Going round in circles: temporal discontinuity as a gross impediment to effective innovation in education and training

Abstract

The analysis presented in this paper offers different examples of how timing issues have adversely affected a series of innovations in education and training. The term ‘temporal discontinuity’ is used since the problems cannot simply be characterised as ‘undue rushing’ or ‘impatience on the part of policy makers’. Whilst over‐hasty scheduling of innovation and a general shortage of time plays a part in the problems on which the paper focuses, it is suggested that the sequencing of design, piloting, evaluation and implementation can break down, falling out of adequate synchronisation. This is more complex than simple shortage of time; remedying this requires more than just an (often‐called‐for) slower pace in evaluating and implementing innovations. The paper uses three carefully‐selected case studies from the English education system to illustrate significant variants of temporal discontinuity: the history of the Assessment of Performance Unit; the implementation of system‐level reforms in academic and vocational qualifications for 18 year olds in 2000; and the history of General National Vocational Qualifications. The paper suggests that genuine reform and innovation are seriously impeded by problems resulting from temporal discontinuity. It also suggests that the problems are in part rooted in the timing of political cycles, and calls for a radical examination of the management of large‐scale innovation in education and training.