The Rise of Social Innovation Education
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We are born with a deep sense of our humanity – a need to empathise, be fair, care, connect and live with others – I believe this is our nature and that we can develop our ability to be more human. Like any ability however, it needs to be harnessed, nurtured and developed so that it can flourish.
Many will say most of this learning is acquired through the example set by parents, guardians, family, and those around us as we grow up, and I do not doubt that this has a significant influence. As a parent, I have struggled to know how best to nurture this ability in my children It is one of the fundamental challenges we face, whether parents, guardians or educators How do we support, encourage, and develop the humanity in each person? In the past, this was assigned mainly and framed largely within religious beliefs and practices
Times have changed, and I am not sure any one of us can have it all. 'It takes a village to rear a child.' This well-known saying means it takes how we all live together and connect as a community to support our children's growth and development. In 2001, as my children began to reach their teenage years, I saw a gap in our metaphorical village! I did not see the opportunities for young people, particularly teenagers, to engage in social issues, to have a voice and be heard, to be respected for their thinking and ideas, and to contribute in tangible ways to creating change in their local and school communities Incentives and opportunities were emerging to motivate and support young people around science and technology However, it was still hit-and-miss for young people if they were offered meaningful opportunities to engage in issues that mattered to them.
So, with Sr. Stanislaus Kennedy, philanthropist Chantal McCabe and others on the Board of Social Innovations Ireland, we set out to find ways to fill this gap. In summary, our challenge was to find a new, flexible, and fun way of empowering young people and teenagers. It was clear from the outset in 2001 that we did not need another "subject" What we needed was a robust process and opportunities to ignite young minds, tap their energy and support them to develop ideas which would address the many issues surrounding them We needed an even stronger message from society that such a process was beneficial, offering a powerful way to engage young people, and that the opportunities we were creating should be made available to everyone.
We took the concept of social innovation. While social innovation itself was gaining momentum in the early years of this century in Ireland, and its approaches and methods were becoming more recognised, the learning of it, the education for it, was virtually unheard of
I was conscious of the many aspects of social and civic education which had already evolved and how social innovation could support these, eg, human rights education, development education, and civic, social, and political education I was urged to call social innovation education something else (e.g., citizenship education or entrepreneurial education), but none of these seemed to embrace the strong empowerment embedded in youth action. The amplification of youth voice and the youth-led nature of social innovation education aspires to do these things with its strong emphasis on using young peoples' insights, ideas, and passions to co-create new responses to social issues.
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Young Social Innovators and the concept of social innovation education was born and began evolving over the coming years. We thought all aspects of social innovation could provide a new and powerful learning opportunity for young people – learning by doing social innovation - as well as developing and nurturing that passion that teenagers have to discover the world and do good
Each year, YSI finds new ways to use its Social Innovation Learning framework (SILF) to engage, empower and support some 17,000 children and young people to take innovative action to solve issues and connect to their communities
The Language of Social Innovation Education
Practically everything you learn has a language and pedagogy which help to provide understanding and learning, and which is developed over time Thinking evolves language and language evolves thinking. The YSI Social Innovation Learning Framework (SILF) evolved and was developed over about five years and was significantly influenced by the experience, observations, and insights I had working in the area of homelessness, youth services and social innovation over 20 years
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within those initial five years of YSI, we set out, we set out what we believed were the essential elements of social innovation and how these could be integrated into a new learning framework This became the YSI Social Innovation Learning Framework (SILF). The SILF outlines what is evidenced as a quality pedagogy and excellent practice around social innovation education (SIE), condensing the principles, practices, and learnings of social innovation.
The YSI Social Innovation Learning Framework
The Framework (see below) has four dimensions or elements, and each one is vitally important for quality social innovation learning If you take one away, then the learning will be less successful Each element has its own set of methods, activities, and practices. When all four dimensions are practised, the framework provides a powerful learning experience for young people.
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Fig 1 YSI Social Innovation Learning Framework
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Each element of the SILF has a significant role to play and is important in its own right. Each has its own set of learning and practices (see below). The elements are interdependent: collectively, and using the right methods, the elements combine for quality and impactful social innovation and learning experience. Each time a social innovation is undertaken, the learning is significant for teams and individuals
Our Framework underpins our programme and training design in the area of social innovation education.
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Here are the four elements of the SILF explored in more detail
The Values
Shared values help maintain many systems and behaviours, and they can prevent or slow down reform and change. Shared values are also strong drivers of social change.
