Glaucio Aranha*
Debates on “innovation” have been stirring many fields across all kinds of institutions. Education is not immune to them. This is, however, a complex topic, since it encompasses different concepts, typologies and contexts depending on the field in which it is applied.
Today we find many kinds of studies that can be brought into dialogue with education and teaching. Dr Brooke Dobni (2008) developed studies to assess the characteristics of environments conducive to innovation. His aim was to identify cultural aspects that favoured the emergence of innovative ideas, given that one concern in many institutions is that most of them lack a clear analysis and identification of the values, beliefs and behaviour patterns that guide their decisions, positions and strategies (Martins and Martins, 2002). This points to the need for an educational institution to have a clear perception not only of its immediate purpose but also of the complexity of its components (teachers, students, managers and staff), so that it can assess which innovation scenarios are needed and feasible in that institution.
In this sense, a Culture of Innovation can be understood as a way of seeing an institution’s internal and external processes. More than having new ideas, a Culture of Innovation is a process through which all the institution’s agents internalize the importance of innovative thinking and the value innovation has for each of them. It is a consensus within that community about what innovation means for its members.
Steele and Murray (2004) point out that a Culture of Innovation contributes to an institution’s agility and ability to respond to changing political, economic and cultural scenarios. In this sense, a culture of innovation contributes to the resilience of that educational community. This, however, requires openness to processes for selecting ideas and for retaining and valuing innovative people (Steele & Murray, 2004), among others.
Interest in analysing Culture of Innovation has grown considerably (Dobni, 2008), as it is a key element in developing environments that foster and stimulate creativity and innovation. Creating a culture of innovation contributes to the performance of the educational institution itself, by generating a sense of belonging, welcoming creativity and encouraging knowledge production.
Kaasa and Vadi (2010) observe that the strength of tradition can often be an obstacle to innovation, but this is not a rule. Even more traditional institutions can foster a culture of innovation aligned with their most deeply rooted values. To do so, it is important to identify which type of innovation best fits each institutional profile.
There are several types of innovation, for example, in brief:
- Disruptive innovation: breaks with paradigms, bringing about major transformations or the creation of innovative processes, products or systems;
- Architectural innovation: is associated with breaking a model and acquiring new competences, technologies or systems;
- Incremental innovation: brings small improvements to existing processes, products or systems;
- Radical innovation: requires new technologies or the development of a secondary innovation in order to be implemented.
Building a culture of innovation in educational institutions affects the patterns and ways in which the members of that community deal with processes and products that involve some (greater or lesser) change to the practices and experiences built in that institution.
To foster this culture, it is essential that the agents involved provide creative and innovative spaces for all segments, valuing individual and collective initiatives, promoting debate and highlighting success stories in the institution, or contributions to innovation from any of the groups involved. Highlighting an improvement implemented by a student, parent or staff member is as important as an innovative idea from students or management. Creating a culture of innovation means creating spaces for speaking, listening and doing in institutions.
References
Dobni, C. B. (2008). Measuring innovation culture in organizations: the development of a generalized innovation culture construct using exploratory factor analysis. European Journal of Innovation Management, 11(4), 539-559. doi: 10.1108/14601060810911156
» https://doi.org/10.1108/14601060810911156
Martins, E., & Martins, N. (2002). An organizational culture model to promote creativity and innovation. Journal of Industrial Psychology, 28(4), 58-65.
Steele, J., & Murray, M. (2004). Creating, supporting and sustaining a culture of innovation. Engineeering, Construction and Architectural Management, 11(5), 316-322. doi: 10.1108/09699980410558502
» https://doi.org/10.1108/09699980410558502
Glaucio Aranha is a professor and researcher at the Instituto NUTES de Educação em Ciências e Saúde, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), working on media, cognition, semiotics, neuroscience, science and health education and science communication. He leads the research group CLASS – Cognition, Language and Audiovisual in Semiotic Systems and co-leads the group Neuroeduc – Neuroscience Applied to Education. More about the author.
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