Inquiry-Driven Innovation A Practical Guide to Supporting School-Based Change

Promote positive change and elevate teacher practice with this actionable framework for school-based innovation

Inquiry-Driven Innovation: A Practical Guide to Supporting School-Based Change addresses a pressing need for intentional and sustained innovation in education. It is both a practical guide for supporting school-based change and a handbook for effective professional development that empowers and re-energizes practitioners. Throughout this book, educators will find a wealth of examples from different school contexts and a rich array of research-based pedagogical tools and resources.

In recent years, educational innovation and school redesign have been the focus for many school boards and departments of education. However, current school-based innovation methods typically lack flexibility and intentionality. Inquiry-Driven Innovation offers an approach to innovation that recognizes local contexts, promotes listening across stakeholder groups, and suggests structures for ongoing and purpose-driven work. 

• Discover an actionable framework for school-based innovation 
• Learn from real-world case studies of educators developing innovation strategies in a variety of school contexts
• Explore an Innovation Toolkit filled with research-based pedagogical tools and resources for educators

In this book, you'll learn the five essential qualities of Inquiry-Driven Innovation: an ongoing process that empowers individuals and communities to pursue positive change that is both relevant and responsive to their contexts. Inquiry-Driven Innovation is purposeful and intentional; attentive to multiple perspectives; adapted to context; sustained and iterative; and structured and supported. Read this book to learn how you can implement evidence-based innovation strategies in your own community.

Edward P. Clapp (South Hamilton, MA) is Principal Investigator at Project Zero interested in exploring creativity, innovation, and inclusion in education. In addition to his work as a researcher, Edward has written several books on education and lectures at the Harvard Graduate School of Education.

Liz Dawes Duraisingh (Cambridge, MA) is Principal Investigator at Project Zero committed to producing research that is accessible, relevant, and useful for practitioners and their students. Additionally, Liz serves as a Lecturer at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, teaching qualitative research methods at both the doctoral and master’s levels.

Andrea Rose Sachdeva (Somerville, MA) is Senior Project Manager for the Creating Communities of Innovation (CCI) research initiative. Prior to her work with Project Zero, Andrea led educational programs at Le Laboratoire Cambridge (Le Lab), a cultural center focused on cross-disciplinary idea development and public engagement.

Acknowledgments ix

Foreword xi

Part One | Inquiry-Driven Innovation in Schools 1

Chapter 1 Inquiry-Driven Innovation: An Introduction 3

Chapter 2 The Story of Inquiry-Driven Innovation 13

Part Two | Inquiry-Driven Innovation in Practice: School-Level Change and Individual Professional Development 25

Chapter 3 From Theory to Practice 27

Chapter 4 School Change Stories: A Bird’s-Eye View of Four Innovation Journeys 29

Chapter 5 School Change Stories: Three In-Depth Case Studies 39

Chapter 6 Lift: Elevating Individual Practice through Inquiry-Driven Innovation 119

Part Three | Creating Your Communities of Innovation 143

Chapter 7 Establishing and Nurturing Communities of Innovation 145

Chapter 8 The Toolkit for Inquiry-Driven Innovation 155

Chapter 9 Conclusion: A Call to Action 213

Afterword 223

Appendix: Index of Participant Schools 227

Glossary 229

References 231

Index 237

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