Innovative School Research Articles

School Innovation Culture as Predictor of Teachers’ Research Competence

The study assessed the school innovation culture and teachers' research competence in selected higher education institutions in Hunan, China. It assessed the culture of school innovation using the sub-variables strategy, support mechanism, structure, and creative behavior. To assess research competence, the study used the sub-variables research methodology, ethics, and utilization of research. The study also determined the predictive role of innovation culture on teachers' research competence. The study involved 305 teacher respondents selected randomly from a total population of 1460 teachers. The researcher developed the instrument used for data gathering. It was validated, pilot tested, and showed acceptable reliability results. The findings revealed a weak innovation culture in the schools investigated. The respondents assessed innovation culture as weak in all its sub-variables. It implies a lack of organized effort to foster an innovation culture in the investigated schools. The findings also showed poor research competence among the respondents. They have poor competence in research methodology, ethics, and utilization. Based on the results of the multiple linear regression analysis, the study concluded that school innovation culture has a predictive influence on teachers' research competence. This implies that a weak school innovation culture has a negative impact on the research competence of teachers. The study highlights the need to strengthen innovation culture to increase school research productivity.

Following the Innovations in A Learning Organization Perspective: To Follow, or Not to Follow

The purpose of this study was to investigate school administrators and teachers’ following innovations in pre-school education in terms of the learning organization perspective. We examined their following the innovations in terms of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Competencies, 21st Century Skills, and Innovative School. A total of 207 participants (School Administrators N =33 & Teachers N = 174) were recruited in this research. The data collections tools were Information and Communication Technology Competency Scale (ICTC), Multidimensional 21st Century Skills Scale, and Innovative School Scale (ISS). Our results have shown that school administrators and teachers have positive attitudes towards following innovations in education. Participants, however, have some concerns over innovative atmosphere and organizational impediments in terms of the innovative school. Further, the results in innovative school showed a statistically significant difference in favor of male participants. The results of the regression analysis have revealed that there is a significant relationship between multidimensional 21st century skills and the innovative school variables at a high level. Although the participants' multidimensional 21st century skills significantly predicted their innovative school scores, we found that the ICT Competence variable alone did not predict or affect it. Limitations and recommendations for future research are provided, as well.

조직의 다양성과 참여적 의사결정이 학교혁신에 미치는 영향: 학교장의 인식을 중심으로

Considering the reality that the diversity of school members is increasing due to the influx of multicultural students into school organizations, it is necessary to analyze the impact of diversity on schools from an organizational perspective. Thus, this study aims to analyze the impact of organizational diversity on school innovativeness, examining whether participatory decision-making mediates these two variables. To achieve this, survey responses from school principals working in elementary and middle schools in South Korea, as provided by TALIS 2018, were utilized. Using structural equation modeling to explore the relationships among three latent variables, the analysis yielded the following results: First, acceptance of diversity had a positive effect on school innovativeness. Second, participatory decision-making among school members also had a positive effect on school innovativeness. Third, the indirect effect of participatory decision-making on the relationship between diversity acceptance and school innovativeness was found to be significant, demonstrating its role as a mediating variable in managing organizational diversity. These results have policy implications in that they empirically suggest ways to achieve school innovation in terms of diversity and decision-making.

The Effect of Innovative Schools and Schools' Openness to Change on Teachers' Adaptive Performance

In this study, it was aimed to examine the effect of teachers' perceptions of innovative schools and schools' openness to change on their perceptions of adaptive performance. Predictive correlational design was used in the study. Simple random sampling method was utilized to determine the sample. The sample consisted of 258 teachers. Personal Information Form, Innovative School Scale, Schools' Openness to Change Scale and Teachers' Perceived Adaptive Performance Scale were applied to collect the data. In data analysis, descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation and hierarchical regression analysis were used. In the study, teachers' perceptions of innovative schools and adaptive performance were found to be high, and their perceptions of schools’ openness to change were found to be moderate. It was determined that innovative school and schools' openness to change together significantly predicted adaptive performance. It was determined that the dimensions of organizational impediments, teachers' openness to change and school environment's press for change were significant predictors of adaptive performance while innovative schools and schools' openness to change were together. It was concluded that in order to increase the adaptive performance of teachers, it is necessary to realize innovative practices in schools and to increase the openness of schools to change. Suggestions were made to prevent the factors that hinder innovations in schools and to increase the openness to change of teachers and the school environment.

