Search

At a time of pedagogical exhaustion, this article wants to imagine ways to redeem education, to spare education from its unaccomplished promises, reinvent and renew its vows, and make it somehow work towards possible futures. But how can this be done when there is no longer the old inherited faith in a direction of history with an end, no 'telos' nor faith that educational institutions will inevitably move societies forwards? Is there any 'after' if the arrow of history points in no direction? What can we collectively expect from education if we have no assurance that schooling can lead to anything better than what we are now, or that caring for truth will make people freer? In place of the modernist idea of progress, the alternative narrative that is being offered to school systems and teachers is what I will describe as the 'innovation paradigm'. Within this framework what we are, what we have, and what is in place are presented as declining, inadequate, and unsatisfactory. This narrative has become so powerful that from a 'pedagogical popular culture' perspective it has turned into the mainstream way of thinking about our educational institutions, practices, and hopes. Would it not, however, be more pedagogically productive to speak of 'variation' instead of 'innovation'? Might this be the potential path for redeeming education after progress? [Editorial note: this paper forms part of the suite of papers entitled 'Education After Progress'.] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paradigm of innovation has evolved over the last decades worldwide. The old conception of innovation as technological change has become more diversified and specialised. Current debates express the need to provide a holistic view of innovation, with its pros and cons, including all dimensions of innovation in society and different fields. This paper consists of a qualitative review focusing on three concepts: 'innovation', 'social innovation' and 'innovation in education'. This research includes a historical analysis within 1939–2019 as the base period of analysis. This article is based on 108 different sources, which were carefully selected. The analysis was carried out with content analysis in our main sample. This paper contributes to our understanding of innovation more holistically, by discovering how innovation is understood and used, but also by looking at the different stages it has gone through in historical debates and evolutionary trends. This article presents different perspectives on innovation over time and helps to recognise the evolution of the concept of innovation and the emergence of social innovation as a field of its own. Furthermore, the relevance of innovation in the field of education is presented and current debates on the understanding of innovation are situated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the new contemporary pandemic paradigm, higher education in public administration and beyond knows challenges, barriers, and opportunities for the academic process. Shocks, environmental changes and physical distancing in recent years have led to the implementation of efficient solutions in educational services, based on artificial intelligence (AI). Thus, in the global academic landscape, many international universities have adopted a 'chatbot', a digital interface designed to stimulate conversation with people. Modern algorithmic communications have effects, such as: increasing the number of enrollments in public administration programs, improving academic experience and active student participation, while reducing administrative tasks on university staff. This paper aims to provide a glimpse on the perceptions of the potential impact of conversational artificial intelligence on public administration (PA) programs from universities and to reflect on its implications for university leaders and staff work and also on students' engagement. The paper will focus on how AI tools will help university programs to be more effective, and how technology will support the limited human resources in this sector. In order to gather the data for this research, the interview was used as well as case studies from international universities that have implemented a chatbot. The research findings capture technological and digital advances that will continue to shape the higher education landscape and its curricula, especially in PA programs. As a result, leaders will need to monitor how artificial intelligence, in particular conversational agents, influences universities' images; attraction and retention for students in PA programs and other important partners; staff productivity, and how to be more proactive in initiating pilot projects. This is one of the few publications that looks at the expectations for conversational AI in higher education today. In this sense, implementing a chatbot can be a competitive advantage in a market where modern technologies weigh heavily and make a difference. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines Bauhaus School (1919–1933) innovation and relevance today. The School is a landmark in the history of design as a discipline and the development of design education. The School was also a workplace, commercialising Bauhaus-designed products. While drawing global interest in its innovations, the School faced resistance in Germany because it challenged conventions. This problem raises the questions: How did the School-workplace generate innovations amid the calamity of post-war Germany, and what is the significance of the Bauhaus for post-pandemic education and workplaces one hundred years on? The concept of 'transgression' is used to understand innovation at the Bauhaus School-workplace. Haraway discusses transgressive practices that disrupt established knowledges, moving ways of thinking and doing in new directions. Analysis of workplace learning research reveals that three interfacing dimensions make up innovation: (1) workplace environments, (2) the culture-order that facilitates innovation, and (3) learning in practice in authentic settings. This qualitative case study reports on how Bauhaus innovation emerged at the intersection of these key dimensions. There are surprising commonalities between the Bauhaus approach to innovation in challenging times and contemporary thinking about supporting innovation which are relevant to education, particularly STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics) education, and workplaces in a world affected by the COVID 19 pandemic. Thus, encouraging people who challenge boundaries, rules or 'the way things are' can support innovation. This paper addresses a gap in workplace learning research on interrelated dimensions of innovation which the Bauhaus recognized. The study also offers an innovative approach to the examination of innovation across time and space whereas most contemporary studies of innovation focus on the present. Further, conceptualizing innovation as transgression offers a new way of thinking about innovation in design and in the workplace. