This module is all about exploring how social innovation can help to create social change in schools and our communities.

Social innovation empowers people to become agents of change, equipping them with the mindsets, skills and dispositions to approach sticky problems with fresh eyes and ideas. It generates buy-in to new ideas by inviting people affected by sticky problems into the process of developing them; honouring their experiences by asking for their ideas and feedback and creating a sense of ownership over the new solution they have been an active part of developing. 

When done well, social innovation includes a diverse mix of people who understand the issues and organisations involved, so that their range of perspectives can strengthen the design of new ideas and make it more likely to work in practice. When we work in this way, we strengthen and build social connectedness as we develop empathy through listening and respectful collaboration with people we might not normally work with.

In social innovation we talk a lot about ways of ‘doing’ and methods for designing, but we know that one of the greatest enablers of really powerful innovation are the mindsets we bring to the table when we design. Ways of doing and working are vitally important, but so too are ways of thinking and being: these are the essential foundations required for design to have impact and for innovation to thrive.

Through our years of working in education and beyond, we believe there are five social innovation mindsets that designers develop and practice over time in order to catalyse innovation and make powerful change in their communities. In this module, we will explore these five mindsets and engage in some activities which help us to reflect on and practice them, before we dive into design methods next.

We invite you to also share your reflections, ideas and questions using the #LearningFirstBDA hashtag on Twitter.

Five mindsets that will help us on our innovation journey