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Book: Values, models, education. Contemporary perspectives

Values, models, education. Contemporary perspectives
Location: Romania
Author(s): Anamaria Popescu
Title: INNOVATION IN EDUCATION
INNOVATION IN EDUCATION
URL: https://www.ceeol.com/search/chapter-detail?id=1080959
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21. INNOVATION IN EDUCATION

ANAMARIA POPESCU1

Abstract: The innovation process is a complex activity of creating, developing, using and
disseminating modern or modernized innovations (theories, methods, technologies, etc.). This
is the process of transforming scientific knowledge into innovation, the process of constantly
transforming an idea into a product, technology or service. The goal of the innovative processes
is the development of the school as a pedagogical system and special social organization, the
achievement of qualitatively new higher educational results and the increase of the
competitiveness of educational institutions. This process is motivated, intentional, conscious,
aiming to transfer the education system to a new qualitative state, in a way of development.
This article addresses the issue of innovation in education, which is a superior, primary product
of pedagogical creativity, validated by its originality and confirmed relevance at the social level,
at the scale of the educational system and process. The article carries out an analytical review of
the field of educational innovation. The situation of innovation in the education system is
evaluated, how much it means reform of the system and how much innovation, but also how
innovation can be stimulated in the education system. Innovation in education encourages
teachers and learners to explore, research and apply all tools to discover something new.
Innovation is an essential component for many economic, social and technical fields, and
education is no exception to this.

Keywords: innovation; educational innovation; social innovation; educational technology;

implementation.

1. Introduction

According to the National Innovation Council for Educational Success, an

innovative teaching practice is an educational action characterized by attention to the
learner and his educational environment (well-being, conditions and quality of
learning). Educational innovation is a combination of management methodologies for
change and creativity of an institution's staff and learners.
The term "innovation" refers to the introduction of something new in a
particular field. Thus, educational innovation must be perceived as a proposed
novelty, a change, a creation, a transformation or even an invention in the fields of
pedagogy and teaching. Innovation is not only about supporting students, but also
about learning. Innovation refers to all school subjects, which are constantly called to
renew and improve. For this purpose, innovation is considered to be a transversal
process. It questions content and representations, as it most often arises from a desire
to work differently to respond effectively and relevantly to learners' needs and
difficulties. Therefore, it is at the centre of the educational system and has benefited
from an official framework since 2005 thanks to the orientation law and the program

1 Lecturer, PhD, University of Petroşani

* doi: https://doi.org/10.56177/epvl.ch21.2022.en

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for the future of the School, which recognizes the right of institutions to establish
educational experiments.

2. Innovation - concept, process, typology and implications in education

Pedagogical innovation is a transition from tradition to modernity, through

the introduction of changes, in order to increase the efficiency of the training process
and the formation of the personality of the contemporary man. Innovations in the field
of education can be realized in the form of conceptual changes regarding the
organizational system, curricula/discipline sheets, textbooks and teaching methods,
changes related to interpersonal relationships, such as the teacher-student
relationship, or changes of a material nature, if we refer to teaching aids and didactic
technology laboratories. The implementation of innovations in education is carried
out through educational reforms or by introducing various changes at the structural
and functional level in order to improve the educational process (Dubcovețchi, 2017).
Social innovation is taking shape as a new field of analysis both in the context
of the development of approaches that consider planned social development possible
and effective, and in the context of other approaches that value dispersed knowledge,
decentralization and the ability of communities, of social groups to self-organize and
to formulate specific, new answers to the problems they face.
Social innovation is also the field of interest of some national and
international bodies and organizations - OECD, UN, EU, CRISIS - which set out not only
to recognize the importance of innovation in the socio-economic, political, cultural
development of a society, but also the development of the concept, by launching new
points of view, new perspectives to approach it. At the OECD level, the definition is
agreed according to which "social innovation represents the new ideas that transform
local development policies and practices.
The main concern for this field is the social problem, which denotes that the
innovation appears as a response to a new social problem, to the unsatisfactory
solution of a social problem or is an approach to improve existing solutions (Matei,
2009, pp. 87-91).
A social innovation is defined by its innovative or non-standard character and
by the general objective it pursues, which is to promote the well-being of individuals
and communities. It is characterized by an implementation process involving the
cooperation of a diversity of actors rather than by intangible or tangible results. In the
long term, innovations can have a social efficiency that goes beyond the initial project
(companies, associations, etc.) and represents a problem that calls into question the
major balances of society. They then become sources of social transformation and can
contribute to the emergence of a new development model.
Therefore, the purpose of any innovation is to create something different
from what has been done, be it quality, quantity or both (Cloutier, 2003).
To produce a sizable, transformative effect, the innovation must be
operationalized, which requires prompt diffusion and wide-scale implementation.
Innovation is generally understood as “[…] the successful introduction of a
new thing or method” (Brewer & Tierney, 2012, p. 15). Essentially, “[…] innovation
appears to have two sub-components. First, there is the idea or item that is new to a
particular individual or group, and second, there is the change that results from the
adoption of the object or idea” (Evans, 1970, p. 16). Thus, innovation requires three