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this paper is to explore how environmental protection expenditures (EPE) affect innovation and investigate the potential causal relationship between the two variables. The novelty and main contribution of our paper to the literature stems from the fact that we look at total environmental protection expenditures from both the public and private sectors, and distinguishing between corporations and households in the private sectors. We also consider both inputs and outputs of innovation and address potential endogeneity issues in this relationship, which are both lacking in the current literature. Using a panel of EU countries over the period 2006–2020, this study generally finds a positive impact of EPE on innovation after controlling for the effects of trade, credit, education and inflation on innovation, and using the System GMM estimator to treat endogeneity. Moreover, EPE from the government sector drives the bulk of this positive impact. The core results are robust to alternative measures of innovation, alternative estimation techniques that address endogeneity (i.e., the Lewbel 2SLS, Mundlak, and Hausman-Taylor estimators) and the moderation effects of Climate Change Performance (CCPI). This study also provides a useful guide to policy makers engaged in environmental planning. • We evaluate the impact of environmental protection expenditures (EPE) on innovation in mainly EU countries. • We use longitudinal dataset for the group of EU countries over the period 2006–2020. • We find a positive impact of EPE on innovation. • The results are robust for observable heterogeneity, alternative measures of innovation and estimation techniques. • This study provides a useful guide to policy makers engaged in environmental planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Universities of applied sciences (UAS) have a strong mandate to carry out research, development and innovation (RDI) activities in collaboration with local stakeholders. Geographical proximity is one of the key factors for the creation and success of RDI activities because of the positive balance between costs and benefits of local knowledge transfer, but they also depend on the networks of individual staff members. This paper aims to explore how maintaining and developing purpose-built and individual RDI partnerships during the COVID-19 pandemic has been managed. An enhanced conceptual framework for assessing contextual dimensions of the RDI activities beyond academic entrepreneurship as business ventures has been developed. The paper focuses on a single case study drawing on semi-structured research interviews investigating how the swap to remote working have affected RDI activities at Tampere University of Applied Sciences, one of the biggest UAS in Finland with intense regional linkages. The contribution of the study is twofold; firstly, the paper introduces an expanded theoretical approach for assessing the external and internal factors having an impact on the RDI activities beyond academic entrepreneurship. Secondly, by testing the proposed framework, it shares insights and good practices derived from empirical evidence, namely binary data and semi-structured interviews revealing experiences of RDI personnel and project managers involved with different phases of RDI process, for optimising high-quality innovation support, knowledge transfer activities and co-creation of new knowledge in exceptional circumstances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This study aims to describe and illuminate the ways in which Kwantlen Polytechnic University (KPU) – an urban, undergraduate institution with a strong focus on teaching, learning and related research and scholarship, and a substantial international student population – adapted to pandemic conditions in 2020 in an effort to meet community and pedagogical priorities, institutional/legal responsibilities and strategic goals. Design/methodology/approach: Three institutional leaders at KPU draw together their respective insights and experiences, reflecting on how governance, pedagogy and operations were impacted by COVID-19. Findings: After two years of continuous operation during the COVID-19 pandemic, and with the strong support of its learners and the faculty, KPU has undergone significant pedagogical and technological shifts to become a multi-modal university for study, teaching and administration. Research limitations/implications: This is a "practitioner paper" with a practical focus on institutional leadership and adaptation in a period of rapid adjustment. It is more of an accounting and reflection piece than a critical analysis. Practical implications: It offers post-secondary leaders' insights into ways in which institutional values and community needs inform policy-making, operations and innovation in education. Social implications: KPU's domestic and international student constituencies are complex and required unconventional post-secondary strategies regarding faculty autonomy and growth, de-colonization and inclusion. Originality/value: KPU has a distinctive mandate in British Columbia and its commitment to experiential learning – typically associated with hands-on education – presented unusual challenges for delivery. While research-and-teaching universities were tested by COVID-19, their tests were largely alike. KPU's experience illustrates what practical- and teaching-focused institutions confronted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Management is a form of social interaction that governs, influences, directs, and regulates cultural, social, and legal relationships among people in the interests of the state, society, and the group. The most important issue in the management of modern schools in the innovation environment is the transfer of the traditional school to the novel educational institution and to implement developmental strategies. The purpose of the paper is to analyze innovative approaches that principals use in public schools of Azerbaijan and to evaluate, describe and interpret the situation in its original environment. Analysis of the interviews with school principals revealed that technological development is the most effective factor that creates the need for innovation. School administrators mentioned different kinds of challenges in the process of innovation such as : teachers’ insufficiency, age group of staff, parent contingent of the school, lack of communication with staff, lack of teachers and equipment,, inadequate functioning of school-parent associations and school budgets. In this context, principal with the contribution of all stakeholders should be in line with the culture of their school and manage the innovation process in line with the vision of the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While much work has focused on pedagogical innovation processes within universities, less has been said of the processes and cultures which foster and give rise to creativity within higher education and the ways in which faculty members are encouraged to develop their pedagogy across disciplines and within their departments. This paper examines the ways campus spaces at a UK university are utilised by staff for peer learning and the barriers and affordances for innovation and creativity in educational practice. Utilising an interdisciplinary design, this paper suggests that the various spaces available to university teaching staff are able to be further utilised to support creative practice and peer learning, presented as four design principles: innovation happens in everyday spaces, communal spaces need social functions, forums have different scales, and collaborative spaces require a collective culture. The normalising of a culture of innovation requires both physical and behavioural adjustments to the use of space, suggesting that both faculty and institutions need to work together to reimagine spaces for faculty peer learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The process of Internationalization strongly influences the developed economies, including the EU, whereas the large scale of international trade in goods is characterized by production with high value added. Based on this, the fabrication of such commodities requires a highly qualified workforce and is very often followed by international patent protection. This paper focuses on the link between the fraction of highly educated with tertiary education and the innovation output, measured by the number of EPO patent applications per million inhabitants. Due to the rising mobility of a highly qualified workforce, we have also tested the correlation between the fraction of tertiary educated foreigners and the innovation output. The aim of the paper is to state whether the higher share of a highly qualified workforce and the fraction of highly qualified foreigners correlate with innovation activities within the EU Member States. Given the number of EU Member States, the EU macro-regions division based on the social models of Esping-Andersen (1990), Sapir (2005), as well as Dolwik and Martin (2014) will be applied. