DEVELOPING EDUCATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS WITH INNOVATION PEDAGOGY

IJAEDU- International E-Journal of Advances in Education, Vol. 2, Issue 5, August 2016 DEVELOPING EDUCATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS WITH INNOVATION PEDAGOGY Taru Penttilä Dr., Turku University of Applied Sciences, FINLAND, Abstract The needs of the working life and the competences required there are under a change, and educational institutions should be able to answer for this need by providing their students with competences needed. This usually requires changes in their own activities as well. The implementation of the change is often problematic even if the tools and methods how to conduct changes were familiar, because the change requires learning both on individual and organizational level, guiding of learning, internal training, and good command of communication and interaction. In this article we will discuss how to make the change – how to develop educational organizations with innovation pedagogy through the process consultation method. Innovation pedagogy is a learning approach focused on the development of innovation competences, defining how knowledge is assimilated, produced and used in a manner that can create innovations. Innovation pedagogy answers for the development needs of most educational organizations, but it is a challenging process to adapt and establish it and it requires that a change process is to be conducted in the organization. Process consultation is a development method for a work community where the personnel participates into the development of their own work, work processes and work community. Process consultation is maybe one of the most workable tools in the development of an expert organization in order to accomplish a real impact and change. Educational organizations have an emerging need to answer for the demands of the changing world and working life, and innovation pedagogy, originating from the working life needs, answers directly for this demand. Organizations can be changed only ‘from the inside’ by involving the personnel into the implementation of the change, and therefore process consultation can be the tool for accomplishing the change. This article aims to provide new kind of methodological knowledge and tools, which have not earlier been studied and applied in this context. The process consulting methods can provide added value to develop pedagogical knowhow in educational organizations and thus support their internal learning and development. The theoretical framework of the article is put into practice in the description of a real empirical case. The focus in this article will be in higher educational organizations, but the approach is applicable for all level of educational institutions. The managerial outcome of the paper is that in the development of an educational organization process consultation can be most powerful tool in order to conduct a real change and impact. Keywords: Educational organizations, innovation pedagogy, innovation competence, process consultation, change http://ijaedu.ocerintjournals.org 259 IJAEDU- International E-Journal of Advances in Education, Vol. 2, Issue 5, August 2016 1 BACKGROUND, OBJECTIVES AND METHODS Ongoing changes, coping with workload, development of knowledge and competences at work, are challenges almost in every company and other organizations currently, regardless the size or business field of the organization. The needs of the working life and the competences required there are under a change, and educational institutions should be able to answer for this need by providing their students with competences needed. This usually requires changes in their own activities as well. In addition to substance knowledge there is a need for customer-centred thinking, creativity, interaction skills, tolerance for uncertainty and difference. Individual expertise needs to develop to communal/interpersonal expertize when the working life is getting more complicated. The implementation of the change is often problematic even if the tools and methods how to conduct changes were familiar, because the change requires learning both on individual and organizational level, guiding of learning, internal training, and good command of communication and interaction. Innovation pedagogy is a strategic approach to learning, which has not yet been widely utilized outside the higher educational sector although it can offer many tools to meet above mentioned challenges. In addition to the central role of the learner, innovation pedagogy promotes practical activities as well as creating, constructing and cumulating knowledge. Scientific knowledge facilitates solving practical problems, but sometimes a new practice born out of immediate need in a practically oriented situation results in a scientific breakthrough. Through collaborative learning, different actors are able to work together in dialogue in such a manner that their own expertise can be efficiently shared and combined in novel ways resulting in something more than the sum of its parts. The success of the communities is based on know-how and sharing knowledge as well as on the ability to combine different points of view and approaches. Innovations are more frequently generated where different fields of expertise meet. In brief, innovation pedagogy is a learning approach focused on the development of innovation competences, defining how knowledge is assimilated, produced and used in a manner that can create innovations. Here innovation activities are understood as processes of constantly improving expertise, which lead to new sustainable ideas, further expertise or novel practices applicable in working life. Innovation pedagogy answers for the education development needs of most educational organizations, but it is a challenging process to adapt and establish it and it requires that a change process is to be conducted in the organization. Process consultation is a development method for a work community where the personnel participates into the development of their own work, work processes and work community. As a method it emphasizes the client’s responsibility and role in the development process. All these elements have a positive impact on the client’s experience that he/she really owns the process. This adds the client’s commitment to the facts that are essential for the process to success; decision-making and activities. By involving the employees in the development stage and giving them real power and status, they will remarkably commit to the implementation. Process consultation is maybe one of the most workable tools in the development of an expert organization in order to accomplish a real impact and change. Educational organizations have an emerging need to answer for the demands of the changing world and working life, and innovation pedagogy, originating from the working life needs, answers directly for this demand. Organizations can be changed only ‘from the inside’ by involving the personnel into the implementation of the change, an (...truncated)