Before defining what educational innovation is and discussing conceptualizations about it and good educational practices, it is necessary to address the following question: Is it really possible to make significant changes in education? A pertinent question in the face of what is seen as a determining element in an era that is so transcendental for humanity and for education.
From this question, the role of those who do education and of those who participate in the training process (those who train and those who are trained) should be emphasized. It is so important to detect the actors because, firstly, when one aspires to the progressive improvement of teaching, one assumes the responsibility of detecting, studying and dealing with the pedagogical problems that may arise in the immediate context; secondly, the generations that receive training at this time have a much more demanding motivation, richer in resources and framed in affective environments, not only in the classroom, but also in the quality of the planned activities and the methodology to be developed.
Martínez Vicente et al. (2021) argue that there are two keys to contribute to the urgent educational changes: good professional performance and collaborative and exchange practices, that is, adopting a training committed to practice. It is then about looking at educational innovation and good practices from the perspective of the teacher for the formative manifesto of students, which generates a learning climate based on innovative didactic proposals, with great impact on the level of motivation of students, with the implementation of interesting situations and initiatives, while stimulating the professional development of teachers.
But what is required to generate these significant changes in the educational sphere? It is for this that the analysis from our perspectives and initiatives is worthwhile: how, for what and for whom educational innovation is to be implemented. Innovation and good educational practices are generated in the actions of the actors, who are none other than society itself, reflected in each one of us.
In this sense, for a good practice to be considered as such, it is necessary to overcome difficulties and have the capacity to be implemented in contexts, thus enabling its application to new situations. Therefore, a good practice entails a transformation in the forms and processes of action and can be the seed of a positive change in the traditional methods of action.
Good educational practice entails a transformation in the forms and processes of education; however, this action must address the key element in a complex era, which also turns educational institutions into complex entities. This key element is innovation.
Then, what is Educational Innovation?
Educational innovation is not a rhetorically established punctual element, but rather a process that goes through the observation of classroom life, the organization of educational centers, the dynamics of the educational community and the professional culture of teachers (Carbonell, 2015). From this definition, it should be understood that innovation must be a process that takes place from within the institutions, and this movement begins with the articulation between research and teaching initiatives, where the realities of the institutions, which are always different, show the guiding light of the changes and transformations necessary to implement innovative practices that translate into significant contributions to the educational processes.
In this sense, it is worth returning to the question: Is it really possible to make significant changes in the educational field? I advocate research from each center, with its realities, its problems; innovation is not theory, it is perennial practice, it is change, it is transformation, it is transcendence, and for this, the contributions of research and successful evidence in the educational field are and will be the greatest contribution in the development of good educational practices.
However, a very important element in the pursuit of such development is to empathize with the idiosyncrasies and unique characteristics of a generation that grows and develops in a particular context and of which we know little. Moreover, in a changing environment, rigid and traditional teaching methods no longer work, new ways of working, the unstoppable advance of technology, the new profiles and characteristics of the new generations draw an unprecedented scenario, to which it is no longer only necessary to understand but, to evolve with it, in the words of Harari (2018) to reinvent ourselves faster and faster each time, because no one knows for sure what the future will be like in the short term.
Understanding the new era, the new generations and designing the necessary skills for a century marked by uncertainty and speed, is crucial for adaptation, evolution and transcendence. The training school must participate in this, and today our contributions, product of this meeting and those that may be agreed upon in the future, will be the basis for building a culture for the production of knowledge, accessible to all, in which contributions regarding new educational trends can be incorporated, representing significant advances for the practical application in the field of education, always starting from the local to the global.
Lisbeth Deyanira Perez Martinez, Ph.
Director of the Graduate School of Education.
Your commentary and clarifications on what is needed to innovate and innovate are very accurate, as this is a double-entry term for educators. We must continue to do our bit