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tertiary educators may seek innovative ways to meet the needs of their learners. However, due to the conservative environment of most universities, innovative tertiary teachers often find themselves facing dilemmas: situations in which they must decide between apparently contradictory objectives. This paper reports findings from thematic analysis conducted as part of a study investigating the dilemmas faced by innovative tertiary educators. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 30 successful innovative tertiary teachers. Initial analysis had identified eleven dilemmas directly related to the process of innovation. Thematic analysis of interview data revealed four themes: empathy for students; the need for persistence and resilience; love and hate responses from students; and, passion and enthusiasm aid in selling and diffusing innovation. These themes suggest that innovative teachers face a dilemma between emotional engagement and emotional neutrality. The dilemma shapes decisions made throughout their innovation process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The journalism being taught at universities in Spain is undergoing intensive changes as a result of the dual pressure exerted by the impact of digitisation in two specific aspects. The first is the journalistic system itself (business models, professional routines, information consumption, etc.). The second aspect involves the teaching guidelines established as a result of the implementation of the European Higher Education Area (EHEA). Focusing on the latter issue, the current debate regarding the orientation of journalistic education is calling for this aspect not to be relegated or limited to training in technical skills, which are constantly being renewed by technological developments of the digital environment. On the contrary, journalism education must also take into account other skills that foster the achievement of critical thinking, which is fundamental for the exercise of the journalistic profession. However, in the face of an increasingly digitised, competitive labour market, journalism studies and their training programmes also have a duty to provide the skills and competencies demanded by this market. In this paper, we have conducted a systematic review of some of the experiences of innovative teaching that have been successfully carried out in Journalism degrees taught in Spain for this purpose (service-learning, project-based learning, content curation, and edublogs, among others). These experiences reflect the involvement of university professors in providing comprehensive education for future journalists, with a strong emphasis on the intensive use of the digital resources currently available. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes the aims, origins and principles of the Australian National Exceptional Teaching for Disadvantaged Schools programme and reflects on findings from its first eight years. As a well-established, mainstream university-based initial teacher-education programme designed to prepare social justice teachers for low socio-economic or high-poverty schools, NETDS has had significant impact on recruiting and retaining high-performing teachers in the schools that need them most. In this paper we discuss how it works, but also outline some of the complexities that arose in trying to design a teacher-education programme with equity at the centre and some of the changes we made along the way. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to illustrate and discuss the main features and key challenges of an original post-graduate education program designed according to an innovative theoretical framework promoting design thinking in a rhizomatic approach. By involving different stakeholders, the aim of this entrepreneurship education program is to disseminate rhizomatic, design-based learning competencies and thereby contribute to revitalizing a region’s socio-economic fabric.Design/methodology/approach Through the use of a pilot case, the paper exemplifies the application of the design thinking approach combined with the rhizomatic logic. Design thinking enables dealing with the complexity, uncertainty, and ill-defined problems that often characterize a business reality while the rhizomatic process combines the production of collective knowledge through a non-linear, complex and emergent path that nurtures innovation.Findings This entrepreneurship education program exemplifies a viable strategy to deal with a regional economic crisis by engaging different local actors including enterprises, local institutions, municipalities, and universities. It demonstrates the potential value of a new educational approach as a powerful lever to activate the energy of people, their competencies, relationships, shared projects, and new entrepreneurial ventures. The first edition of the program offers ideas, practices, and challenges to all stakeholders of potentially similar education projects.Originality/value The depicted pilot case allows us to exemplify how a design thinking framework reinterpreted on the basis of a Deleuzian rhizomatic perspective can enable developing innovation as a way of overcoming difficulties and succeeding, an essential prerequisite for many entrepreneurial organizations today. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper introduces the UK Open Textbook project and discusses its success factors with regards to promoting open practice and open pedagogy. Textbooks remain a core part of educational provision in science. Open Textbooks are openly licensed academic textbooks, wherein the digital version is available freely, and the print version at reduced cost. They are a form of Open Educational Resource (OER). In recent years a number of openly-licensed textbooks have demonstrated high impact in countries including the USA, Canada and South Africa. The UK Open Textbooks project piloted several established approaches to the use and promotion open textbooks (focusing on STEM subjects) in a UK context between 2017 and 2018. The project had two main aims: to promote the adoption of open textbooks in the UK; and to investigate the transferability of the successful models of adoption that have emerged in North America. Through a number of workshops at a range of higher education institutions and targeted promotion at specific education conferences, the project successfully raised the profile of open textbooks within the UK. Several case studies report existing examples of open textbook use in UK science were recorded. There was considerable interest and appetite for open textbooks amongst UK academics. This was partly related to cost savings for students, but more significant factors were the freedom to adapt and develop textbooks and OER. This is consistent with a range of research that has taken place in other countries and suggests the potential for impact on UK science education is high. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the ensuing immigration reform in the US, the paper shows that targeted skilled immigration into the R&D sector that helps low-skilled labor is conducive for controlling inequality and raising wage. Skilled talent-led innovation could have spillover benefits for the unskilled sector while immigration into the production sector will always reduce wage, aggravating wage inequality. In essence, we infer: (i) if R&D inputs contributes only to skilled sector, wage inequality increases in general; (ii) for wage gap to decrease, R&D sector must produce inputs that goes into unskilled manufacturing sector; (iii) even with two types of specific R&D inputs entering into the skilled and unskilled sectors separately, unskilled labor is not always benefited by high skilled migrants into R&D-sector. Rather, it depends on the importance of migrants' skill in R&D activities and intensity of inputs. Empirical verification using a VAR model in the context of the USA confirms the conjectures, and the empirical results substantiate our policy-guided hypothesis that skilled immigration facilitates innovation with favorable impact on reducing wage-gap. Inclusive immigration policy requires inter-sectoral diffusion of ideas