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major steps: an idea, its implementation, and the result that results from the execution
of the idea and produces a change.
In education, innovation appears as a new pedagogical theory,
methodological approach, teaching technique, instructional tool, learning process or
institutional structure that, when implemented, produces a significant change in
teaching and learning, leading to a more good knowledge accumulation of students.
So, innovations in education are aimed at increasing the productivity and efficiency of
learning and/or improving the quality of learning.
Productivity is determined by estimating the results obtained against the
effort invested to achieve the result, and efficiency is determined by the amount of
time, money, and resources that are required to achieve certain results. In education,
the effectiveness of learning is mainly determined by the time and cost invested.
Learning is more effective if we achieve the same results in less time and with less
expense. Thus, if we can achieve more with less effort, productivity increases.
Therefore, innovations in education should increase both learning productivity and
learning efficiency.
Educational innovations occur in various fields and in many forms.
There are innovations in instructional techniques or delivery systems, such as
the use of new technologies in the classroom. There are innovations in how teachers
are recruited, trained and compensated.
Innovation can be directed towards development in one, more or all aspects
of the educational system: theory and practice, curriculum, teaching and learning,
policy, technology, institutions and administration, institutional culture and teacher
training. It can be applied to any aspect of education that can have a positive impact
on learning and learners.
Similarly, educational innovation concerns all stakeholders: the learner,
parents, teachers, educational administrators, researchers and policy makers, and
requires their active involvement and support. When learners are considered, we
think of studying the cognitive processes that take place in the brain during learning –
the identification and development of skills and competencies. These include
improving attitudes, moods, behaviours, motivation, self-evaluation, self-efficacy,
autonomy, as well as communication, collaboration, engagement and learning
productivity.
To increase the quality of teaching, it is necessary to improve teacher training,
professional development and lifelong learning to include attitudes, dispositions,
teaching style, motivation, skills, competences, self-evaluation, self-efficacy, creativity,
responsibility, autonomy to teach, the ability to innovate, freedom from
administrative pressure, the best working conditions and public support. As such,
educational institutions are expected to provide an optimal academic environment as
well as materials and conditions for achieving excellence in learning outcomes for
each student (program content, course format, institutional culture, research, funding,
resources, infrastructure, administration and support).
A national education system is usually the product of a distinct set of
historical, political, social, cultural and economic effects. Since it is a complete system,
its various areas are not only interconnected and interdependent, but also act
together. Subsequently, any change in one of them can generate a change in others.
Some examples of innovations in some fields that had a drastic impact on the
entire educational system are (Pogolșa, 2016, pp. 4-6):

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- political (centralization/decentralization of education);

