Week 7: Project-Based Learning: Imitation + Adaptation = Innovation

“That’s nice for them, but I couldn’t possibly do that given the constraints at my school.” How many times have I had this exact thought?! It's a pretty classic I-give-up excuse for educators in less than ideal teaching situations who can’t imagine themselves as capable of the same accomplishments and creativity of their more privileged peers. And it’s not as if they (I’m including myself in here) are totally off base. We’re not magicians! We can’t make something out of nothing, and grant writing, which so many people tout as the solution to all of our funding and resource problems, can only get us so much and, even then, only under certain circumstances.

I don’t mean to argue against a learning network. We each have our own strengths and weaknesses, our own creative abilities, which we can augment by observing others putting theirs into action. If we consider ourselves to be only as good as our best ideas, then we are limiting our potential, both personally and professionally. If we allow ourselves to be influenced by the work and ideas of others, learning from their mistakes as well as their successes, then the possibilities multiply.

The key, then, is to be realistic. Work with what we have instead of wallowing in professional jealousy by wishing for things that just aren’t possible for us. We might not be on level playing fields as far as resources, finances and peer support are concerned, but this doesn’t mean we’re imaginatively segregated or limited to a pre-determined set of creative ideas. We can adapt lesson plans and activity ideas, redesigning them to fit our specific teaching situations instead of attempting to imitate directly. The question should be how can I do that here? not why can't I do that here?