Obstacles to Innovation

by Christopher Walker

This article is one of two that looks at the results of the survey “Innovative EFL Teachers” that was distributed via social media in the summer of 2025. Teachers from around the world and working both inside and outside the International House network offered examples of their innovative practices and the obstacles they face when looking to innovate in the EFL classroom. Christopher Walker and Glenn Standish worked on the design and analysis of the survey, and wish to thank the respondents for kindly sharing their ideas.

The majority of the teachers who completed the “Innovative EFL Teachers” survey reported at least one obstacle to the introduction of innovations at their school. This was somewhat to be expected – resistance to change is a common feature of life, let alone of education. What struck me as really interesting, though, was that these obstacles were so varied. To paraphrase a famous Russian, “All happy teachers are alike; each unhappy teacher is unhappy in their own way.”

Obstacles to innovation are not purely such – they are often obstacles in a more general sense, and only when these general obstacles are removed can teachers feel truly free to introduce innovations to their classroom. As one respondent puts it, “Obstacles to innovation take many forms — from being overwhelmed with paperwork, to working in a culture where the status quo dominates, or being in a school where leadership tightly controls expectations.”

What can schools do to encourage innovation when teachers are struggling with overloaded timetables or are burdened by a large quantity of paperwork?

The solutions depend greatly on the school’s own appetite for innovation or for seeing their teachers develop. As the end of the teaching contract approaches, you might expect the school to be less keen to support teachers who wish to innovate or to engage in professional development. The argument that I have encountered is that the next school will reap the reward of the previous school’s investment. Fortunately, I have spoken to enough Directors of Studies to know that this is not the norm – there are many, many great schools out there that prioritise long-term teacher development over immediate gain, but for teachers who feel that they are being in some way held back, this could be the explanation.

Much also depends on the teacher themselves. The goal of teacher innovation, as with the wider topic of teacher development, is to make the teacher a more efficient and effective professional. Efficiency means reducing the time spent planning lessons, and can reduce the chance of burnout. This is the contradiction at the heart of innovation – the busy teacher must add to their initial burden by spending time investigating potential innovations in the hope that they pay off in the long term. And given how so many teachers leave the industry each year, long-term thinking is not a universal quality.

Innovation versus The School

For some respondents, the greatest obstacle was the school itself. A conservative attitude is understandable – the school will still be around even when all the teachers have left, and if one teacher wants to make a change that affects more than just their own students, it might be difficult to convince the school that the change is worth considering. For example, one respondent worked at a school that did not incorporate any formal assessment of students into the offer, meaning that students progressed from level to level regardless of attainment. The knock-on effect was, predictably enough, that many students found themselves in the wrong level, making every class a stressful mixed-ability class to teach, driving the teacher closer to burnout with every passing week. But when the teacher proposed more stringent testing, the school said no.

While it is up to schools to decide which innovations are worth pursuing and which are not, it is nevertheless important that teachers feel they have a voice and that they are listened to. This is partly where the Director of Studies or Academic Manager comes in, but at schools where the position does not exist, there still needs to be a way for teachers to present their ideas, and to know these ideas will be considered. It would be a shame for a school to lose a good teacher because they felt they were never being listened to, and it is often the case that teachers who care enough to make suggestions in the first place are, themselves, good teachers worth keeping.

Innovation versus The Student

It may seem counterintuitive to think of the students we teach as representing obstacles to innovation. However, one of the major impediments to the rise of the non-native speaker teacher is the fact that many students still believe that native speakers somehow represent better value for money – a topic that Helen Pattio-Coombe discussed in the last issue of the IH Journal.

It is difficult to overcome resistance to innovation when it appears among students rather than at the school level, as this respondent reports: “We have a ‘the customer is always right’ policy at school, which means that if the learners have a traditional view of teacher / learner roles, we staff should adapt teaching to fit the learner’s understanding. It can make approaching topics like learner autonomy (and some skills) tricky in some classes. (I’m also looking for an innovative way to approach grammar with one learner who is adamantly opposed to anything that even smells grammatical.)”

Another says: “Most students were heavily used to more traditional approaches. Sometimes, it was hard to get them to understand a step in the lesson plan.”

If it isn’t the students who stand in the way, it might be the students’ parents: “[D]ue to close monitoring by the administration and parents, who often act like detectives trying to catch inconsistencies, I sometimes feel restricted in applying my own ideas.”

What can the teacher do in such cases?

The first thing is to know the class you are dealing with. Rapport is always essential but never more so than when the teacher wants to introduce an innovation into their teaching. With sufficiently advanced or mature classes, it might simply be worth discussing the idea with your students first, to see if they would be willing to trial it and to report to you on their initial and later impressions of the innovation. For anyone interested in Action Research, this kind of feedback will be precious.

Teachers are advised to discuss their plans with their Director of Studies, if they have one; if they don’t, they should at least ask around in the staffroom before trying an idea out, especially if there is an element of risk or uncertainty in the idea. It’s always possible that what one teacher thinks of as an innovation is actually a common practice for another teacher – such is the way with EFL – so talking openly about what you want to try might lead you to someone else’s expertise, which you can make use of when you go off to your own lessons.

A Pathway to Successful Innovation

Teachers are remarkable people – even when the survey they are completing offers them the opportunity to whinge and groan at the state of their careers or their employers, many still look for positives. This was certainly the case with one respondent, who added a whole system of how to approach innovation at the end of their discussion of the obstacles we face. It’s such a helpful comment that I want to include it here:

“For me, innovation begins with inspiration — often sparked through informal CPD: blog posts, podcasts, LinkedIn discussions, or simply seeing what other teachers are doing. The next step is finding like-minded colleagues with whom to share and refine these ideas. From there, it’s about intentionally structuring lessons to include new approaches, with the understanding that success rarely happens on the first attempt. Persistence is key; innovation requires patience and iteration. Equally important is building in ways to assess the impact of any new approach — whether through structured formative assessment, student questionnaires, classroom observations, or action research. Finally, I believe that innovation should not be a solitary pursuit. Sharing findings — formally or informally — encourages a culture of experimentation and helps others take similar steps. […] Ultimately, I do not think innovation is overrated — but I do think it needs to be purposeful, grounded in evidence, and supported by the wider school environment to truly flourish.”

I can’t think of a better conclusion than that!

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