- social (financial restrictions, unequal opportunities for education,
devaluation of school diplomas);
- philosophical (constructivism, objectivism);
- cultural (moral education, multiculturalism, bilingual education);
- pedagogical (skills-based education, STEM (curricular options in school:
science, technology, English and mathematics);
- psychological (cognitive science, theory of multiple intelligences, theory of
learning style);
- technological (computer-based learning, networked learning, e-learning).
If we refer to the international situation, it can be stated that innovation at the
level of the education system in Romania is extremely limited in terms of intensity,
coverage area, results obtained, etc. One of the main obstacles to the initiation and
development of innovation is the totalitarian political regime, which
controlled/controls including the education system. While the education systems in
the Western world found in innovation the answer, the solution to the problems they
faced and applied these innovations (decentralization, partnerships, authorities other
than educational ones, the development of private education at all levels, etc.), the
Romanian education system it became increasingly isolated, strongly politically
controlled, with a high degree of centralism, etc. Or, as stated by J. Hassenforder,"it is
not centralism that constitutes an obstacle to innovation, but the authoritarian spirit
that accompanies it" (Hassenforder, 1976).
These innovations have left a significant mark on education, but the question
still arises as to which of them have contributed to improving the productivity and
quality of learning.
It has been found that trying to change education without intervening on
dysfunctional societal and cultural mechanisms is compromised from the very
beginning. Therefore, when innovating, it is essential to identify a set of questions:
"What is this innovation for?" "How will it work?" and "What effect will it produce?"
Most of the time, teachers believe that big reforms or powerful technologies will
transform the educational system, that new information technologies will make
education more efficient and relieve teachers from tedious work. However, it finds
that neither strong reforms nor technology will accomplish the tasks required of
teachers and students.
Innovations can be classified as evolutionary or revolutionary (Osolind,
2012), sustaining or disruptive (Christensen and Overdorf, 2000; Yu and Hang, 2010).
Evolutionary innovations lead to incremental improvements but require continuity,
while revolutionary innovations bring about a complete change, total overhaul and/or
replacement of the old with the new, often in a short period of time. Sustaining
innovation perpetuates current dimensions of performance (e.g. continuous
improvement of the curriculum), while disrupting innovation, such as a national
reform, and radically changes the entire field.
Innovations can also be tangible (e.g. technological tools) and intangible (e.g.
methods, strategies and techniques). Evolutionary and revolutionary innovations
seem to have the same connotation as sustaining and disruptive innovations,
respectively.
When various innovations are introduced in the conventional course of study,
for example more expressive presentation of new material using multimedia, more

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effective teaching methods or new mnemonic techniques, then the productivity of

student learning can increase to some extent. This is an evolutionary change. It
partially improves the existing instructional approach to result in better relearning.
Such learning methods, problem-based inquiry, case study and collaboration, and the
small group are evolutionary innovations because they change the way students learn.
The application of educational technology (ET) in a conventional classroom using a
video projector or iPad represents evolutionary innovations, sustaining innovations
because they only change certain aspects of learning. However, national educational
reforms are always intended to be revolutionary innovations, as they aim at the
complete renovation of the system (Baklushina, 2022).
This is also true for online learning as it produces a systemic change that
drastically transforms the structure, format and methods of teaching and learning.
Some innovative approaches, such as "extreme learning" (Extreme Learning, 2012),
which use technology for learning purposes in new, unusual or non-traditional ways,
can produce a disruptive, revolutionary effect.
Since the 90s, the education system in Romania has become one of the
systems in which the most changes have taken place, at the level of all its components.
The watchword at the level of the education system is reform. Innovation seeks to
identify solutions, opportunities, strategies, through which the educational ideal can
be achieved. The Romanian education reform aims to ensure equal treatment in the
education of all individuals, regardless of psychophysical, intellectual, socio-familial,
economic, ethnic, religious or other characteristics. The equal treatment of individuals
can sometimes generate inequalities in the face of education – individuals belonging
to national minorities may face difficulties in understanding the content of textbooks,
those with different forms of disability need technical or intellectual support,
individuals who left the system prematurely may decides at a given moment to return
to the system to continue his education, etc. For these problems, innovation can
identify solutions at the level of content, organization, financing etc. (Neagu, pp. 110-
121).
Along with the types of innovation, the degree of impact can be identified on
the following three levels:
1. Process adjustment or modernization: innovation can occur in daily
performance and can be seen as a way to make our work easier, more efficient, more
appealing or less stressful. However, this type of innovation should be considered an
improvement rather than an innovation, as it does not produce a new method or tool.
The term innovative, according to the dictionary definition, only applies to something
new and different, not just better, and it must be useful (Okpara, 2007).
2. Process modification: innovation that significantly changes the process,
performance, or quality of an existing product (e.g. accelerated learning (AL), charter
school, home school, blended learning).
3. System transformation: dramatic conversion (e.g. Bologna process;
Common Core; fully automated educational systems; autonomous or autonomous
learning; online, networked and mobile learning).
All innovations are ultimately aimed at changing the qualitative and/or
quantitative factors of learning outcomes:
- qualitative: better knowledge, more effective skills, important competencies,
character development, values, dispositions, effective job placement and job
performance;

