INNOVATE AFRICA FOUNDATION

Kabowa Zone, Lubaga Division, Kampala. PO Box 32427 Kampala. Tel. +256775048575/+256705338959

Email: [email protected] Website: https://sites.google.com/site/innovateafricafoundation/

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INNOVATE AFRICA FOUNDATION

CHILDREN INNOVATION COURSE

STUDENT BOOKLET



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About Innovate Africa Foundation

Innovate Africa Foundation is a Non Profit Organization registered in Uganda. At Innovate Africa, we

believe that African communities are surrounded by opportunities that can help them transform their

lives. We also acknowledge that joint effort is required for lifting these communities. We, therefore,

recommend these African communities to engage their input in the process of transforming themselves.

Innovate Africa considers this input from African communities to be the foundation for their sustainable

positive transformation; a good start that would make a half of the battle. Innovate Africa Foundation

wants to contribute the possible contribution it has. Innovate Africa Foundation is contented with only

one area of operation; promoting innovation in communities. Our first project was “Children Innovation

Course” that aims at teaching innovation to children in schools.

About Children Innovation Course

Innovate Africa Foundation started delivering the course of innovation to children since January 2019. To

now, 423 students from two primary schools (Bbunga Hill Primary School and Konge Parents Primary

School) are benefiting the course. The course is delivered as extra curriculum activity and aims to address

the challenges of lack of African innovation identity, contribution of innovation in revolutionizing

African economy, practices of science subject in schools and challenging unemployment after school life.

Students who participated in the course have shown the ability of being real innovators.



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General overview of the Course

As teachers, parents, and the community, we all influence children's participation and development and

can support or spoil their innovation. The way that teachers play a big role in promoting innovative

thinking in children is to organize their environment. They start by creating well-organized classrooms,

providing environments where children may take risks and feel socially and emotionally supported, and

where children have opportunities to explore and create with varied materials.

Innovation contributes to inventiveness, innovation, social and cultural change as well as economic

progress. The innovator is a creator, a problem solver, an entrepreneur, a change agent. Innovative people

have rapid and effective responses that help them to achieve their life goals and allow them to enjoy the

journey. Innovation is both a skill set and a unique and individual personality structure that is developed

throughout childhood and fine tuned in adolescence and adulthood. It is no doubt true that education has a

key role to play in innovation development. Positive innovation inspiring experiences at every stage of the

educational journey are needed. This is especially true in both early childhood and the infant primary

classes. Educators who rise to the innovation challenge will be well rewarded in rich teaching experiences

and the joy of seeing children reach their innovative potential in supportive and integrated learning

systems.

Chapman (1978) writes that children develop thinking and sensory learning though engagement with

innovative activities and that it is essential that they are offered an opportunity to engage with their

innovation in the early stages of their education. Arnold (2003) and Bruce (2004) agree with this line of

thought, stating that it is engagement with innovative activities that promotes children‟s developing

abilities to think of new ideas, express them, identify issues and problem solve.

Donahoe and Gaynor (2007) believe that activities that enhance innovation and imagination are what

lead to children embracing divergent forms of thinking that in turn leads them to innovation through the

processing of unique ideas and experiences.

Ken Robinson (2001) argues that we don‟t grow into innovation, it is present in early childhood and we

are educated out of it. From all of these viewpoints, it is evident that engaging innovation in children is

essentially an important milestone in the development of innovative thinkers and innovators in adult life.



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Marzollo and Lloyd (1972) believe that if innovation is not engaged with during the naturally innovative

childhood years that it is not something that can then be developed in later life.

Bamford (2005) and Burke (2005) both write that the pleasure factor in innovation or children‟s

enjoyment of the innovative experience is a key component in their learning and in the nurturing of their

innate innovative abilities with their desire to engage more and more with innovation and thus become

more and more innovative.

Innovation is developed in the early years but also through the wider spectrum of play. These essential

characteristics of valuable early play are first and foremost that it is fun and enjoyable, chosen by the

children or invented by the children. It is also essential that it is integrating in nature involving the minds,

bodies, spirits and senses of the children involved (Wood, 2009). The abilities to take risks and exercise

judgment have their roots in early risky play (Ball 2002, Sandseter 2007). Even knowledge acquisition

skills are laid down through a love of learning developed in early childhood through an internalisation of

the fun that learning can bring and a lifelong sense of joy through learning by association (Montessori,

1996). Reflection, the essence of critical and analytical skills can only come through experience of self

initiated experimental learning. Although this only appears as the faculty of judgment nearer to secondary

school age, the younger this occurs the deeper ingrained the integrated reflective abilities (Steiner, 1981).



