Innovation Driven Education, Badly needed

Education is one of the most important instruments for men and women. Even if we become great scientists’ scholars or philosophers but do not empower the people, society and nation, I think we are selfish people. Knowledge without innovation is of no value. It is through the process of innovation alone that knowledge is converted into wealth and social good, and this process takes place from firm to farm. Innovators are those who see what everyone else sees but think of what no one else thinks. Innovators refuse status co. They convert aspirations into solutions and ideas into products. Building such innovators require an overall attitudinal change towards life and work, a shift from a culture of idle prattle to a culture of thought and work, from diffidence to confidence and from despair to hope. Innovators do not just exist in formal labs, millions of them exist in villages, in homes and in streets. For the survival and progress of an individual, society, community, the nation and humankind innovation and the evolution are essential. Thus, for the sustainable future, innovations in education are of particular importance because education plays a crucial role. “Innovation resembles mutation, the biological process that keeps species evolving so they can better compete for survival” (Hoffman and Holzhuter). Hence, it is to be regarded as an instrument of necessary and positive change. Any human activity (e.g., industrial, business, or educational) needs to be driven by innovation to remain sustainable.
Our educational system is badly in need of effective innovation driven curriculum of scale that can help produce the needed high-quality learning outcomes across the system. The basic focus of innovation driven educational system should be on teaching and learning theory and practice, as well as on the learner, parents, community, society, and its culture. Raising the quality and scale of innovations in education will positively affect education itself and benefit the whole society. Everyone these days is striving for promising education which is encouraging but it lacks the innovate learning. The word innovation is a single word that encapsulates everything that is exciting in any industry—a goal to shoot for because it means you’re different, your ideas are new, and your work is almost magical.Innovative education is so very important. We want our students to love learning, we need them to! By being innovative, we can engage students in ways we never have before, and that’s pretty incredible.Innovation in teaching learning process means to design the curriculum that best suits the students of a particular age.Educators, lesson plans, and curriculum have to be flexible. Our students should be able to think and ask questions. We need to generate among them the curiosity, and find ways to keep them interested. Innovation means change, so we have to learn that our students need more than the skills needed to pass the state assessment examination. We have to give them tools that will make them productive in their future careers. We need to keep our students engaged and excited to learn. We have to give them a safe place for where theycould make mistakes, take risks, and ask questions-thus LEARN. We have to step outof the box and the set curriculum, challenging our methods and strategies in order to support the success of all students as well as ourselves. This transformation may be small or a complete overhaul of the set system. We must allow imagination to flourish and not be afraid to try new things. Sometimes these new things fail but it’s awesome when they are a success. Without the right attitude, innovation would just be a word and the art of education would miss out on some great accomplishments.
(The author is Assistant Professor at S.P. College, Srinagar. Views are her own)