embedded in talented immigrants targeted for innovation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Teachers' visions are vivid and concrete images of ideal classroom practices. A vision for teaching is important to both practices in the classroom as well as teacher development across time. A useful tool to explore and analyse the role of vision in teacher practices is provided by [Hammerness, K. 2003. "Learning to Hope, or Hoping to Learn? The Role of Vision in the Early Professional Lives of Teachers." Journal of Teacher Education 54 (1): 43–56], whose framework of vision consists of three dimensions: focus, range and distance. Purpose: The writing of [Kretchmar, R. S. 2000. "Moving and Being Moved: Implications for Practice." Quest 52 (3): 260–272; 2008. "The Increasing Utility of Elementary School Physical Education: A Mixed Blessing and Unique Challenge." The Elementary School Journal 108 (3): 161–170] provides the basis for a vision focused on meaningful experiences in physical education. The purpose of this paper is to describe the ways a vision based on meaningful experiences enabled two teachers and three teacher educators to name, describe, and enact their physical education teaching and teacher education practices. Methodology: Raw data from six separate self-studies of practice involving the five participants provided the starting point for this research. Data sources, including written reflections and critical friend responses as well as audio recordings of conversations with critical friends, were mined to identify examples where vision was represented. Further data were generated in a focus group where participants shared and analysed their experiences and discussed how meaningful physical education served as both an individual and collective vision for practice. A final written reflection allowed participants to articulate their current vision for meaningful physical education. A thematic analysis of all data sources supported the organisation of data into three distinct phases of development of practices with emphasis on the role of vision in each phase. Findings: Over time, there was an evolution in our understanding of both what meaningful physical education consisted of and how we might facilitate meaningful experiences for children. In particular, our visions became clearer and better aligned with our practices. We illustrate how we developed our practice in ways that allowed us to take ownership of this vision, and, in the process, changed who we were as teachers and teacher educators. Finally, we share how the process of exploring and analysing our individual visions allowed us to articulate a shared vision of meaningful physical education and explain how to go about implementing our collective vision in practice. Conclusion: We highlight the value of paying attention to the role of vision in promoting and supporting educators, individually and collectively, in developing and sustaining innovation in teaching and teacher education practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper carries out a detailed analysis of the effects of R&D and human capital as well as their interactions with innovation on export behavior of manufacturing and service firms in Ghana using a dataset of 720 firms that merges the Enterprise, Innovative Capability and the Innovation Follow-up Surveys respectively for Ghana. Using a bivariate probit regression, the results show that R&D and human capital (employees' education, slack time and formal training) are positive and significantly related to the propensity for firms to export in Ghana. The cross derivatives (differences) for the interaction terms (R&D and innovation, and education and innovation) also showed that these interaction terms have positive effects on the likelihood for firms to export but are significant only for a negligibly small fraction of the sample. Thus, there is no much statistically significant evidence in support of the mediation role of innovation in the relationship between R&D/education and the export behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on two empirical studies on education in health and elderly care, this paper reflects on the possible role of ‘old ideas’ involved in creative innovation. Most researchers agree that creativity and innovation are the results of a combination of what is new and valuable. What tends to be paid less attention, however, is the fact that many creative activities and everyday innovations in modern-day organisations actually build upon what is already there. Creative products and processes are often the result of some kind of learning from or even re-creation of existing processes and materials. The paper argues that there is excessive enthusiasm towards the novelty aspects of creativity and innovation, which overshadow the potential of old ideas and past experience as drivers of change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite a rich repertoire of inventive and robust practices, and stated commitments to equity, social justice, and diversity, teacher education has continued to struggle to produce educators capable of enacting culturally sustaining pedagogies, and providing historically marginalized youth and communities with meaningful learning opportunities. This paper contends that ontological distance between educators and youth of colour, and the ways Eurocentric epistemologies exist as a colonial 'zero point' in teacher education praxis, are a core element of this existential crisis facing teacher educators. Drawing on decolonial theory and epistemologies of the global south, I suggest that teacher education is in need of epistemic innovation; radically revising our approaches to preparing educators by anchoring them in the epistemic and ontological perspectives of the global south, and in so doing, crafting pedagogical imaginaries through which we might disrupt the ways coloniality lives (often invisibly) in, and is reproduced by, our assumptions about best practices, ways of being, and measures of success. Such a decolonial approach to innovation in teacher education holds promise for ensuring our praxis, and the educators we prepare, are positioned to engage with a hyperdiverse world in humanizing ways. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the course of introducing a themed issue of the journal on "Innovation in Teacher Education', we lay out an argument for re-examining the meaning of innovation in the field, shifting it away from the dominance of the economistic and technological. Acknowledging its status as a 'buzzword', we distinguish between purposes for innovation and, in particular, between changes driven by arguments for social mobility and those driven by social justice and equity. Two imperatives for innovation underpinned by arguments for social justice and equity are identified: the concept of a 'teacher education debt', built on Ladson-Billings' more general notion of 'education debt'; and the humanization of learning, teaching and becoming a teacher as person-centred, relational practices. The final section of the article introduces each of the six papers in the context of the discussion in previous sections about these imperatives for change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article argues for the humanisation of research evidence through narrative as an urgent project in teacher education and development. Narrative has the potential to make a significant contribution to a critical re-definition of both evidence and innovation in teacher education. But this argument is not a call for a user-friendly (re)packaging of research evidence, so that 'what works' can be diffused throughout the profession. Globally, such efficiency and productivity approaches have merely sedimented established inequities and injustices. By humanising, the paper promotes a recognition that research evidence of value, is steeped in rich provenance, being both borne out of, and brought to bear in, complex and diverse contexts that are mediated by, and impact upon, the unpredictable yet meaningful activities of humans. It is argued that using evidence effectively is predicated on intelligent judgment and interpretation in and on action, processes that require moral deliberation as well as pedagogical and technical innovation. The central role of narrative in this endeavour is explored critically. