Innovation culture in education: A systematic review of the literature

Abstract

The education system in the 21st century has focused on innovation as a tool that revamps the traditional educational system. The need for quality improvement in the curriculum and the desire to produce students with 21st-century competency skills have made innovation the core emphasis in the educational context. Hence, school cultures that support innovation should be developed and encouraged extensively. However, studies on innovation cultures within the educational context are still scarce. Researchers have also yet to concur on universally agreed features of innovation cultures within education settings. Thus, this systematic literature review has been carried out to identify the norms, beliefs, values, customs and behaviours shared in educational innovation cultures. From a total of 156 studies analysed, this article reviewed 28 most relevant studies within three categories, which were organizational cultures, sociocultural norms and national cultures. Seven studies discussed involved organizational cultures, while 20 studies focused on sociocultural norms. Only one study explored national cultures. The Competing Value Framework, six building blocks of ‘Innovation Quotient’, the theory of innovation culture, the innovation-oriented culture as well as employee skills and competence had been used to explain the innovation cultures within an organization. The themes that emerged in sociocultural norms were the individual personality, interaction, collaboration and teamwork, support as well as leadership of a teacher. Meanwhile, the national innovation cultures were described through Hofstede’s cultural dimensions theory.