Hosted by , contributed by Kyriaki_Vakkou on 13 December 2022
There are currently numerous education reforms trying to make schools more effective and provide students an education that prepares them for life in the 21st century. Schools are being asked to increase the quality of education, notably by providing more students than in the past with advanced skills and the ability to be flexible thinkers and problem solvers. At the core of these reforms is an emphasis on 21st century teaching and learning in which technology is not merely present, but is used in the most effective ways possible. The purpose of schools will be different from traditional systems. Schools need to adapt to support innovation and systemic change, not only in their environment but also in their broader community. In this way, there is a considerable need to support and involve a broad set of stakeholders (e.g., school heads, teachers, administrative staff, students and external stakeholders) so that each school can respond to the need for institutional change and development in a meaningful, comprehensive and strategic way. This is becoming even more critical and important in unexpected situations like the current pandemic that has posed numerous restrictions to the schools’ operation.
The Reflecting for Change (R4C) project aimed at proposing an advanced support framework, as well as a set of core policy recommendations, to schools seeking to introduce a type of holistic change that will ensure a meaningful uptake of sustainable innovation, with an emphasis on achieving improved learning outcomes as set by the Europe 2020 strategy. In R4C approach, innovation is understood in terms of a school’s pathway to digital maturity and its comprehensive relationship to the use of ICT, as well as a school’s pathway to openness demonstrated in its relationship with external stakeholders. The project offers a package of supporting materials, including the R4C self-reflection tool, the School Innovation Model and the School Innovation Roadmap, that have been developed to support schools as they transform into Innovation Hubs, offering a clear mentoring approach to schools with a vision for the future. The R4C support mechanism offers open, interoperable and personalized solutions meeting the local needs, supports school leaders capture innovation, to decide on the appropriate strategy to diffuse innovation to the school and through constant reflection that is guiding them towards the transformation of the school to Digitally Mature Open Schooling Hub finally becoming sustainable innovation ecosystems.
Schools that were involved in the activities of the project demonstrated a significant growth in innovation while their students increased significantly their motivation towards science and schooling in general. Moreover, applying the School Innovation Model in local settings has made it clear that schools have much to gain by fostering connections between formal and informal learning, between existing providers of education and new entrants. The School Innovation Model has supported the transformation of schools into innovative environments.
Improving and modernizing education and training systems needs support by assessment in order to fine-tune the process. The R4C instruments and methodology have shown their potential and effectiveness to enable school heads and innovative teachers to follow up their progress and to get the opportunity to reflect. Using this self-assessment as a starting point, school heads can identify areas for growth as leaders and can give further thought and planning to the development of their plans. The purpose of the R4C Self Reflection Tool is to help to develop reflective practitioners who can lead schools towards the transformation of schools to innovation ecosystems. The school’s innovation and autonomy offers a variety of processes and methods to cope with the rather demanding framework of operation during the school’s closure. The self-reflection process and the schools’ innovation could act as drivers for school communities to adopt innovative methods and keep delivering high quality educational services to their students. The use of the R4C-SRT along with the monitoring of the student’s motivation and interest could act as the map in such a transformation journey.