The imperative of complementarity between the school level and the classroom level in educational innovation

Abstract

The results are presented of a qualitative study on the implementation of specialneeds provisions in four primary schools in the Dutch-speaking part of Belgium. It shows how primary schools deal with such an innovation as the extension of specialneeds services. In the conceptual framework, the assumption that an innovation should be considered not only from a structural-functional perspective but also from an individual-cultural perspective is explored. The research data were subjected to within-site and cross-site analysis. The findings reveal the importance of complementarity between actions at the school level and the classroom level. An individual-cultural perspective is necessary if one wants to grasp the nature of this complementarity.