중학생의 학교-지역 연계 교육과정 참여 경험 분석

Focus group interviews were conducted with four middle school students who had participated in the school-community curriculum as part of an innovative school project. The results indicated that middle school students initially felt unfamiliar with the school-community curriculum. However, their motivation to participate increased as their opinions were incorporated into the curriculum development. The integration of learning about the community, utilizing community resources, and contributing to the community was intertwined with both their academic and personal lives. This process facilitated a deeper understanding of themselves and enhanced their self-directedness. Moreover, through this curriculum, the students developed a stronger desire to promote and contribute to their community.

Transformational Leadership and Team Synergy in Improving Communication and Collaboration in Educational Settings

This study explores the impact of transformational leadership on team synergy, communication, and collaboration in educational environments. The purpose of the research is to examine how transformational leadership enhances team dynamics by fostering trust, communication, and participatory decision-making among teachers and staff. Utilizing a qualitative phenomenological methodology, in-depth interviews were conducted with school leaders, teachers, and administrative staff, complemented by participatory observation and document analysis. The results reveal that transformational leadership significantly improves collaboration by encouraging open communication and empowering team members to take initiative. Teachers reported feeling more motivated to innovate in their teaching methods and engage in interdisciplinary collaboration. However, challenges such as staff resistance and limited resources hindered the full adoption of collaborative practices in some schools. The study also highlights varying levels of team participation, which indicates that the effectiveness of transformational leadership depends on the leader's ability to engage all team members. The major conclusion of the study is that transformational leadership positively influences team synergy through enhanced trust and collaborative problem-solving. The findings provide important practical insights for educational leaders, suggesting that transformational leadership fosters a more inclusive and innovative school environment. This research contributes to the field by emphasizing the need for flexible leadership approaches that adapt to team dynamics and the critical importance of institutional support and resources to fully realize the benefits of transformational leadership in educational settings.

An ambiguous aspiration: school actors making sense of educational innovation policy

ABSTRACT Educational innovation has received significant attention in contemporary policy debates. Many countries and regions have initiated comprehensive reforms to reshape teaching methods and link innovative practices with improved equity and performance outcomes. In Catalonia (Spain), a clear example of this phenomenon, recent policy developments have pressured schools and teachers to introduce innovative teaching practices to enhance the overall quality of the educational system. Yet, the conceptual framework of school innovation in this context is broad and ambiguous. Therefore, the Catalan case offers a rich context to explore how educational innovation policy is interpreted and enacted in schools. This study uses enactment and sensemaking theories, considering material, symbolic, and cognitive factors that explain variations in practices across schools. The study employs a qualitative approach to examine teachers’ and principals’ interpretations of the innovation policy and to analyse innovation practices. The findings show that the broad and ambiguous nature of the innovation policy mandate allows for wide interpretation, adaptation, and enactment, highly dependent on school actors’ understandings of innovation and contextual factors. Additionally, schools often engage in innovation at a superficial level, with externally driven, fragmented, and standardized innovation practices being most frequent, although this varies across schools’ socioeconomic levels.

Integrating Theatre into STEM Curricula: A Case Study of Pedagogical Innovation in Underprivileged Schools

This study explores the effects of theatrical integration on student engagement, creativity, and critical thinking in STEM teaching in poor schools. There are still gaps in research and real-world application of multidisciplinary education, especially in developing nations, despite its increasing prominence. Using a mixed-methods approach, this study assesses the efficacy of integrated STEM and theatrical workshops by means of teacher surveys and classroom observations. Results show that these seminars greatly increase students’ interest in STEM fields and develop critical abilities like communication and collaboration. The partnership between educators and community partners emphasizes the necessity of designing curricula that are flexible and meet the requirements of a wide range of students. With the goal of addressing educational disparities and enhancing learning outcomes for marginalized kids, policymakers and educators can benefit from the insights provided by this study, which adds to the body of knowledge on creative pedagogical approaches.

Elements, Contexts, and Attributes of Teacher Leadership Identified by College Professors in southeastern Mexico

Teacher leadership has its beginnings in Western countries as a response to fast changes that have taken place in the social, political, and economic environments. Currently in the Latin American context it has become a focus of interest for educational researchers particularly because the incipient research on the topic in these contexts. This study focused on knowing the elements, contexts, and attributes identified by college teachers about teacher leadership southeastern Mexico. All full-time faculty from a college at a public university (50) participated in this study, 20% of whom have formal administrative functions in addition to their teaching. The main findings show that: the main elements that are related to the concept of teacher leadership are behaviors focused on interpersonal relationships and school innovation. Regarding the contexts, the development of teacher leadership is often based on institutional context and collaborative work. Regarding the attributes, special emphasis is placed on interpersonal relationships, change, and individual development and recognition. No significant differences were found in the perceptions of participants who have an administrative appointment and those who do not, regarding the contexts and attributes of teacher leadership, except for the elements of the concept of teacher leadership between men and women.