Fig 2 Values of Social Innovation
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Social innovation education is value-based and values-led learning. Considering and understanding values allows for rich conversations around values and beliefs As educators, we can explore the value base of any social issues from the micro level of personal experience to the macro systemic level As students, such discourse helps the formation of identity and perspective. In the SILF framework, the values which should be infused in social innovation are Social Justice, Equality and Respect, Fairness & Inclusion and Sustainable Development
There is a strong link between social innovation and social justice. One can inform and activate the other – where injustice exists, people can be driven to promote change; where innovation exists, there can be a risk of negatively impacting the lives of people, communities, and the environment Social innovation provides a way for people to create social change with a focus on social justice The Sustainable Development Goals , set out by the United Nations in 2015 to be achieved by 2030, are being addressed by social innovators at local, regional, national, and international levels and provide a powerful driver for social innovation learning and practice
We realise social innovation can work against social justice and the common good rather than have a positive impact. This might be intentional or unintentional. Using the lenses of the values set out in SILF, every social innovation created could promote of these values, every social innovation created could promote social justice, equality and respect, fairness and inclusion and sustainable development in our world. These values help to inform and guide actions to ensure that the nature of the innovation is for the common or societal good.
The Experience
YSI recognises two learners or innovators – the young person and the Educator (otherwise called the "Guide or Facilitator") – each of whom have unique experiences and learning Let's look at the young person's learning experience in more detail
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The Student
Take the Lead - YSI puts young people in the driving seat They choose their own issue and innovative response during YSI programmes. This critical approach permeates the experience of the young person and is one of the major contributors to a high level of quality youth-led social innovations.
Fig 3. Experience of the Young Person 6 7 8
Work Together - YSI encourages young people to take ideas and put them into action Young people collaborate and use all their teams' talents and insights to increase success, sometimes failing and sometimes starting again But always learning, and always learning by doing.
Tell their Story - Telling the story and communicating ideas for change is a powerful way to influence change and get support for social innovation. There are many ways to facilitate storytelling in person and using technology, such as the YSI Speak Out, the YSI Den and the YSI Digital Gallery.
Take Action - The experience is about developing new ideas to solve problems and turning these ideas into action that can have a positive social impact. Young people lead their social innovation experience. This is an empowering and transformative experience It empowers young people to be leaders; decisionmakers; explorers; problem solvers; communicators; innovators, and activists
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Explore and Create Test and Adapt Act and Reflect
Fig. 5 Pathway of Change
Explore & Create - During this preliminary stage, young people identify and explore social issues they feel deeply about and create innovative solutions to this problem. They look at issues concerning people, communities or the environment that exist locally, nationally and globally and devise an innovative solution This stage is complex, so educators are asked to take time here There is never just one perspective around a social issue, and it is important that as many different perspectives are listened to and taken into account before jumping to any conclusions regarding a solution. In itself, considering a variety of perspectives and experiences is deep learning which can be applied to many areas of life
Our feelings, too, can overshadow or dominate our thinking. Differentiating facts from feelings and ensuring information is accurate and trustworthy is another important and transferable learning for team members. Broadening out, or encouraging divergent thinking around problem-solving, is done before collapsing or converging possible ideas on solutions and offers another excellent learning opportunity which has widespread application.
Test & Adapt - Innovators are encouraged to test their solutions to see how these work in the real world They will gain new insights doing this and can then adapt their ideas to make their solutions even better. Using human-centred and sustainable design tools can enhance this prototyping and adaptation stage with considerable learning for the student. This is a vital part of social innovation education and will significantly impact the quality and impact of the innovation It should be done deliberately and given time for testing, feedback and adaptation of ideas. Ideas rarely work the first time, and each "failure" should be seen as a positive opportunity to learn and to improve on the innovation.
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Act & Reflect - Social innovation is about bringing about change that can build a fairer, more equal and sustainable world Ideas are just that and turning an idea into action requires different practical skills
Social innovators plan out their actions and then roll them out. Part of the action will be to communicate their ideas which is an integral part of gaining support for their innovation Bringing about or influencing change usually means persuading others to do, think, or act differently The idea can then gain traction in the community and perhaps beyond. This stage provides more valuable opportunities to learn new things.
Fig 6 Reflection on Practice
Reflecting on practice ensures we learn from our experiences Developing and creating innovations – whatever they are – is not straightforward We can travel down cul de sacs or fall off cliffs, (metaphorically of course!), get things wrong and have unexpected consequences. Nothing is lost; everything tried is one step closer to getting things right.
The reflection framework YSI uses is called, in short, the 4 Cs This is a tool to help social innovators understand and reflect on their social innovation. It can be done at different project stages and is a really effective way to discover and share learning as individuals and as a team. Let's look at these four reflective tools in more detail
Care - What have innovators explored and discovered about what they are passionate about? What are their findings? How have they explored and taken on board the perspective of those impacted? How much is known and unknown at this point?
Cooperate - How has the team worked together and with others to generate ideas and implement an innovative solution that will have a positive impact? Has the team been inclusive of others, e.g. those impacted and those with different perspectives and roles? Has the team worked with others who need to know and could be helpful to their cause?
