Innovation and Design in Secondary Schools: A Comprehensive Report

This report delves into the realm of innovation and design within secondary education, exploring the concepts of innovation and teacherpreneurism. It examines how these concepts align with AITSL outcomes, focusing on student, school-based, pedagogical, and curriculum needs. The report discusses the characteristics of innovation, creativity, and the entrepreneurial skills required by teachers to identify needs and develop innovative practices in schools, along with how they manage potential constraints. It provides insights into curriculum development, the use of interactive learning materials, and the importance of aligning teaching methods with AITSL standards. Furthermore, the report considers the challenges and constraints associated with implementing innovative practices, such as curriculum planning, teacher training, and resource allocation. Finally, it emphasizes the crucial role of teachers and school management in fostering a supportive environment for innovation to enhance student learning and overall educational outcomes.

Running head: INNOVATION AND DESIGN IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS
INNOVATION AND DESIGN IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1INNOVATION AND DESIGN IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS
Table of Contents
1.0 Introduction............................................................................................................................2
2.0 Innovation practice in secondary education..........................................................................2
3.0 Connecting ideas with AISTL outcomes...................................................................................3
4.0 Possible constraints of developing and implementation innovations in school....................4
5.0 How innovations helps the Students needs................................................................................5
6.0 Conclusion.............................................................................................................................6
References........................................................................................................................................7

2INNOVATION AND DESIGN IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS
1.0 Introduction
Innovation and teacherpreneurism, these two concepts deal with the values that are
associated with good educators and leadership while at the same time clubbing them together. In
the context of secondary education, new and innovative learning methods can be developed.
Innovation is not a relatively new terminology and has been in use for quite some time in various
spheres. In contrast, teacherpreneurism is a concept that merges the innovative approaches of a
teacher in a classroom together with the risk taking entrepreneurial leadership skills to develop
an efficient hybrid. Secondary education engages children in a crucial stage where the transition
from the factual basics to the theoretical underpinnings begins to become more prominent. Thus
it calls for innovation and development in the curriculum to fit the changing needs of the
learners. The pioneering approach taken by the schools are in the domain of teaching business
and commerce to the students. The innovative approaches are mainly in the area of business and
commerce values and management skills in a short amount of time. Subsequently,
teacherpreneurism will engage the students efficiently with the innovative approaches that will
be utilized in the classroom.
2.0 Innovation practice in secondary education
Teacherpreneurism is the development in the field of leadership that helps the teacher
innovate in the field of teaching so that they can impart new knowledge to the students. In school
it is the responsibility of the teacher to teach new things and impart new kinds of knowledge to
the students, the students should be able to understand the concepts that are taught to them and
only in that way will they achieve their full potential. The teachers should encourage the students
to do whatever they feel comfortable and confident in. The AITSL outcomes main focus is on
the language that the students speak. Additionally, the teachers need to know the content

3INNOVATION AND DESIGN IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS
properly (Norton 2018). A very important aspect is planning for the effective teaching and
learning process that needs to be implemented. There should be training on human resource as
well along with the new innovative way of teaching. That was absent from the curriculum last
year however has been introduced this year to promote the education of key leadership skills that
will be helpful in all future careers (Northouse 2018). Leadership skills are identified as key
practical skills that help an individual manage and motivate a functional group towards achieving
a particular goal. Implementing leadership skills in classroom, specifically defined as
pedagogical leadership (Sergiovanni 1998), enhances a teaching – learning experience greatly.
Teacherpreneurship in secondary education upholds those values and ideals in throughout the
process. The pedagogical approach that was followed in the newly updated curriculum included
theoretical understanding of leadership literatures, followed by practical implementation of
learned skills of leadership in three project works and one month long internship at an HR’s
office of a reputed business organization. Assessment was done based on the fulfilment of key
leadership criteria and skills throughout the project and internship submitted in the form of a
reflective journal. The entire learning process was improved because of the interactive learning
process that was employed.
3.0 Connecting ideas with AISTL outcomes
One of the innovative practices that were recognized in case of Leadership in Human
Resource management is the utilization of the interactive materials for practical demonstration of
leadership application. Students can learn more about team management, conflict management
and resolution, motivation, crisis identification and analysis, outcome prediction and risk taking
through the use of those interactive materials. Video lectures were significantly important
throughout the process and entailed detailed illustration of key leadership skills in various

4INNOVATION AND DESIGN IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS
spheres that served as a framework for the students to develop their skills. Few of the significant
features that are newly incorporated within this training are the advancement of strong
interactive methods that can be used by the students to develop improved understanding of the
factors concerned with leadership (Ollerhead 2018). In regards to the school that is under focus,
significant variations occurred with the materials used for teaching this present year and the last
year. In the recent year, apart from the introduction of the course, three other major changes were
made in the curriculum. Firstly, the intensive use of the interactive learning materials, secondly,
the mandatory projects that display leadership skills and finally, the mandatory internship that
allows the student to explore the real life practice of leadership skills in business organisations as
well as reflect on their development throughout the course as well as the tasks.
The curriculum development and implementation followed certain standards and they
were proved to be fruitful in the process of education (Nicholls & Nicholls 2018). First of all, the
traditional teaching methods, that is through the use of course materials, worksheets and lecture
notes, were retained but were developed to integrate the needs and requirements of all the
students in the classroom. Secondly, the use of interactive and media based learning resources
accounted for almost all of the learning styles pertaining to the VAK style system were
maintained (Lloyd 2014). The course was also not made mandatory for everyone but only for
those who wanted it. It allowed for the choice of the students to be respected as well as maintain
and manage a small and efficient multicultural classroom. The projects and internship were made
mandatory to ensure that a holistic development of the student in the classroom from both a
theoretical as well as a practical viewpoint was achieved. Moreover, the whole curriculum was
developed by experts in pedagogical designing, leadership, business and management and
education, thereby eliminating or at the least reducing the possibility of an underdeveloped