Elements, Contexts, and Attributes of Teacher Leadership Identified by College Professors in southeastern Mexico

Teacher leadership has its beginnings in Western countries as a response to fast changes that have taken place in the social, political, and economic environments. Currently in the Latin American context it has become a focus of interest for educational researchers particularly because the incipient research on the topic in these contexts. This study focused on knowing the elements, contexts, and attributes identified by college teachers about teacher leadership southeastern Mexico. All full-time faculty from a college at a public university (50) participated in this study, 20% of whom have formal administrative functions in addition to their teaching. The main findings show that: the main elements that are related to the concept of teacher leadership are behaviors focused on interpersonal relationships and school innovation. Regarding the contexts, the development of teacher leadership is often based on institutional context and collaborative work. Regarding the attributes, special emphasis is placed on interpersonal relationships, change, and individual development and recognition. No significant differences were found in the perceptions of participants who have an administrative appointment and those who do not, regarding the contexts and attributes of teacher leadership, except for the elements of the concept of teacher leadership between men and women.

Developing a safe learning environment in primary-level innovative schools in the Czech Republic

ABSTRACT This study examined how teachers in the Czech primary schooly create a safe learning environment, and identified key strategies they employ to foster a supportive and respectful classroom climate. Particular emphasis was placed on methodological analysis due to new requirements set by the Ministry of Education, which, within the new Competency Framework for Teaching Graduates, demands that teachers be capable of effectively establishing a safe educational setting. Innovative schools serve as crucial sources of inspiration for fulfilling this competence, as they implement progressive pedagogical approaches and methods that can be effectively adapted and applied across various educational contexts. The research was conducted through observations of teachers during classroom instruction and notes taken in field journals using a log. The results revealed that teachers utilise participatory rule-making, promote cooperation over competition, engage in open and non-violent communication, and adopt an individualised approach to teaching. These practices not only contribute to a safe classroom climate but also support the overall personal and academic development of students. The research also uncovered challenges faced by teachers, including maintaining discipline in an environment with high student autonomy and diversifying educational needs. Teachers overcome these challenges with flexible and expert approaches that support safe and inclusive education.

Challenges managers face in an innovative school environment

Challenges managers face in an innovative school environment

How does career calling influence teacher innovation? The chain mediation roles of organizational identification and work engagement

AbstractTeacher innovation is closely related to the improvement of basic education quality, and the cultivation of innovative talent for the nation. However, few studies have employed the causes of teacher innovation from the perspective of intrinsic motivation. To explore the factors and mechanisms affecting teacher innovation, we surveyed 421 middle school teachers to investigate the mediating roles of organizational identification and work engagement in the relationship between career calling and teacher innovation. The results indicate that career calling has a significantly positive impact on teacher innovation and that both organizational identification and work engagement mediate the effect of career calling on teacher innovation. Moreover, organizational identification and work engagement act as chain mediators in the relationship between career calling and teacher innovation. Therefore, to promote teacher innovation in middle school, it is important to emphasize the sense of calling, organizational identification, and work engagement. Practical implications for how to promote teacher innovation are also discussed.

Kewiralembagaan Kyai dalam Menginovasi Institusi Pesantren

This article seeks to explore the institutional innovation practices of Islamic boarding schools carried out by Kyai Malik, namely from being just an institution for cadre cadre of ulama to an institution that also cadres entrepreneurs. Since its inception, Islamic boarding schools have had an innovative character. This institution is the result of innovation from religious educational institutions in the Hindu-Buddhist era. As time goes by, the kyai also make institutional innovations in the Islamic boarding schools they care for, namely by adopting schools at various levels. However, on the other hand, it turns out that schools are less able to carry out their duties as educational institutions that prepare their students to become people who are able to live independently. Responding to this situation, Kyai Malik carried out institutional entrepreneurship practices by innovating his Islamic boarding school, in the form of developing learning methods based on real reality. Real reality-based learning methods are educational methods that adapt entrepreneurial practices directly into the learning process.

Sekolah Adaptif: Strategi Membangun Budaya Organisasi yang Responsif terhadap Perubahan

An adaptive school is characterized by its ability to accommodate and respond to the dynamics of both external and internal environments, such as technological advancements, changes in educational policies, and evolving student needs. This research explores how schools can develop a culture of organization that is responsive to change through adaptive approaches. The study aims to investigate effective strategies for creating a flexible and innovative school environment and how the implementation of these strategies can enhance a school’s capability to handle challenges and changes. Through a qualitative approach using case studies of schools that have successfully applied adaptive principles, findings indicate that an adaptive organizational culture can improve educational quality and increase stakeholder satisfaction. The research is intended to provide practical guidance for educational leaders in designing and implementing sustainable adaptive strategies.

