Understanding Multi-layered Conceptualisations of Innovation in Education

Abstract

Innovation is a difficult concept to pin down. Indeed, there are intense debates and deep disagreements about this topic. The same can be said for innovation in education. While it is agreed that education is vital for creating a sustainable future, innovation in education has disparate meanings for various actors involved in education. Innovation in education may be driven by a host of factors ranging from sociological constructs such as equity or gender to global phenomena such as COVID-19. Innovation also varies in nature and degree. It can be in the form of an augmentation on current educational practices or artefacts, or in terms of a radical change. Innovation can be building on existing or disrupting current educational practices and artefacts. It can be inspired or imposed by educational authorities. This paper seeks to understand how various stakeholders of the education sector conceptualise what innovation is in education, and how it impacts their sector. The stakeholders include policymakers, educators, educational cadres that oversee policy implementation and teacher educators. The data has been produced through online questionnaires and focus group discussions. These data were analysed through the lens of different taxonomies of innovation that constitute the conceptual framework of the paper. The findings indicate that each stakeholder has a unique conceptualisation of what innovation in education entails. These conceptualisations do have commonalities among them. More importantly, the findings indicate gaps that exist among the different views that need to be bridged for the successful implementation of innovative projects in education.