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Course Objectives

Creating the Africa own innovational identity

Raising a new generation of young innovators that will revolutionize African economy,

Providing practical innovation skills to young students complementary to theoretical knowledge

they learn from scientific subjects,

Preparing a class of young professional innovators that can challenge unemployment.

Course strategies to achieve objectives

Compiling standardized course curriculums,

Providing sequential grading of innovation courses from 10 years old students to 18 years old

young students,

Establishing an innovation gallery for children innovation tourism where they come for short-

learning and buy children innovation products,

Setting up innovation projects shop that will provide innovation learning materials for schools,

Empowering and integrating successful learners into the real innovation career.

Study methodology

The exercise is a learning-by-doing course. This is an on-ground course, meaning to meet face-to-face for

discussions, formal presentations of key learning material, exercises, and application of key course

deliverables. Physical interactions of mentors and students offer different types of teaching methods -

lectures (30%), and special sessions in other formats, like workshops, panel discussions, team work

sessions, presentations (70%). Throughout the course participants make part of and work in teams. In

addition, there are individual after course assignments.



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Equipment and materials

The required equipment for the course are; Kitbag, printed over cot, gloves, book, mathematical set,

student ID, booklet of course documents & student details.

Instructors

The pool of instructors and mentors is made up of qualified and experienced mentors of innovation

specialized personnel.

Didactic materials

Handouts for subject guide and explanation,

A copy of prototype of topic item for brainstorming ideas.



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Students contribution: Minimum financial contribution is UGX 39,000 per child per term, paid in

Equity Bank Uganda Ltd on account of Innovate Africa Foundation, account No. 1027201353800. This

contribution is not little but according to what are supposed to be covered, their cost seems to be higher

than that contribution. Innovate Africa Foundation will appreciate any donation advocacy, connectivity

and robbing towards a sponsorship of this Children Innovation Course.

Expected outcomes and benefits

The most important outcome for this training for young students is to know what it really feels, looks,

sounds, tastes and is like to be an innovator - with all the possible destinations in their future. With

everything that normally remains untold to them in the classrooms and with everything one cannot even

imagine before just trying it out.

The course will offer young students a safe but at the same time a genuine environment for testing

themselves as innovators and realizing if this is what they really want to become , and if they have what it

takes.

Equally, the course provides young students a very unique opportunity in a learning situation - to

understand what it takes and how it works to turn an idea into a real business. A chance to see up close



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and personal how a variety of different competencies and activities need to be covered is a first time

experience for many. That a great idea isn‟t great until you proved it yourself. That a good application

alone is useless if it doesn‟t have a user friendly design. That even a perfectly designed solution is worth

nothing if there isn‟t illustration to put it into practice. The Innovation for Early Age is therefore a true

eye-opener for no matter which participant profile.

Course Assessment

The students are evaluated on the basis of their performance as follows:

Course attendance-30%

Team evaluation-30%

Individual evaluation-20%

Class evaluation-20%

Final Course Grades

Final course grades are earned according to the following table:

Point Range Assigned Grade Interpretation

98-100 Points A Pass with distinction

70-79 Points B Pass with credit

50-69 Points C Pass

0-49 Points D Failure



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Course schedule in a whole term:

Day Session Activity

1 One Introduction of the course and distribution of equipment

2 Two Introduction of instructors and team building

3 Three Topic one: Theoretical briefing of the course

4 Four Topic two: Art and craft innovative ideas

5 Five Topic three: Plastic recycling innovative ideas

6 Six Topic four: Cardboard innovative ideas

7 Seven Topic five: Mechanism creative ideas

8 Eight Topic six: Engineering innovative ideas

9 Nine Topic seven: Dynamism innovative ideas

10 Ten Topic eight: ICT innovative ideas

11 Eleven Topic nine: Artificial intelligence creative ideas

12 Twelve Topic ten: Toy making innovative ideas

Innovation in young children

When considering young children, the criterion of uniqueness in relation to a domain is inappropriate. It is

important to consider each child‟s innovative abilities in relation to their personal stage of development.

For example, a young child‟s work may not be considered original when judged against larger norms, but

may be adaptive and original for that particular child and/or in relation to children in the peer group.

Meador quotes Amabile who argues that the main reference point for judging innovation in young

children should be the children themselves: „In order to be novel, the words or act must be unique “within

the child‟s repertoire of behavior.” The criterion of appropriateness is met if the action is “pleasing or

communicative or meaningful” to the child.‟ (Meador, 1992, p.164.) Malaguzzi also places the emphasis

on the views of children: „They are the best evaluators and most sensitive judges of the values and

usefulness of innovation.‟ (Malaguzzi, 1993, p.75.)

