(2), 93–98.

Hattie, J. (2008). Visible Learning: A Synthesis of Over 800 Meta-Analyses Relating to Achievement. Routledge.

Hennessey, B. A., & Amabile, T. M. (2010). Creativity. Annual Review of Psychology, 61, 569–598.

Meyer, J. K. (1991). On a simple‐minded definition of creativity. Creativity Research Journal, 4(3), 300–302.

Smith, J. K. (2015). Brown, P.C., Roediger III, H.L., & McDaniel, M.A. (2014). Make It Stick. The Science of Successful Learning. The Journal of Educational Research, 108(4), 346–346.

Thompson, V. A. (1965). Bureaucracy and Innovation. Administrative Science Quarterly, 10(1), 1.

What is teaching? A definition and discussion. (2016, April 21). Retrieved January 22, 2017, from http://infed.org/mobi/what-is-teaching/

Wong, A., Tjosvold, D., & Liu, C. (2009). Innovation by Teams in Shanghai, China: Cooperative Goals for Group Confidence and Persistence. British Journal of Management, 20(2), 238–251.

Premise of 'The Push'

Hi there,

My name is David Barrette and I'm what I like to refer to myself as an innovative educator. The title sounds kind of fancy but I often parallel it with my frequent, unsuccessful attempts towards new approaches in my classroom. I'm from Windsor Ontario, Canada and am currently pursuing my Professional Master of Education through Queen's University.

My journey as an educator began 4 years ago as an international teacher just outside of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Initially, moving to Malaysia was a short-term plan in my mind, no more than 1 year, but that plan took a u-turn and I'm still enjoying my time in Southeast Asia while I'm typing this opening blog post.

My intention of this blog is to gain a deeper understanding of innovative approaches to learning and teaching. The main goal is to reflect and expand on my innovative experiences from the classroom, whether successful or unsuccessful, as well as implement new approaches that I come across through research. Secondly, I hope to familiarize myself with successful, unsuccessful, and the in-between of the past innovators of education and technology. Finally, I hope I can present this information in a way that is engaging and appealing to the readers.

Innovation is not an easy task. It takes risk, courage, and creativity. Here's to taking a leap and testing the waters!

Dave