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- quantitative: improved learning metrics such as test scores, amount of

information learned, amount of skills or competencies developed, number of college
enrolments, student performance measurement, retention, attrition, graduation rate,
number of students per class, cost and time efficiency.
Innovation can be assessed by novelty, originality and potential effect. Since
inventing is usually a time- and cost-intensive experience, it is essential to calculate
the short- and long-term costs and consequences of an invention. They must
demonstrate significant qualitative and/or quantitative benefits. As psychologist
Mihalyi Csikszentmihalyi writes, "human well-being depends on two factors: the
ability to increase creativity and the ability to develop ways of evaluating the impact
of new creative ideas" (Csikszentmihalyi, 2013, p. 322).
In education, the effect of innovation can be estimated through learning
outcomes or exam results, formative and summative teacher evaluations, formal and
informal evaluations, and student self-evaluation. Innovation can also be evaluated by
factors such as productivity (more learning outcomes in a given time), time efficiency
(shorter time to study the same material) or cost efficiency (less expenditure per
student). Other assessments may include the school's academic record, college
admissions and employment rate of degree programs graduates, their work
productivity and career growth.
The evaluation of the effects of the invocation can also be based on the scale
of implementation:
- singular/local/limited;
- multiple/widespread/significant;
- at the level of the entire system/total.
This gradation correlates with the three levels of innovation described above:
adjustment, modification, and transformation. To make a meaningful difference,
educational innovation must be scalable and spread across the entire system or across
a large territory.
Innovation in any field or aspect can bring about a change in education in a
variety of ways.

3. Conclusions
Educational innovation is a challenge launched in the world of education in a
context of profound social changes.
Educational innovation will win by becoming a way of doing things that goes
beyond a “spontaneous intention to transform the world, an initiative of teachers
motivated by ideological convictions, such as the desire to impart new knowledge to
learners. Innovation does not mean, however, that we have to deny what already
exists. Rather, we must offer a great diversity in the ways of transmission or learning.
If we stick to this definition, we can see that innovation will always have its place in
the years to come, as long as educational players come together around a common
cause: to rekindle in all learners the curiosity and joy of learning.
Technological progress offers many services, especially in the field of
education. The Covid-19 crisis and the establishment of isolation have forced teachers
to perform IT feats in record time to support their learners as best as possible in a
particularly difficult context. Overnight, their way of teaching changed. By force of
circumstance, they embarked on the challenges of IT innovation: remote teaching with
tools tamed overnight. All these adaptations are proof that it is always possible to do

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differently in another context and that new technology facilitate many exchanges. But
beware, what is put in place in times of crisis has certainly proven its usefulness, but it
has also revealed certain flaws in the system. Technological innovations are a real
asset as long as they benefit everyone and are well mastered. However, distance
learning also reveals certain disparities, even inequalities between learners: families'
computer equipment, geographic location and digital reception compatibilities or
incompatibilities, comprehension support etc.
Educational innovation is a concept that has evolved a lot over time. In the
late 2010s, with digital technology, she experienced real recognition. However,
financial and material aspects, as well as some reluctance on the part of teachers, are
brakes: must we innovate to innovate? Innovate at any cost? For tomorrow's
pedagogy to be innovative and best meet the needs of the learner, it is essential that
mind sets evolve together, especially around acquiring a critical mind or a
collaborative culture.
Worldwide, education systems are extremely complex, and the inclusion of all
children in the education system requires a common strategy that involves parents,
teachers and decision-makers. In addition, there is a need for common objectives and
strategies that put education at the centre of the policies adopted by each individual
state.
For an education system to function at optimal parameters, it is necessary for
local authorities to collect data and carry out continuous monitoring, so as to identify
what is working well, who benefits from the various policies implemented and who is
then left behind when we talk about integration in the educational system.
In other words, when we talk about innovation in education, we must know
that it does not only refer to the implementation of new technologies, but also to
solving real-life problems or challenges aimed at equal access of children to the
education system.

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