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Communicate - How has the team communicated the problem and innovative solution? Has that had an influence or garnered support? Has the team used suitable communication channels effectively to advance their social innovation and cause channels to advance their social innovation and cause? Did the team speak to different audiences and have any impact on them? How do they know?
Change - What change has come about because of social innovation? What were the unexpected consequences of the innovation? How has the innovation had a positive impact and made a difference? How do you know?
Reflective practice gives space for learning. In social innovation education, success is about learning from the doing, the learning outcomes alongside the impact of the social innovation. YSI uses this 4 C framework to evaluate teams learning and impact as they report on their social innovation The 4 C’s capture a great deal in relation to this process-based learning
Innovation for Good with Strong Learning Outcomes
Social innovation is strong on process, collaboration, and co-designing. Such a process ensures better, more inclusive, and sustainable outcomes. It is concerned with the 'how' we solve problems as much as the 'what' we are trying to do. With new technologies and scientific discovery, innovation accelerates, and the potential for systemic change has been palpable in recent years However, change does not always result in creating solutions for the benefit of people, communities, and life on earth. Often unforeseen consequences create or reinforce inequalities, injustices, and damage. This is why social innovation education, with its focus on values and purpose, is so important It provides an understanding of how to innovate with a strong focus on creating value which will benefit, not harm, the future of humanity and the planet.
YSI has developed many programmes of engagement in social innovation for children and young people The overarching goal of all our programmes is to create programmes and opportunities that allow children and young people to engage in youth-led, team-based social innovation, which is underpinned by the values of human rights, equality, fairness, and sustainable development.
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The skills and methods of social innovation education, which are also those of entrepreneurship education, are iterative and build on experience. The more you practice, the more proficient and skilled you become! These skills are also transferable to real-life situations.
By doing social innovation at a young age, we can learn about the potential of and language of innovation alongside a value base which contributes to the common good. As with any topic or subject, guided by people who understand the process, ways of thinking, approaches and pedagogies, significant learning and development happen
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The key learning outcomes and competencies for young people participating in social innovation education and YSI's social innovation programmes include teamwork; advocacy/communications; ideation; critical thinking; planning; design thinking; values-based thinking; literacy, and numeracy. These are the critical competencies for social innovation and entrepreneurial skill-based learning Together, with skills-based, social innovation has knowledge-based learning around understanding complex social issues, social change, sustainable development, and the interrelationship of local and global issues
This is learning for life and work, which includes the widely sought-after 21stcentury skills and all of this before we consider the outcomes of social value to the communities in which the innovations are brought to bear
One of the most articulate statements about the impact YSI has had on young people, and which has been said to me many times, is "I never knew I could make such a difference". We need people to know and believe that they can make a difference in the face of the many challenges we have today – not only to know that but to know how to make a change.
YSI is a Process, not a Programme
The vision and mission of YSI were never just to create another programme. YSI was and is way more ambitious It was set up to be a movement of change; it was about young people taking their rightful place and having a real voice in society; it was a turning point for new generations of young people to have their voices and ideas heard and supported. It was to find a way where the community, or village, could easily support and be involved in this To do this, it developed, tested and continues to roll out social innovation education in Ireland and beyond.
YSI has developed programmes for engagement and supported these by training thousands of educators to facilitate youth-led social innovation. Alongside this, it has many fun events, activities and platforms where young people can learn, share and be supported to develop their social innovations. Through its Speak Outs , Dens , Digital Platforms , Social Media Campaigns, and national and international showcases , it enables young people to influence others, increase their impact and gain support for ideas.
YSI is not just impacting schools. YSI projects quickly ripple out from school communities into local communities– into hundreds of community-based services, voluntary bodies, public services, local authorities and councils, and political establishments yearly YSI has harnessed the power of digital technology and is now designing new ways to use digital technology to engage young people in social innovation. YSI keeps evolving.
Over 21 years, YSI has distributed over 150,000 euros to youth-led social innovation to help increase the impact of innovations around the country As a result, we are witnessing more and more young people having more and more influence in their local areas and on social issues nationally and indeed internationally
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Any Purposeful Project can be a Social Innovation Experience
And the good news is that social innovation can be integrated into most, if not all, project-based work, no matter what the subject area. Social innovation education is learning by doing and practising innovative and entrepreneurial skills by focussing on creating social change. It can be done as a stand-alone social innovation project within a YSI Programme, or its process can be integrated as part of any team-based purposeful project "Purposeful" in this context means any project intending to improve the well-being of people, communities or the environment, or all three. Projects present an excellent opportunity to collaborate on issues in the interest of the common good – often, such project opportunities are missed
There are many opportunities in education and youth work for project-based work, and hopefully, there will be many more in time. These projects can impact issues around us in whatever subject they arise, e.g. maths, science, religious studies, physical education, geography, business, languages, and even algebra, geometry and chemistry or be used as a great cross-curricular project where multiple subjects are used to benefit a social innovation.