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract This article reports on research into the development of a teacher education internship scheme at Oxford University from 1973 to 1987. Based on an analysis of an archive of documents and interviews with key protagonists, the paper uses insights from cultural-historical theory to show how the scheme emerged interactively within a multi-layered social system. The article makes a contribution to the history of teacher education and how we theorise change in the field by providing an empirical description and analysis of one highly influential programme internationally and using the tools of CHAT to theorise innovation. Highlights • Contributes to the history of teacher education by providing an account of the development of a programme that has been significant internationally. • Theorises innovation and change in teacher education using the tools of cultural-historical theory. • Offers potential implications for teacher education and teacher educators currently. • Presents aspects of the development of the Oxford Internship Scheme previously subordinated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development of ideological and political education for college students is inseparable from the innovation of educational methods. In various innovate methods, the application of theories of some emerging disciplines as reference is a common way to guide the innovation. The introduction of the synergetics theory to the ideological and political education of college students can promote the full integration of various elements related to ideological education, which has very important practical significance for the innovation of ideological and political education of college students. At present, college students' ideological and political education is challenged by problems such as diversified beliefs, differences in values, and lack of collective consciousness. This paper, by drawing on the basic methods in the synergetics theory, established an innovative model of ideological and political education, namely the open synergistic teaching method, including ideological information forecasting method, cognitive load coordination teaching method, ideological and political education decision-making method, and ideological and political education implementation feedback method. The method has universal applicability and can better realize the ultimate goal of college students' ideological and political education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Internet of Things is an important trend in the development of information technology after the Internet and the mobile communication network. It attracts college students through its advanced technical means and rich contents, and has brought far-reaching influence on the ideological and political education of college students. Therefore, it is of great theoretical and practical significance to explore the application of Internet of Things in ideological and political education in colleges and universities. This paper deeply analyzes the current situation of ideological and political education of college students in China under the background of Internet of Things, and finds that the application of technologies of the Internet of Things in education is mainly embodied in three aspects: classroom teaching, extracurricular learning and educational management. The main problems of ideological and political education in colleges and universities are that the interest of college students in ideological and political courses is generally low, the connection and integration between the technologies of the Internet of Things and ideological and political education needs to be strengthened, and the quality of ideological and political teachers needs to be improved. At the same time, based on the Internet of Things + Technologies, it is proposed that college students' ideological and political education should be innovated in the aspects of service function, teaching mode, learning mode and the construction of teachers' team, which has a strong guiding role in the reform of ideological and political education in colleges and universities in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Manufacturing industry is an important part of China's industry and plays an important role in China's economic development and industrialization process. In the face of the increasingly fierce competition, the cultivation of professional technical talents in manufacturing is particularly important. The continuing education of professional technical personnel is an important method for enterprises to cope with competition and break through the predicament. Through the literature review of the development of the manufacturing industry in the Yangtze River Delta region and the questionnaire survey of professional technical personnel, this paper discovers that the continuing education of technical personnel in region does not necessarily meet the needs of technical personnel and that the teaching mode is single. Also, corresponding innovative solutions are proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to conduct a critical appraisal of how experiential approaches can more effectively enhance the achievement of desired learning outcomes in entrepreneurship education. In particular, the authors critique whether actual learning outcomes can be profitably used to measure effectiveness; and consider how student performance can be evaluated through the twin lenses of implementation or innovation. Design/methodology/approach – The authors undertook a review of both traditional and experiential approaches to entrepreneurship education. In addition to comparing these approaches, the authors critiqued a number of “taken for granted” assumptions regarding the effectiveness of experiential approaches to entrepreneurship education and made recommendations. Findings – Although there is a large body of research on experiential approaches towards entrepreneurship education, the authors know little about how these approaches contribute towards the effective achievement of desired learning outcomes. Whilst many authors claim that such approaches are effective, such assertions are not supported by sufficient robust evidence. Hence the authors need to establish more effective student performance evaluation metrics. In particular: first, whether actual learning outcomes are appropriate measures of effectiveness; and second, the authors should evaluate student performance through the lenses of the two “Is” – implementation or innovation. Practical implications – Whether actual learning outcomes are used as a measure of effectiveness at all needs to be critiqued further. Implementation involves doing things that are determined by others and matching against their expectations, whereas innovation comprises producing multiple and varied solutions that respond to change and often surprise. Originality/value – Through revisiting the discussions on the art and the science of entrepreneurship education, this paper represents an initial critical attempt – as part of an ongoing study – to fill a gap in entrepreneurship education research. The paper, therefore, has significant value for students, entrepreneurship educators and policy-makers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While e-support has been positioned as a means, to overcome some of the time and financial constraints to professional learning, it has largely failed to act as a medium for professional learning in physical education. Consequently, this paper positions teachers prior interest with social media acts as a type of ‘leverage’ for using sites such as Facebook and Twitter for professional learning purposes. