INNOVATION, GOVERNANCE AND

REFORM IN EDUCATION HOW CERI RESEARCH CAN

INFORM THE DEBATE

Dirk Van Damme, Head of CERI

• Setting the scene: the big picture• The drama: the challenges for educational

policy and reform• The plot: innovation in education• The meta-plot: governance of education

systems• The stage: four themes and an overarching

one

Outline

SETTING THE SCENE

• Ever increasing educational attainment

Setting the scene – the big picture

More people have benefited from education than even before

• Ever increasing educational attainment • Growing impact of education on various social and

economic outcomes

Setting the scene – the big picture

An individual with a higher level of education is more likely to believe they have a say in government

• Ever increasing educational attainment • Growing impact of education on various social and

economic outcomes• But challenges remain and magnify

– The equity and social mobility challenge

Setting the scene – the big picture

The participation of students in HE from low-educated families is less than half of their share in the population

• Ever increasing educational attainment • Growing impact of education on various social and

economic outcomes• But challenges remain and magnify

– The equity and social mobility challenge– The quality challenge

Setting the scene – the big picture

• Ever increasing educational attainment • Growing impact of education on various social and

economic outcomes• But challenges remain and magnify

– The equity and social mobility challenge– The quality challenge– The efficiency challenge

Setting the scene – the big picture

In most countries the per student expenditure has continued to increase

• Ever increasing educational attainment • Growing impact of education on various social and

economic outcomes• But challenges remain and magnify

– The equity and social mobility challenge– The quality challenge– The efficiency challenge

• Result is a widening gap between opportunities and expectations on one hand and challenges on other

Setting the scene – the big picture

THE DRAMA

• Challenges for education policy makers increase– Supporting the expansion of the system– Ensuring quality– Securing equitable access and opportunities– Meeting ever growing expectations

• But in very difficult times– Deepening social problems– Doing more with less– Intensifying political and ideological differences

The challenges for educational policy and reform

THE PLOT

• Innovation can be part of the answer– Reaping the potential benefits of technology

Innovation in education

• Innovation can be part of the answer– Reaping the potential benefits of technology– Adapting teaching and learning to 21st century skills

demand

Innovation in education

40

45

50

55

60

65

1960 1970 1980 1990 2000

Routine manual

Nonroutine manual

Routine cognitive

Nonroutine analytic

Nonroutine interactive

Source: Levy and Murnane, 2005

Mea

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sk in

put

as p

erce

ntile

s of

th

e 19

60 t

ask

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ion

Economy-wide measures of routine and non-routine task input (US)

• Innovation can be part of the answer– Reaping the potential benefits of technology– Adapting teaching and learning to 21st century skills

demand– Aligning pedagogy with recent research evidence on

learning

Innovation in education

• Innovation can be part of the answer– Reaping the potential benefits of technology– Adapting teaching and learning to 21st century skills

demand– Aligning pedagogy with recent research evidence on

learning• Dimensions of innovation

Innovation in education

• Widely shared perception of slowness of reform and ‘resistance to innovation’ among policy makers and external stakeholders

• Many examples of ill-conceived and badly implemented top-down innovation

• Yet, evidence from CERI’s Measuring Innovation points at many examples of meaningful change

But are education systems ready for innovation?

• Widely shared perception of slowness of reform and ‘resistance to innovation’ among policy makers and external stakeholders

• Many examples of ill-conceived and badly implemented top-down innovation

• Yet, evidence from CERI’s Measuring Innovation points at many examples of meaningful change

• And, evidence in CERI’s Innovative Learning Environments present a rich reservoir of innovative energy

But are education systems ready for innovation?

• = dynamic change that is intended to add value to the educational processes– To improve quality of processes and of learning

outcomes– To enhance equity and equality of learning outcomes

and learning opportunities– To improve efficiency, minimise costs and maximise

value for money– To better adapt the system to societal needs and

expectations

Innovation in education

  Innovation Reform Change

Definition

Implementation of improved ideas, knowledge and

practices

Structured and conscious process of producing change

Transformation or alteration that may be an intended or

unintended phenomenon

Key characteristicsImplies novelty and

brings benefits

Produces change (though in some

cases only little or none)

Is historical, contextual and

processual

 

Types

Process, product, marketing and organisational

Also: incremental, radical and systemic

form

Radical, incremental or systemic

Differentiated by pace (continuous or episodic) and scope

(convergent or radical)

Innovation – reform – change

THE META-PLOT

• Misconceptions about innovation in education result from divergent views on the governance of education systems

• How to conceptualise and understand contemporary governance challenges in education?

• Complexity can provide part of the answer.

Governance of innovation

• Decentralisation, deregulation, school autonomy

Governing complexity

• Decentralisation, deregulation, school autonomy• Choice and competition• Multiplication of governance levels: multilevel

governance• Multiplication of actors and stakeholders: multi-

stakeholder governance• Professionalisation• Parents, civil society

Governing complexity

Restructuring governance

Source: Goldspink, 2007

THE STAGE

The stage: four themes and one overarching one

Knowled

ge

Knowledge

Know

ledg

e Knowledge

• Trust is essential in establishing the conditions for effective and sustainable innovative change– facilitating open communication, transparency,

cooperation, prevention of abuse of power– enabling actors and stakeholders to take risks,

facilitating interactions and co-operation, and reducing the need for control and monitoring

Trust

Interpersonal Trust

Social Capital

Stakeholders

Families

Community

Learners

EDUCATION

Trust

• What kind of accountability systems are conducive to innovation?

• Vertical accountability– Regulatory accountability– School performance accountability

• Horizontal accountability– Professional accountability– Multi-stakeholder accountability

Accountability

• Teachers as professionals of teaching and learning• Role of teachers as professionals radically changes

the governance of education systems• Participation in professional learning communities

becomes an important driver of innovation

Teacher professionalism

• Processes of innovation in education critically depend on leadership for change– Central level: setting the discourse– School level: enabling change– Pedagogical leadership

Leadership

• Education, as a knowledge system, requires effective knowledge flows to inform effective innovation– R&D and educational research– ‘Useful’ pedagogical knowledge– Professional knowledge– Tacit knowledge– Other knowledge systems

• Are knowledge systems in education sufficiently dynamic to support innovative change?

Knowledge

LET THE PLAY BEGIN!

Thank you !

dirk.vandamme@oecd.orgwww.oecd.org/edu/ceri

twitter @VanDammeEDU

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