Schulich School of Education partnership featured on Canadian Innovation Space website

A group of faculty from the Schulich School of Education has teamed up with teacher candidates and educators from partner schools to develop a series of educational resources aimed at promoting innovation skills and mindsets in Canadian youth. 

The Education for Innovation (E4I) resources, for Kindergarten to Grade 12, include teaching guides and training videos and are featured on the CanadianInnovationSpace.ca website where they are free to download.  

The Nipissing faculty team includes Dr. Maria Cantalini-Williams, Dr. Glenda Black, Dr. Daniel Jarvis and Jenny Guibert as well as new graduates from the Schulich School of Education (Brantford campus), Presley Sibbick and Joseph Bishop.  Both graduates are featured on the website and have presented their work in many venues such as Ottawa, Toronto and Waterloo.  

The Education for Innovation (E4I) resources are cross-curricular and can be integrated with any subject area expectations. The classroom activities are intended to encourage students to learn about the Innovation Cycle and the four phases of innovation including inquiry, ideation, incubation, and implementation while considering the impact of new innovations. Educators support innovation skills by establishing innovation spaces, exploring past innovations/innovators and encouraging students to plan their own Innovation Projects.

The education resources align with the books Innovation Nation, and Ingenious: How Canadian Innovators made the World Smarter, Smaller, Kinder, Safer, Healthier, Wealthier and Happier co-authored by The Right Honourable David Johnston and Tom Jenkins, Chair and former CEO of OpenText. Both Johnston and Jenkins are honorary degree recipients from Nipissing University.

Several schools in the Kitchener area including John Sweeney Catholic School, St. Mary’s and Resurrection High School have piloted the resources and presented their Innovation Projects in a celebratory Innovation Week. Other educators in the North Bay area are also field-testing the resources. A formal research study will provide feedback and findings from educators and partner organizations.

CanadianInnovationSpace.ca and the Education for Innovation initiative are coordinated by the Rideau Hall Foundation (www.rhf-frh.ca) as part of their ongoing work to strengthen Canada's culture of innovation.