Educational innovation studies as a complex system

Abstract

Educational innovations are defined as a complex, self-renewing systemic formation, dependent on changing social and educa-tional priorities. The system of educational innovations has been deve-loped taking into account the methodological and historical bases of itsformation, defining the object and subject, classifications of innovationsin education, criteria for selection and implementation of innovative expe-rience, quality of innovative activities. Based on the analysis of scientificand theoretical approaches, the object of pedagogical innovation studies isthe innovation process, conditions, methods and results of its implemen-tation, the subject is the relationship between the efficiency of innovationprocesses and its determining factors, as well as ways of influencing thesefactors in order to increase the effectiveness of changes. The conceptualand categorical apparatus of educational innovations has been defined.The paper demonstrates diverse scientific views in the interpretation of itsessence leading to the coexistence of different approaches in typologizationand classification of pedagogical innovations. The scope, innovative poten-tial, and scale of transformations are considered the main peculiarities ofinnovations. The empirical part presents the results of the scientific con-textual Master’s project “Innovative Experimental Educational Systems”implemented at the National Pedagogical Dragomanov University (Kyiv,Ukraine). The “quality of innovation activities” is considered a promisingtrend in the further study of educational innovation problems. Pedagogi-cal universities are defined as the centres of forming students” ability toanalyse, summarize, select innovative pedagogical experience, design andpersistently introduce it into educational practice.