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to explore how social media operates as a communicative space, external to the physical site of an emerging community of practice (CoP) that supported teachers' professional learning and their subsequent longer term changing practice. This study is nested within a wider longitudinal project that explores how teachers learnt and refined their use of a pedagogical innovation (Cooperative Learning) through the overarching methodology, participatory action research. Social media emerged as a form of communication that was not in the study's original design. The paper explores 2125 interactions, through Facebook and Twitter, between five physical education teachers and a facilitator over a two-year period. Through social media, the facilitator re-enforced teachers changing practice, aided the development of the practices of an emerging CoP, and by the CoP situating their use of the innovation in the virtual world, teachers were supported in changing their practice over time, and the use of the pedagogical innovation was sustained. Interactions promoted teacher inquiry, challenged teachers to develop their existing use of the innovation further and encouraged them to work together and develop shared practices. Therefore, social media is presented here as a ‘new’ method for professional learning that supports pedagogical change and overcomes some of the financial and time implications of facilitators and teachers working together. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper reports on an examination of the impact of knowledge sharing on product and process innovation. In it we try to identify the similarities and differences between these impacts in public and private Higher Education (HE) Institutions in Iraq. A mixed methods approach was conducted using 486 valid responses to test the causal relationships between knowledge sharing, and innovation. Then a qualitative approach was used to give more insight of the findings from the quantitative stage regarding the differences in the effect of the studied relationships. Employing structural equation modelling, the research found that knowledge sharing plays a pivotal role in enhancing innovation in both sectors. The multi-group SEM and the interviews revealed differences between Iraqi public and private HEIs. Guidelines are developed for researchers as well as leaders, and evidence support using knowledge sharing to enhance innovation within HE in developing countries. The findings and suggestions for future research are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the perception amongst insiders of the degree of innovativeness of organisational culture in Ireland's higher education institutions. While the role of higher education institutions has expanded to include being a driver of innovation, we suggest that any such body is perhaps best suited to achieve this if it itself is innovative. We review the literature on corporate innovation, discuss a recent metric of innovativeness in culture and present the results of a large-scale survey on said culture within the higher education sector in Ireland. There is a divide between the university and institutes of technology sector, with organisational culture in universities being perceived to be much more innovative than that in institutes, despite these latter being designed to be closer to industry. We also find that STEM faculty members see culture as less innovative than others. These findings raise questions around the implicit and explicit thrusts of Irish higher education policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent worldwide trends in curriculum policy have re-emphasised the role of teachers in school-based curriculum development. Scotland’s Curriculum for Excellence is typical of these trends, stressing that teachers are agents of change. This paper draws upon empirical data to explore school-based curriculum development in response to Curriculum for Excellence. We focus on two case studies – secondary schools within a single Scottish local education authority. In the paper we argue that the nature and extent of innovation in schools is dependent upon teachers being able to make sense of often complex and confusing curriculum policy, including the articulation of a clear vision about what such policy means for education within each school. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper identifies what can be called the 'paradox of interdisciplinarity' (Weingart ) in Australian higher education research governance and explores some of its constitutive dimensions. In the Australian context, the paradox of interdisciplinarity primarily concerns the proliferation of a programmatic discourse of interdisciplinarity in government reports and government policy and strategy documents, often tied to notions of innovation and applicability, parallel to the persistence or even reinforcement of modes of governance and associated mechanisms that almost exclusively rely on rigid discipline-based classification systems to evaluate and fund research. Two interrelated dimensions of this apparent paradox are discussed. First, the conceptions of knowledge that underpin the use of notions of disciplinarity as well as interdisciplinarity in Australian government reports and policy and strategy papers are analysed. Second, an analysis of the Australian research governance system and its underlying mechanisms is presented, as they pertain to interdisciplinary forms of research. On the basis of these analyses, it is concluded that there is a significant mismatch between the discourse of interdisciplinarity and associated conceptions of knowledge on the one hand, and current, relatively inflexible governmental research funding and evaluation practices on the other. It is finally proposed that the occurrence and perpetuation of such a mismatch in the Australian context can only be understood properly if placed in the context of a more general paradox of research governance, where a politically charged rhetoric of innovation conflicts with the actual trend toward an increasingly diminishing scope for the self-organisation of knowledge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper advances current knowledge on factors affecting higher education institutions in their quest for innovation in education. Based on an analysis of ten institutional cases from five European countries, a comprehensive description and classification of barriers and drivers of innovation are provided. Results indicate certain “disengagement” in relation of higher education institutions and education policy makers, business, and students as well as between higher education institutions’ managers and their subordinates. Based on the findings, major innovation-related challenges in the higher education are discussed and related practical recommendations are presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the implementation of a new national education law in Argentina, the theoretical underpinnings, structure, and knowledge base for initial teacher education are being transformed. In the province of Chubut, southern Argentina, 2014 was devoted to the delineation of new jurisdictional programmes (Banegas, 2014), and 2015 was the year of implementing such programmes. In this paper I examine the perceptions of a group of students at an initial English language teacher education (IELTE) programme who decided to transfer from their 2013 cohort to the 2015 cohort under the new programme. I also examine teacher educators’ perceptions of the new programme. Through both students’ and teacher educators’ views, I compare and contrast the strengths, weaknesses and challenges of the changes introduced in IELTE in my context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper arises from observations made by the principal author, while on a recent sabbatical at the University of California at Santa Barbara, USA, regarding innovation-led undergraduate design teaching. This paper reports parallel educational approaches with those used in the UK in terms of design management and industry-led design for manufacture small group projects led by leading industrialists. However, this paper reports changes in the core mechanical engineering curriculum within the fields of micro-electronic mechanical systems and life sciences, not prevalent within the UK. In both of these areas, there is a need for cross-disciplinary bridging courses, which introduce new vocabulary, scientific principles, and experimental techniques. These courses require space to be created in what are often overcrowded curricula. This paper presents solutions to these problems so that new approaches can be developed for innovation-led design education within these cross-disciplinary fields. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper suggests that there has been a move away from teaching as a means of transmitting information, towards supporting learning as a student-generated activity. There has been much work relating to this in the arena of problem-based learning, which to date has been seen as a relatively stable approach to learning, delineated by particular characteristics and ways of operating. Most of the explanations of and arguments for problem-based learning, thus far, have tended to focus on (or privilege) the cognitive perspectives over the ontological positions of the learner. This paper suggests that problem-based learning (PBL) should be seen as a more troublesome learning space than it is because of the challenges of new and emerging technologies and what the constellation of 'learning' means. However, new curriculum spaces need to be created that help students to embrace contemporary dislocations and mediate rhetoric differently which will in turn encourages us to be brave teachers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reviews the reasons behind the absence of central Government funding for enterprise and innovation at Further Education Colleges (FECs). Enterprise and innovation are, according to conventional wisdom, crucial in rebuilding the UK's economy and providing jobs. In pursuit of this, the Government has provided central funding for enterprise promotion and education for both Universities and Secondary Schools, but not for FECs. The review starts by looking at recent Government policy papers on enterprise and innovation, then briefly considers the current economic characteristics that lay behind the need for enterprise education and innovation. The efficacy of the current proposals is questioned, looking at the concepts concerning the type and level of intelligence entrepreneurs need, also touching on what types of innovations can be expected to increase employment. The paper concludes by asking if elitist or class bias plays a part in the exclusion of Vocational Education & Training students at FECs from central funding for innovation and enterprise. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: In this paper we describe an action-research project that our research team proposed to a group of teachers working in a special education school. The main idea was to introduce new methods to teach reading and writing in their school, mainly constructivist-based ones on teaching the function of writing text. In this paper we focus on the process that as researchers, teachers and practitioners followed in order to achieve this goal, and the resistances we found in students upon introducing a new way of functioning in the classroom. From this analysis, we will conclude how these kinds of innovation projects must take into account that the change of the practices of an institution requires a reflection about what a change of this kind supposes for all the participants and their ecological relationships. Conversation Analysis (CA) can be a useful tool to create this type of reflection. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

There has been an increase in the use of e-learning as a form of delivering higher education. Much of the innovation has gone hand in hand with what has been called an ‘evaluation bypass’ and has seemingly been popular because of its economic efficiency. The literature on new technologies tends to be written by those committed to the innovation. They tend to present innovation as a good, regardless of what the innovation is, and ‘resistors’ as in some senses deviant. Using the example of the Higher Education Funding Council for England-funded multimedia project, ‘Doing Political Research’, this paper argues that some degree of scepticism about innovation can be seen as a positive response. Furthermore, the paper argues that the cost-saving arguments put forward by proponents of innovation are illusory. E-learning can be as costly as other means. However, it does offer alternative ways to teach and can be particularly effective at reaching isolated learners. The conclusion is that for e-learning to be effective it must place learning first. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The innovation of education seems to be self-evident. Boosted by a wide range of new technologies, educational institutes all over the world are innovating their educational systems, in order to extend their services, to improve their performances or to reduce costs. The apparent self-evidence of educational innovation hardly prompts the educational staff to reflect on the very idea of innovation and its consequences. This paper treats the basic principles that support the phenomenon of technology-induced educational innovation. It aims to contribute to a better insight and understanding of its implications to anyone engaged in education. It also aims to effect a growing awareness of the premises on technology and to support the right attitude to realise improvements in practice. The paper goes into strategies of change, while discussing both substitutional and transformational strategies. It explains its supposed differences by referring to the philosophical frameworks of Jaspers, Heidegger and Borgmann. Starting from Borgmann's ``devices paradigm'', four principles for educational innovations are formulated, referring to the transparency and interactivity of educational technologies, the socio-cultural significance of products, the importance of values beyond efficiency and the political bias involved with technological innovation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The research presented in this paper started from an initial study at the primary school level. Through polls applied through focus groups and questionnaires the teacher's perceptions on determinant factors of the quality of the teaching process at the primary school level were identified. Starting from these conclusions we considered that a closer attention should be given to the teaching process quality through an approach oriented toward innovation of the educational design and the initiation of some endeavours of improvement at the level of each subject in the educational design is necessary. The development of the research took place in the school years 2012-2013 and 2013-2014 each of them being a distinct stage in identifying and implementing the solutions considered being the most pertinent in reaching the intended results. The whole enterprise took place according to the Deming cycle/ PDCA (plan-do-check-act). We have to mention the fact that the research process that is the identification of the improvement means is not considered closed at the present moment, being, according to the Kaizen philosophy, an everlasting one. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Physical education has long been caught in a time of ‘innovation without change’. Yet, despite a wealth of pedagogical innovations and policies, which encourage a reconsideration of the ‘traditional pedagogy’, teachers rarely move beyond the honeymoon period of implementation. Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore how communities of practice emerge, develop and support innovation that results in pedagogical change. Participants and setting: Six secondary school teachers from a comprehensive secondary school in the UK used the Cooperative Learning model, which was identified as the pedagogical innovation, to teach physical education for a minimum of four units of activity (6–8 lessons each). Teachers were supported by a researcher who acted as a boundary spanner. Research design: To support their understanding and use of Cooperative Learning the teachers' engaged with action research through (a) the analysis of their observations and reflections, (b) dialogue with the boundary spanner and colleagues, and (c) negotiation with their students. Multiple sources of data informed the study including: teacher reflections, a field journal, a Verification Tool, interviews, teacher observations, professional learning meetings, and discussions on social media. Data analysis: Data were analysed through constant comparison, inductive analysis and peer examination. Findings: The boundary spanner was a catalyst for the adoption and sustained use of pedagogical innovation, facilitating teachers' use of action research, driving social energy, and the subsequent emergence of a community of practice. Conclusion: If physical education is to move beyond the traditional pedagogies, then communities of practice are a professional learning strategy that can support pedagogical innovation with change, especially when boundary spanners help to get them started. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Innovative educational approaches for schooling require changes to the traditional teacher role towards operating as co-facilitators and co-learners, and working in teacher teams, with considerable professional learning supporting this. Professional learning communities (PLCs) have been acknowledged as highly effective, with their characteristics being identified with reasonable consistency. However, specific processes through which PLCs operate are less evident. Furthermore, there is little research about the links between PLCs and student learning outcomes in innovative contexts. This paper uses teacher interviews within three innovative case-study schools, and considers student learning outcomes and the links to teacher learning within PLC contexts from a teacher perspective. Findings provide specific examples of PLC learning processes with regard to co-planning, co-teaching and co-assessment. Using achievement data, student work samples, teacher observations and self-reports, all teachers perceived that PLCs supported changes in their practices relevant to innovative contexts. Teachers indicated increased learning outcomes for students in terms of achievement, social skills, emotional aspects, independence and creativity. Significantly, the overall key impacts arising from effective PLCs operating within innovative contexts seem to be increased well-being of teachers and students. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Context • Radical constructivism (RC) is seen as a fruitful way to teach innovation, as Ernst von Glasersfeld's concepts of knowing, learning, and teaching provide an epistemological framework fostering processes of generating an autonomous conceptual understanding. Problem • Classical educational approaches do not meet the requirements for teaching and learning innovation because they mostly aim at students' competent performance, not at students' understanding and developing their creative capabilities. Method • Analysis of theoretical principles from the constructivist framework and how they can be used as a foundation for designing a course in the field of innovation. The empirical results are based on qualitative journal entries that were coded and categorized according to Charmaz's grounded theory approach. Results • It is shown that there is a close relationship between learning and innovation processes. The proposed investigated course design based on RC incorporates the following concepts: the course setting is understood as a framework to guide understanding; students work in teams and are subjective constructors of their own knowledge; instructors take on the role of coaches, guiding students through an innovation process as co creators. Such a framework facilitates dynamic processes of assimilation and accommodation, as well as perturbation through the "other," which potentially lead to novel, and viable, conceptual structures crucial for sustainable innovation. Constructivist Content • The paper argues in favor of RC principles in the context of teaching and learning. The proposed course setting is oriented at von Glasersfeld's understanding of knowing, learning, and teaching (vs. training). It outlines theoretical and practical aspects of these principles in the context of a course design for innovation. Furthermore, it shows the importance of von Glasersfeld's concept of intersubjectivity for processes of accommodation and the generation of (novel) autonomous conceptual structures. The interplay between creating coherence, perturbation, and irritation through interacting with the "other" (in the form of co-students and instructors) is assumed to be vital for such processes, as it leads to the creation of not only novel but also viable conceptual structures, therefore re-establishing a relative equilibrium critical for sustainable innovation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Effective dissemination is crucial if innovation and development in teaching and learning in higher education are to lead to sustainable changes in practice. In 2003, King used an agricultural metaphor to challenge innovators to understand the purposes behind their dissemination aims. Similar to the way that seed can be spread, one could choose to widely scatter the information, and hope it grows wherever it lands; one could actively direct the scattering; or one could nurture and propagate future adoption in an ongoing manner. A recent investigation into dissemination strategies used in Australian teaching and learning innovation grants shows that certain dissemination strategies might make the ground more fertile and receptive to the seeds sown. To those engaged in funded projects grappling with translating project outputs and outcomes to sustainable changes in practice, this paper offers a framework and tools designed to help prepare the soil and cultivate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents remarks about integrated independent learning with emphasis on the role played by teachers in observing student learning experiences and in having the students share with the teacher the centrality of the teaching-learning process. This teaching strategy, applicable to any educational level, including graduate courses, is presented as a powerful contribution to the training of professionals, as it enables them to face the challenges associated with a new Brazilian scenario, wherein innovation and entrepreneurship are central priorities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is a snapshot of an evolving vision of what the future may hold for learning technology. It offers three personal visions of the future and raises many questions that need to be explored if learning technology is to realise its full potential. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the potential of technology-enabled feedback to improve student learning. ‘Technology, Feedback, Action!: The impact of learning technology upon students’ engagement with their feedback’ aimed to evaluate how a range of technical interventions might encourage students to engage with feedback and formulate actions to improve future learning. The study used qualitative methods and worked in partnership with 23 undergraduate students to explore their experiences of receiving different forms of feedback with varying degrees of technical intervention including, but not limited to, electronic feedback with grades withheld; online grade publication; criteria-based feedback; and more traditional feedback methods. Through a series of semi-structured interviews, student participants were encouraged to articulate their experiences of feedback. The online publication of grades and feedback and the adaptive release of grades were found to significantly enhance students’ engagement with their feedback. Data were analysed using a thematic approach, and the main themes were used to inform the development of a series of good practice guides. The findings are discussed in the context of current literature. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]