5INNOVATION AND DESIGN IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS
curriculum. The aforementioned checkpoints also perfectly align with the major AITSL teaching
standards, thus proving that the curriculum development and change in pedagogical process has
been achieved through maintaining correspondence with the AITSL outcomes on innovating
design curriculum and is instrumental in meeting the student needs and requirements.
4.0 Possible constraints of developing and implementation innovations in school
Curriculum planning and mapping can be used to develop newer ways for the students to
learn. There is also a need to communicate with the teachers and students at all given levels.
Curriculum mapping and planning is the tool through which the student can understand the ways
to achieve the goals that they are supposed to. It reduces the amount of mistakes made by the
school while delivering the curriculum. The students are able to get improved support in
multiplicity and diversity.
The Victorian model of teaching and learning consists of four primary components. The
following points connect the dots between the components and the teaching innovations in the
classroom:
 Learning vision: The learners should know subjects and the pedagogies that are taught to
them. The classroom is always diverse, there are students who need more attention and
there students from the indigenous community, the classroom should be flexible enough
to keep their needs in mind as well. Set a weekly, monthly and an overall objective.
 Practice principles: The pedagogical requirements that are entailed in secondary
education. It is also required that a massive volume of knowledge and teaching
approaches should be known, which is crucial in aiding the students and evolving them
into beings that respect discipline. The standard of proficiency also includes the
understanding, problem solving standards and reasoning the subjects which are taught in

6INNOVATION AND DESIGN IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS
the class. This includes the encapsulating the work which is done by the people who are
working with the teachers in the schools.
 Pedagogical model: The educator and the resources were identified as the key
contributors to the teaching of children in secondary education. It also entails the building
and development of a flexible model that can be accessed and modified according to
changing learning requirements. (Hollenbeck 2016).
 HITS – High Impact Teaching Strategies were implemented as a measure for improving
student learning and engagement. It allows for a certain level of freedom on the part of
the learner to engage in nontraditional learning while at the same time learning efficiently
and learning more (Brown 1988).
5.0 Conclusion
Parents are usually busy in work hence they depend on the teachers and the work that they
do. A slight change in the teaching process affects the students as well as the parents who teach
them at home.
Frequently replacing the teachers might affect the student in understanding the method of
study as they might get used to one teacher. The management should not completely change the
teachers frequently. Innovation requires a certain condition to get a thing done on the grounds of
trust, communications, organization and so on (Acharya, Basne and Thapa 2017). Hence only
changing the teachers might not help, the resources will be wasted if teachers are changed
frequently.

7INNOVATION AND DESIGN IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS
References
Acharya, B., Maru, D., Schwarz, R., Citrin, D., Tenpa, J., Hirachan, S., Basnet, M., Thapa, P.,
Swar, S., Halliday, S. and Kohrt, B., 2017. Partnerships in mental healthcare service
delivery in low-resource settings: developing an innovative network in rural Nepal.
Globalization and health, 13(1), p.2.
Aitsl.edu.au. (2019). Teacher Standards. [online] Available at:
https://www.aitsl.edu.au/teach/standards [Accessed 14 Aug. 2019].
Brown, T.J., 1988. High impact teaching: Strategies for educating minority youth. Lanham, Md.:
University Press of America.
Lloyd, M.M., 2014. ICT in teacher education in the age of AITSL. In Proceedings of the 26th
Australian Computers in Education Conference (ACEC) (pp. 348-356). Australian
Council for Computers in Education (ACCE).
McKnight, K., O'Malley, K., Ruzic, R., Horsley, M.K., Franey, J.J. and Bassett, K., 2016.
Teaching in a digital age: How educators use technology to improve student learning.
Journal of research on technology in education, 48(3), pp.194-211.
Nicholls, A. and Nicholls, S.H., 2018. Developing a curriculum: A practical guide. Routledge.
Noe, R.A., Hollenbeck, J.R., Gerhart, B. and Wright, P.M., 2017. Human resource management:
Gaining a competitive advantage. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Education.
Northouse, P.G., 2018. Leadership: Theory and practice. Sage publications.

8INNOVATION AND DESIGN IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS
Norton, S., 2018. Middle School Pre-Service Teachers' Mathematics Content Knowledge and
Mathematical Pedagogy Content Knowledge: Assessing and Relating. Mathematics
Education Research Group of Australasia.
Ollerhead, S., 2018. Pedagogical language knowledge: preparing Australian pre-service teachers
to support English language learners. Asia-Pacific Journal of Teacher Education, 46(3),
pp.256-266.
Sergiovanni, T.J., 1998. Leadership as pedagogy, capital development and school
effectiveness. International Journal of Leadership in Education Theory and
Practice, 1(1), pp.37-46.
van der Have, R.P. and Rubalcaba, L., 2016. Social innovation research: An emerging area of
innovation studies?. Research Policy, 45(9), pp.1923-1935.