Creating Innovators:  The Making of Young People Who Will Change the World
Tony Wagner

What will the 21^st century reward?  In Creating Innovators: The Making of Young People Who Will Change the World, Tony Wagner argues that the ability to innovate will be at the center of personal, national and global success.

On a journey that includes interesting stops at innovative corporations and educational institutions, Wagner focuses on how parents, teachers and mentors can develop the capacities of students to create and innovate. Wagner argues that innovation skills and habits of mind can be taught, nurtured and mentored. Throughout the book, QR codes provide links to dozens of interviews and resources.

The book’s first chapter, “A Primer on Innovation,” provides a comprehensive analysis of the threat of decreased innovation, while exploring emerging research in the areas of design thinking, motivation, integrative thinking and perseverance.  Throughout the chapter, Wagner pursues a comprehensive definition of innovation, while working to identify the essential traits of successful innovators.

The bulk of Wagner’s book reports on scores of interviews that further hone a definition of innovation, while identifying the abilities that emerging innovators must develop. In the midst of this development, the chapter on “Innovating Learning” provides educators with a thought-provoking review of how teaching and learning in the 21^st century needs to evolve to support the creation of innovators.

Wagner argues that for students to become innovators, “they need a different education, not merely more education.”  This different education will foster and promote values such as collaboration, multidisciplinary learning, risk-taking/failure, creating and intrinsic motivation defined by play, passion and purpose.

While some might find Wagner’s prognosis and prescriptions controversial, the book provides a comprehensive introduction to the emerging debates informing the philosophical design and practical outcomes of a 21^st century education. As Wagner warns, how we choose to solve this debate will “likely determine the extent to which America prospers.”

Reviewed by Andrew H. Potter, Vice President for Education & Academic Affairs, Envision