Impacts of innovation school system in Korea: a latent space item response model with Neyman–Scott point process

Abstract South Korea’s educational system has faced criticism for its lack of focus on critical thinking and creativity, resulting in high levels of stress and anxiety among students. As part of the government’s effort to improve the educational system, the innovation school system was introduced in 2009, which aims to develop students’ creativity as well as their non-cognitive skills. To better understand the differences between innovation and regular school systems in South Korea, we propose a novel method that combines the latent space item response model with the Neyman–Scott point process model. Our method accounts for the heterogeneity of items and students, captures relationships between respondents and items, and identifies item and student clusters that can provide a comprehensive understanding of students’ behaviours/perceptions on non-cognitive outcomes. Our analysis reveals that students in the innovation school system show a higher sense of citizenship, while those in the regular school system tend to associate confidence in appearance with social ability. A comparison with exploratory item factor analysis highlights our method’s advantages in terms of uncertainty quantification of the clustering process and more detailed and nuanced clustering results. Our method is made available to an existing R package, lsirm12pl.

Leading digital innovation in schools: the role of the open innovation mindset

Schools’ digitalization requires a shift of stakeholders’ mindsets, specific forms of leadership, and strategic knowledge management to deal with current and future educational challenges. The relationship between school leaders’ open innovation mindset, transformational leadership, knowledge management practices, and the effects on digital innovation are presented. A random sample of German school leaders is analyzed through confirmatory factor analysis to investigate the construct of school leaders’ open innovation mindset followed by structural equation modeling. Results show that digital innovations and transformational leadership in schools require school leaders with an open innovation mindset who foster a collaborative culture of knowledge exchange.

Explore How Transformational Leadership Styles Impact Educational Environments and Student

This study investigates the impact of transformational leadership on school climate and student outcomes using both correlational and regression analyses to assess the relationships between leadership behaviors and educational variables. The findings reveal that transformational leadership significantly enhances teacher collaboration (r = 0.65), inclusivity (r = 0.71), and innovation (r = 0.58), with leadership explaining up to 51% of the variance in inclusivity. Additionally, transformational leadership is positively correlated with student outcomes, including academic performance (r = 0.62) and student engagement (r = 0.62). Schools led by transformational leaders had higher mean scores in student academic performance, with an average test score of 85.50 compared to 78.00 in schools with other leadership styles. Statistical analyses such as ANOVA confirmed that these differences are statistically significant, showing that transformational leadership fosters a more collaborative, inclusive, and innovative school environment, which directly enhances student engagement and academic achievement. These results highlight the importance of transformational leadership in educational settings, particularly in shaping both teacher effectiveness and student success. The study concludes by recommending leadership development programs, collaboration initiatives, and regular leadership evaluations to ensure continuous improvement in school environments.

Developing A Mechanism to Drive Innovative School for Basic Education in Thailand

The purpose of this study was to investigate factors and key components that affecting an innovative school framework thus developed a mechanism to drive innovative school administration in basic education, Thailand. The researchers employed an exploratory research design using qualitative approaches, namely document analysis, structured face-to-face interviews, and focus group discussions. This study was conducted in three phases in three prototype primary schools. The researchers investigated the key components that affect innovative school administration based on documents such as policy documents, strategic plans, educational reports, case studies, academic articles, and administrative guidelines. This was followed by structured interviews with 11 experts to validate the key components and seven driving factors found in the first phase to form an innovative school framework. In the final phase, a total of 21 practitioners participated in three series of focus group discussions to develop a mechanism to drive the innovative school framework. The results from the first phase revealed that components that affect the drive towards innovative school administration can be promoted in three levels, namely individual, organizational, and policy levels. Then, the researchers used the results of the first phase to develop a mechanism to drive innovative school administration using the Supplier-Input-Process-Outputs-Customers Model after cross examined by 11 experts in the second phase. The ultimate results revealed that there are seven factors to drive the mechanism, namely challenging shared vision, innovative habits, innovative strategy, flexible culture and atmosphere, open communication, flexible organization structure, and innovator team.

An Investigation on Driving Factors of Innovative School Framework for Basic Education in Thailand: A Need Assessment

An Investigation on Driving Factors of Innovative School Framework for Basic Education in Thailand: A Need Assessment