%X The promotion of innovation is a theme that is commonly found in many Labour
Government policies and publications since 1997, especially in education. However, in
practice, innovation is often difficult to define and can be challenging to implement.
Since April 2000, small (Excellence in Cities) Education Action Zones have been
developed as one strand of the Government's 'Excellence in Cities' (EiC) programme
to raise standards of education in deprived urban areas of England. The whole
Education Action Zone initiative (both large and small) has been promoted by the
Government as a test-bed for innovation in order to improve educational standards.
This study reviews the development of the Education Action Zone initiative and through
an empirical study, investigates the impact that the introduction of small (EiC)
Education Action Zones has had on stimulating educational innovation in zone schools
in the inner city areas of England.
The study considers how the directors of the small zones have interpreted the meaning
of innovation, the types of innovation that have been implemented in the zones and the
impact that these innovations have had on improving education provision in the zone
schools, as well as the barriers and constraints that the directors have experienced
when introducing innovations.
The key findings from this study indicate that there is uncertainty about the meaning of
innovation amongst zone directors, especially whether innovations have to be original
ideas or just new within the context of their zone. The impact of the innovations that
have been implemented so far is difficult to assess, due to the short timescales involved
and the wide variety of innovations introduced. The innovations that have been
introduced into the zones, mainly in the areas of pupil support, partnerships,
curriculum, ICT and involving the wider community, have been new to the individual
zones rather than 'new' per se. The zone directors do appear to have overcome many
of the barriers and constraints that they have encountered when implementing
innovations in the zones, resulting in thriving active partnerships developing between
zone schools which should have positive outcomes for raising achievement in the
future.
%D 2003
%A John Crew
%L discovery10020791
%I Institute of Education, University of London
%T Stimulating innovation in small education action zones : reality or rhetoric?
%O Thesis: (EdD) University of London Institute of Education 2003.