Another suggestion for adapting the notion of innovation to suit young children is made by Tegano et al.

(1991). They argue that when judging the innovation of young children, it is appropriate to place more

emphasis on the innovative process than on the product: „Because young children do not always have the

skills to make a innovative product.‟ A similar point is made by Malaguzzi who says: „Innovation

becomes more visible when adults try to be more attentive to the cognitive processes of children than to

the results they achieve in various fields of doing and understanding.‟ (Malaguzzi, 1993, p.77.) This is an

interesting comment coming from the driving force behind the Reggio Emilia approach, which has

impressed so many people with the quality of innovative „products‟ generated by young children.



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Creating a culture of innovation in schools

In order to consider the way in which innovation may be fostered in educational settings, it may be

helpful to identify some of the components of innovation in young children.

We are all born with an innovative instinct and all people have innovative potential. Young children

naturally engage in play – a state when the imagination is used to „try out‟ situations and possibilities. A

cardboard box becomes a car, grass becomes food, a toy comes alive. As children mature and move

through their school career, innovation can be stifled as an unintended consequence of other pressures.

Like any habit, innovation can be encouraged or discouraged. Having a learning rather than a

performance orientation, it helps to create an environment where innovation is encouraged. Schools that

are successful at stimulating innovative learning have the following in common:

Value and celebrate learners‟ innovative and innovative contributions

Do not overcrowd the curriculum. They focus on depth as well as breadth. They manage time

effectively, providing opportunities for pupils to explore, concentrate for extended periods of

time, reflect, discuss and review. Students are expected to reflect deeply on the material that they

are learning and to make connections between subjects and topics

Encourage a broad and balanced curriculum so that students experience a range of subjects and

activities, including the innovation

Encourage students not studying the arts as qualifications to pursue innovative activities in the co-

curricular programme

Develop codes of behaviour and classroom procedures that value and promote innovation.

Creating a climate in the school by providing an environment that supports innovation can be very

powerful factor of inspiring children future orientation and professional journey.



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Monitoring and evaluation

From the first session, tracking the progress of the course delivery implementation is done using a theory

of change. This implementation progress information for monitoring and evaluation is recorded using a

results framework as an explicit articulation of a matrix summary of different levels, or chains, of results

expected from our course delivery and its implementation strategies. The specified results on course

delivery status comprise the longer-term objectives for the course delivery in the coming days (often

referred to as “outcomes” or “impact”) and the intermediate outcomes and outputs that precede and lead

to those desired longer-term objectives. A Theory of Change is periodically updated upon availability of

monitoring and evaluation data from the course delivery reports and suggestions from partnered schools.

This is done during evaluations, reflecting what has worked or not in order to understand the past and

plan for the future of this Children Innovation Course delivery.

COURSE EVALUATION REPORT CARD

Student No :

Student names :

School :

Grade/year :

Team/Group :

Year :

Term :

Date Topic Materials& equipment Class time Individual

performance Team

performance Class

performance

Total scores

Grading

School approval :……………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Parent comment :………………………………………………………………………………………………………….



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Importance of Innovation for Child’s Development

Encouraging children to try out new things and ideas is a crucial factor in their intellectual, physical and

emotional growth.

• Physical development

Various arts and crafts are ways for children to encourage movement, develop fine motor skills, control

and coordination. When children manipulate tools and explore constructing and assembling, they are

unconsciously involved in physical interaction with the world. They use senses to learn about the

environment and connect with things they already know. For example, while painting or paper coloring,

kids get to know how to hold and control a paintbrush and define their preferences to use the right (or the

left) hand.

• Emotional development

Younger kids can use various arts and tools to express their thoughts they are not yet able to share

verbally. In this way, innovative arts can help children release their feeling by putting them on a specific

piece of artwork. Such activities also let children feel proud of their achievements and get mastery of the

environment, when they craft something. On top of that, kids gain confidence in their capacities and raise

self-esteem.

• Intellectual development

At a basic level, they develop concentration and the abilities to measure and sort things. To make sense of

the world around them, kids ask themselves some basic questions and get engaged in activities that foster

understanding of some basic concepts. As children grow older, they learn to develop critical thinking and

problem solving. In this respect, the innovative curriculum for preschool teaches young learners to

consider alternatives, analyze them and decide how to apply them in the appropriate context.

• Social development

Being together in an innovative environment, children learn to share and interact with each other. These

are basic aspects of social learning. Singing, dancing and drama acting imply development of

indispensable social skills, such as communication, sympathy and respect.

http://kids-collective.com/curriculum/montessori/

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