Skip to main content

Towards a Framework of Diffusing Education Innovations at Different Levels of the System

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Innovations in Educational Change

Part of the book series: Education Innovation Series ((EDIN))

Abstract

This chapter delves into crafting a classification framework of different types of education innovations for diffusion at various levels of the system. Education innovations are complex, and their diffusion efforts are contingent on multiple dimensions that include teachers’ capacity, students’ abilities, schools’ supports, expert knowledge, and the enabling system infrastructures. Existing classifications of innovations can inform the diffusion efforts, but we posit these to be insufficient in capturing the nuances of challenges in operationalising innovations in the local context. Adapting grounded approaches, this study collected qualitative data that included interviews, focus meetings, and observations, to analyse and subsequently develop a classification framework of innovation types that accounts for teachers’ concerns, the learning communities’ perspectives, and the enabling leverages. The classification system calls for focused roles that can be performed by the respective learning communities to diffuse the innovations at that particular level of the system which best suits the innovation.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

eBook
USD 16.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Allan, G. (2003). A critique of using grounded theory as a research method. Electronic Journal of Business Research Methods, 2(1), 1–10.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bielaczyc, K., & Collins, A. (1999). Learning communities in classrooms: A reconceptualisation of educational practice. Instructional-design theories and models: A new paradigm of instructional theory, 2, 269–292.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bruner, J. S. (1996). The culture of education. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Chan, C. K., & Pang, M. F. (2006). Teacher collaboration in learning communities. Teaching Education, 17(1), 1–5.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chapman, J. (2004). System failure: Why must Governments learn to think differently (2nd ed.). London, UK: Demos.

    Google Scholar 

  • Deal, T. E., Meyer, J. W., & Scott, W. R. (1975). Organisational influences on educational innovation. In J. V. Baldridge & T. E. Deal (Eds.), Managing change in educational organisations (pp. 109–132). Berkeley, CA: McCutchan Publishing Corporation.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dede, C. (2004). Enabling distributed-learning communities via emerging technologies. In: Proceedings of the 2004 conference of the Society for Information Technology in Teacher Education (SITE) (pp. 3–12). Charlottesville, VA: American Association for Computers in Education.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dede, C., & Nelson, R. (2005). Technology as proteus: Digital infrastructures that empower scaling up. In C. Dede, J. Honan, & L. Peters (Eds.), Scaling up success: Lessons learned from technology-based educational innovation. New York, NY: Jossey-Bass.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dooley, K. E. (1999). Towards a holistic model for the diffusion of educational technologies: An integrative review of educational innovation studies. Journal of Educational Technology & Society, 2(4), 35–45.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fuller, F. F. (1969). Concerns of teachers: A developmental conceptualisation. American Educational Research Journal, 6(2), 207–226.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Glaser, G. B., & Strauss, L. A. (1967). The discovery of grounded theory: Strategies for qualitative research. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Publishers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hall, G. E., & Hord, S. M. (1987). Change in schools. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hargreaves, A., & Shirley, D. (2009). The fourth way: The inspiring future for educational change. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Hargreaves, D. H. (2003). From improvement to transformation. Keynote lecture presented at the International Congress for School Effectiveness and Improvement Schooling the Knowledge. Retrieved from https://www.icsei.net/fileadmin/ICSEI/user_upload/documents/David_Hargreaves_ICSEI_keynote_2003_-_From_improvement_to_transformation.pdf

  • Hazen, B. T., Wu, Y., Sankar, C. S., & Jones-Farmer, L. A. (2012). A proposed framework for educational innovation dissemination. Journal of Educational Technology Systems, 40(3), 301–321.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Markus, L. M., & Robey, D. (1988). Information technology and organisational change: Causal structure in theory and research. Management Science, 34(5), 583–598.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ministry of Education. (n.d.-a). i in Practice. Singapore: Author.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ministry of Education. (n.d.-b). i in Practice II. Singapore: Author.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ministry of Education. (n.d.-c). i in Practice III. Singapore: Author.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rogers, E. M. (1983). Diffusion of innovations (3rd ed.). New York, NY: The Free Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shaari, I., Hung D., Tan, L. S., Lee, S. -S., Lyna, & Osman, M. Y. (2014). A study on schools’ partnerships in the scaling of educational innovations (Unpublished report). Singapore: EdRF Final Report, Office of Education Research, Nanyang Technological University.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shaari, I., & Osman, Y. (2015, June). Towards partnerships in teaching and learning: A case study for diffusion of education innovations. Paper presented at the Redesigning Pedagogy Conference, Singapore.

    Google Scholar 

  • Timperley, H., & Alton-Lee, A. (2008). Reframing teacher professional learning: An alternative policy approach to strengthening valued outcomes for diverse learners. Review of Research in Education, 32(1), 328–369.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Toh, Y., Jamaludin, A., Hung, W. L. D., & Chua, P. M. H. (2014). Ecological leadership: Going beyond system leadership for diffusing school-based innovations in the crucible of change for 21st century learning. The Asia-Pacific Education Researcher, 23(4), 835–850.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgement

This research was supported by a grant from the eduLab programme jointly administrated by National Research Foundation (NRF), Ministry of Education (MOE), and National Institute of Education (NIE).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Imran Shaari .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2019 Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Shaari, I., Hung, D., Osman, Y. (2019). Towards a Framework of Diffusing Education Innovations at Different Levels of the System. In: Hung, D., Lee, SS., Toh, Y., Jamaludin, A., Wu, L. (eds) Innovations in Educational Change. Education Innovation Series. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-6330-6_5

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-6330-6_5

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Singapore

  • Print ISBN: 978-981-13-6328-3

  • Online ISBN: 978-981-13-6330-6

  • eBook Packages: EducationEducation (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics