http://worldcat.org/entity/work/id/2111422

The Politics of Educational Innovation

This book is developed on the theme that most innovation is dependent on face-to-face personal contacts and that these contacts condition the occurrence and frequency of innovation. Chapter 1 presents the substance, basis, and implications of this reasoning. Chapter 2 shows the influence of personal contacts in the form of population centers on the spread of educational innovations by outlining a model that describes how this occurs and applies it to education. Chapters 3 and 4 discuss how the internal political structure of the school reacts to innovation. Chapter 4 details the isolated and economically deprived environment that teachers work in, forcing them into a passive and sometimes resistant role regarding innovation. Chapter 5 presents a case study of the introduction of an innovation into school settings. Emphasis is on the internal politics and reactions of the school faculties and administrations. Chapter 6 examines the path of the teacher in learning new vocational skills. Chapter 7 confronts the matter of where innovations originate and explores the importance of belief systems for innovation. Chapter 8 describes the basic premises on which government policy has been based for the last decade and uses arguments presented earlier in this book to suggest change. Chapter 9 presents a global view of educational innovation in the total society and suggests why certain government policies persist. A 6-page bibliography is included. (Author/PD).

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