What are the obstacles to innovation?

[Anne Mirtschin]

I am interested in hearing from people as to what they perceive as being major obstacles (if any) to innovation? That is the actual ideas for innovation, to its practise in the classroom right through to being accepted as mainstream practice? Is it financing, lack of successful networking, infrastructure problems, lack of promotion or ???

[Roxanne Jean Egan]

Most often I think the obstacles to innovation are the lack of time available to develop innovative approaches to teaching and learning - we often talk about the benefits of working in teams to be innovative however, time allotments and planning times are very restrictive and are usually the key obstacles to taking on an innovative project. Its great to take on these new approaches however, if there is a lack of time given to do so and a lack of support by fellow staff or leadership of a school then they simply cannot happen in the detail that the innovator may have wished them too.