Title: A tale of two schools' journey in educational change: comparing approaches to designing and implementing pedagogical innovations

Authors: Peter Seow; Gean Chia; Shu-Shing Lee; David Hung; Eva Moo

Addresses: National Institute of Education, 1 Nanyang Walk, 637616, Singapore ' Lifelong Learning Institute, iN.LAB, 11 Eunos Road, 8 #05-03 S408601, Singapore ' National Institute of Education, 1 Nanyang Walk, 637616, Singapore ' National Institute of Education, 1 Nanyang Walk, 637616, Singapore ' National Institute of Education, 1 Nanyang Walk, 637616, Singapore

Abstract: This study compares the pathways of two schools in implementing pedagogical innovations for improving student learning outcomes through technology-mediated inquiry-based pedagogies. The two schools implemented innovations with similar goals but with different implementation approaches and resulting outcomes. The intent of the comparison is to shed light on what shapes school's implementation of innovations. Multiple sources of data were collected from workshops for teachers, teachers' lesson design meetings, lesson plans, classroom observations, and interviews with teachers and students. We analysed each school's implementation process of the innovation by understanding the factors and noting the decisions made by the school's middle managers and school leaders, reviewing teachers' lesson enactments and their reflections, and students' learning outcomes. There were differences and similarities in how the schools implemented the innovation. From this study, a key finding is that context, school practices and pragmatic considerations influence the implementation of innovations.

Keywords: educational change; pedagogical innovations; inquiry-based learning; innovation implementation.

DOI: 10.1504/IJIIE.2017.088096

International Journal of Innovation in Education, 2017 Vol.4 No.2/3, pp.171 - 190

Received: 03 Sep 2016
Accepted: 31 May 2017
Published online: 22 Nov 2017 *

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