Once an educator identifies a project, they can use the Social Innovation Learning Framework to facilitate many aspects of a purposeful project They can draw on methods, values, activities and approaches which facilitate social innovation These are found in YSI programmes and training. Our activities and tools are designed by ourselves and are also drawn from different fields such as business, innovation, social and political studies, creative thinking, civic and global citizenship and human rights, sustainable development education, the arts and design, communications, marketing and others. We have seen educators applying our activities and approaches to other projects they are working on with students with great outcomes over the years. The key to this is understanding the SIF, its Pathway, Experience, and Values and integrating Reflective Practice into a purposeful innovation project
However, educators can engage their students in social innovation learning in a much simpler way. Get involved in a YSI Programme! The training and experience gained as part of the programme will be transferable to other project work so long as there is an intention of letting young people take the lead!
YSI has programmes designed for children and teenagers however they can be used by other age groups too! Our programmes are evidence-based, so if educators and students participate, they can be fast-tracked to quality tools and approaches They will also benefit from the YSI digital platforms, events, and much more.
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Impact on the Community
Social Innovation impacts schools and local communities Where the community visibly supports its young social innovators, it helps to create a climate for this learning and a culture and environment which normalises innovation and action for the benefit of those in the wider community. The teams build bridges into and from the local community Where often, students are seen as a major part of the problem, involving them in problem-solving over time in the school community helps everyone see that they are a significant part of developing effective solutions.
I felt that the project didn't just permeate through our school community, which it certainly did, but it actually permeated out into the community at large and even further beyond. -School Principal
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There are many ways schools have benefited from working with YSI. Our Local Leaders are now there to support teachers and students participating in programmes, and they have networks of support that can help The more trained educators in a school, the more impact social innovation will have on students and that community. A YSI school in Lebanon took the decision to use the SIF to guide all project-based work in the school To do this, they have trained all school staff from primary right through to post-primary levels Both students and teachers see the benefits of this approach
Conclusion
In the early 2000s, YSI coined the phrase' social innovation education' (SIE) – the learning and practice of using one's creativity to develop ideas which would improve the well-being of people, communities and the planet. It also developed a quality pedagogy and Framework around this, which is being widely used SIE is progressive and transformational and supports many government and government agency policies and strategies, including those related to young people's well-being and participation, volunteering, climate action, SDGs, education, social enterprise, innovation, employment and so on
The Programme for Government 2020 recognises the value of SIE and sets out the intention to "expand access to social innovation programmes to all postprimary schools". When implemented, this could be a significant way we, in local communities and as a society, harness the youth energy and passion for addressing the many challenges of our day We need this
As a parent and as Co-founder and CEO of Young Social Innovators, I, like many others, believe the overarching purpose of education is to support the development of the whole person and their ability to connect with and contribute to the well-being of the world around them Education with the purpose of the development and nurturing of our humanity is surely the centrepiece of what we all aspire to. This is the power of social innovation education. It is education which helps us learn to be human.
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[1] In 2020 the Programme for Government acknowledged the benefit of social innovation education for all in its statement “expand access to social innovation programmes to all post-primary schools”
[2] YSI Social Innovation Learning Framework: a unique model for guiding the learning of social innovation designed by Young Social Innovators.
[3] The Impact of Social Innovation Education on Wellbeing, A Maynard, J Symonds, Dublin 2021 p10
[4] Through YSI, students are brought together to co-design and create new solutions to social problems facilitated by trained educators (YSI Guides). Learning is youth-led, field-based and action-focused.
[5] Sustainable Development Goals: SDGs are a collection of 17 interlinked global goals designed to be a "shared blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet, now and into the future". The SDGs were set up in 2015 by the United Nations General Assembly and are intended to be achieved by 2030
[6] Speak Out: a three-minute presentation by young people to communicate what they care about and why and what their innovation is and how it can create change
[7] YSI Den: YSI teams pitch for support from the Social Innovation Fund which is available to YSI teams who successfully pitch for assistance to develop an idea, product or enterprise
[8] YSI Digital Platform: YSI Gallery provides a digital platform where young people’s stories and ideas are published by YSI
[9] Young Social Innovators of the Year Ireland Awards: an all-Ireland event hosted by YSI where selected teams compete for the overall title Young Social Innovators Ireland Awards Gold, Silver and Bronze and other Challenge Awards It is usually held in May every year
[10] The Impact of Social Innovation Education on Wellbeing, A Maynard, J Symonds, Dublin 2021 p.8
[11] YSI Programmes: YSI offers a range of social innovation programmes in Ireland and internationally to engage children and young people and educator training to support them. Check out our website youngsocialinnovators.ie
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