Innovative Skills In High School -An Invitation To Reflect And Act.

Author(s):

Helle Mathiasen(presenting / submitting)

Conference:

ECER 2016

Network:

03. Curriculum Innovation

Format:

Paper

Session Information

03 SES 11, 21st Century Skills and the Curriculum (Part 1)

Paper Session to be continued in 03 SES 12

Time:

2016-08-25

17:15-18:45

Room:

NM-A106

Chair:

Majella Dempsey

Contribution

The overriding purpose is to present and discuss findings from an empirical research study carried out in Denmark 2013-2014 (Mathiasen et al 2014), titled “Innovative skills and flexible organization of teaching”. The qualitative case study focus 1) on students’, teachers’ and school leaders approaches to the concept of innovation and 2) on students’, teachers’ and school leaders approaches to, experiences with and reflections on conditions for development of students’ innovative skills. The research question concerns rethinking teaching and learning environment that gives the best condition for students to development innovative skills.

The Ministry of Educations´ policy/guiding papers do not signal a common understanding of the concept of innovation, but a diffuse description of what skills the students must develop and how these skills will be evaluated. The research study has focused on both students, teachers and school leaders ' understanding and use of the very concept of innovation.

The research project investigates conditions for students’ development of innovation skills and in relation to this the specific teaching environment is seen as a focal didactical parameter. Teachers and leaders, each in their way, play an important role. The qualitative research study includes students, teachers and school leaders (relevant management representatives) approaches to the challenge concerning development of students’ innovative skills in high school.

Eight high school projects is included in the study, each selected and funded by the Ministry of Education. The empirical basis is eight individual high school projects with eight different themes related to the intention to develop students ' innovative skills. Some projects are based on rethinking teaching organization and other projects are based on the concept of innovation and organization of educational activities focused on value creation and business needs. For some of the projects the intention is that students will be inspired to rethink subject matters of interest, idea development in a single discipline or interdisciplinary contexts. The school involved is inspired by a variety of literature about innovation and development of innovation. (http://www.kie-modellen.dk/, Spanget Christensen et al 2012, Nybye et al 2013, Kirketerp 2011)

The theoretical framework underpinning this study is inspired by systems theory (Luhmann 1995, 2995, 2002). The analytical approach is based on the concept of communication (Luhmann 1992). Learning is defined in this context as the deconstruction, construction, and reconstruction of individual mental constructions and reconstructions (e.g. Kelly, 1963). The concept of teaching is understood as a special form of communication, a highly specified type of communication, intended to bring about change (e.g. Luhmann 2002). Essential characteristics of the concept are that teaching is more than a traditional teacher-student relation in lecture contexts, often communication initiated and actualized by the teacher it also includes feedback processes, guidance, direction and supervision. The concept of teaching is regarded as communication that aims to change a person, in the sense that knowledge construction may be possible - not that it will happen per se. The teaching environment can be considered a ‘disruptive’ activity with the intention of triggering knowledge construction (Mathiasen 2008).

Despite the project is based on Danish high school students’, teachers’ and school leaders’ approaches to conditions for development of students’ innovative skills, the findings seems to be of interest for both European and international educational systems, where innovation is an explicit requirement in national policy papers.

Method

The empirical study is based on observations in class, group interviews with students, teachers and school leaders (Hammersley & Atkinson 1987, Patton 1990). Group interviews with students and teachers participating in the specific school-innovation-project and group interviews with the involved school leaders at each school have been carried out by researchers. Between 4 and 6 student participated in each group interviews, and 2 -6 teachers in the teacher focused group interview. Most often only 2 leaders participated in leader group interview. Teachers have chosen the students for interviews on the basis of the following general criteria, determine by the researchers: both sexes represented, dedicated/non-dedicated students, skilled/academically weak, innovative/non-innovative observed approaches to project assignments. The themes of teaching observations, is all about student activities with a focus on the development of innovative skills, communication in different teaching arrangements, forms and themes, where the focus has been on teacher and student roles/functions as well as media use. The semi structured interviews with student, teachers and leaders have been initiated with a clarification of the context of the concrete teaching environment in the individual school project, and then has the focus been on students, teachers and management representative participants experience. In the header form's teachers and students have been asked questions concerning their understanding of the concept of innovation, how innovation is reflected in the learning activities, learning objectives, new teacher and student roles, new teacher and students’ functions, use of media. The same themes are the starting point for the observations, and are also about the concepts of innovative skills, educational organization and forms, teacher and student roles, productions. Observations were conducted before group interviews. Leaders have been asked about their understanding of the concept of innovation, about the purpose of the school projects focused on the development of students ' innovative competence, their role as supports of the rethinking of teaching environments and about their role in relation to knowledge sharing at school level. Observation notes and interaction with students during observations, together with group interviews is the empirical foundation for this themed analysis (a didactical theoretical lens). The school projects were different in terms of themes, teaching activities, number of classes involved, organizing of teaching. The empirical design and analysis is selected on the basis of being able to develop diversity in the specific school project context.

Expected Outcomes

School culture is changing, e.g. students are directly involved in the planning/ implementation of teaching environments. The students’ wishes to teacher and student roles are reconciled and expectations mentioned explicitly. The implicit use of the concept of innovation in governing documents from the Danish Ministry of Education results in a variety of interpretation among teacher and leaders. Traditional test types are put under pressure, as they rarely have the opportunity to capture innovative competencies, both because of the shape but also because innovative competencies are interpreted in many ways. Several students take distance from grading in innovative skills. According to both students and teachers themselves, teachers need competence development when the purpose is development of students’ innovative skills. The teachers need the courage to let go of the idea that they can and must have control over students. New relationships between students and teachers are pushing it on, where both teachers and students occupy new roles and functions. Formative feedback is seen by both students and teachers as an important source related to development of innovative skills. The approach to act is important. A teacher puts it in this way: "Learn to fail or fail two learn". But it is difficult for both students and teachers. There are e.g. implicit expectations to how students and teachers act and perform. School leadership must inform their support to teachers in their didactic development process required and explicit reporting out, how the organizational framework for the teaching is conceived. This applies e.g. when there are traditional scheduled classroom training, group work, feedback and evaluation, if the goal is that students develop of innovative skills and the school will appear as "innovative". Hereby the policy system and researchers is invited to discuss research findings related to the complexity of development of innovation.

References

Hammersley, M. og P. Atkinson (1987): Feltmetodik. Grundlaget for feltarbeid og feltforskning. Oslo: Gyldendal Norsk Forlag Kelly, G. A. (1963). Psychology of Personal Constructs in Ewen, B. R.: An Introduction to Theories on Personality, 4th edition. New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Assosiates, Inc. Publishers Kirketerp, A. (2011). Foretagsomhedsdidaktik - Skubmetoden. I: Kirketerp, A. & L. Greve (red.) Entreprenørskabsundervisning. Aarhus, Aarhus Universitetsforlag, Luhmann, N. (1992). What is Communication? in Forum, Communication Theory, 2:3 , (pp. 251-258) Luhmann, N. (1995). Social Systems. Stanford: Stanford Univerity Press Luhmann, N. (2002). Das Erziehungssystem der Gesellschaft. Frankfurt: Suhrkamp. potentials. Cph: DPU press http://www.academia.edu/176082/Media and ICT-Learning Potentials Mathiasen, H. (2008). Is there a Nexus between Learning and Teaching? – Communication as a Facilitator of Students’ Knowledge Construction in Understanding Learning-Centred Higher Education. Cph: CBS press Mathiasen, H. M, Gudnitz M.L., Bager, L. T, Thomsen, M. B. (2014). Innovative kompetencer og fleksibel organisering af undervisningen. Aarhus: Cudim Nybye, N. and A. Rasmussen (2013) Progressionsmodel: Entreprenørskabs- og innovationsundervisning.Fonden for Entreprenørskab/Young Enterprise Denmark OECD (2005). Personalising Learning. Paris. OECD/CERI Patton, Q. M. (1990). Qualitative Evaluation and Research Methods. London: Sage Publ. Inc. Spanget Christensen, T.; Hobel, P. & M. Paulsen (2012). Innovation i gymnasiet. Rapport 3 og 4. Evaluering af projekt Innovationskraft og entreprenørskab i gymnasiet i Region Hovedstaden. Gymnasiepædagogik nr. 89. Udgivet af: Institut for Filosofi, Pædagogik og Religionsstudier. Syddansk Universitet. http://www.kie-modellen.dk/

Author Information

Helle Mathiasen (presenting / submitting)

University of Copenhagen

Copenhagen

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