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ON THE DRIVERS, BARRIERS AND CHALLENGES OF INNOVATION IN UNIVERSITY EDUCATION ĽUBICA BAJZÍKOVÁ AND ANNA LAŠÁKOVÁ Key words: innovation, education, university, innovation-oriented university stakeholders. Abstract The article provides a preliminary theoretical consideration focused on the delineation of innovation in university education, differentiating four distinctive areas of the innovation. Drivers as the “motors” of the respective innovation are specified and basic innovationoriented university stakeholders are identified. Article deals also with the theoretical analysis of barriers of innovation in university education and delineates basic prerequisites for its fruitful implementation. Acknowledgment: This article refers to the project Governance and Adaptation to Innovative Modes of Higher Education Provision (GAIHE, reference no. 539628-LLP-12013-1-NL-ERASMUS-EIGF). It is funded by the Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA) through the Lifelong Learning Programme and it is run by a consortium of 11 partner universities: Ecole Normale Supérieure de Lyon (France), University of Strasbourg (France), Lucian Blaga University of Sibiu (Romania), the Higher Education Policy Research Unit of Dublin Institute of Technology (Ireland), Academic Unit of the University of Latvia, the Comenius University and the University of Ss. Cyril and Methodius (Slovakia), the University of Maribor (Slovenia), the University of Salamanca and the University of Alicante (Spain) and RAND Europe (Cambridge). The consortium partners are coordinated by the School of Governance of the University of Maastricht, Netherlands. Introduction One of the major tasks for today’s universities lies in fast and effective implementation of innovation in education that challenges the traditional and in academia deeply rooted pedagogical practices, which rely on the dominant teaching method of lectures and seminars. This major ground-breaking change should be capable to ensure the enhancement of the competencies of university students, which are important in the labour market, democratization of access to university education as well as stronger competitive power of universities on a “global playground”. Moreover, as Florida notes (2006), in today’s creative economy universities play a crucial role in sustaining the regional economic growth through fostering the technology, talent, and tolerance. However, according to various authors who reflect the state of innovation in higher education sphere (for eg. Whitworth, 2012; Hannon, 2013, Waring & Skoumpopoulou, 2013), there are some signs that this mission could be hindered substantially, either by pressures from universities’ external or internal environment. For example, Waring and Skoumpopoulou (2013) assume that the emergent cultural change in education could by suppressed by the strong inner resistance of academics and the academic organizational culture. These phenomena partially derive from the traditional values of academic freedom and autonomy combined with competition for limited resources and high levels of instability and uncertainty that are so typical for the current academic environment. Despite of the new wave of managerialism at universities based on the “use of internal cost centres, internal markets within organizations, the monitoring of efficiency and effectiveness through the measurement of specific outcomes, as well as individual staff performance” (Waring & Skoumpopoulou, 2013, p. 1368) together with focus on consumers (students), flexibility in social networking and managerial effectiveness, it seems that the large-scale innovation in education is just slowly becoming the centre of attention for academic practitioners. The article focuses on the theoretical exploration of the phenomenon of innovation in university education. Drivers of innovation will be delineated together with barriers that hinder implementation, dissemination, and agitation for innovation in education. Analysis of these issues will lead to a review of suggestions for changes that should take place at universities in order to strengthen the innovative potential of education and its provision. 1. Innovation in university education An innovation can be defined as a “new method, custom, or device – a change in the way of doing things”; in other words, a successful introduction of a new way or method (Luecke & Katz according to Brewer & Tierney, 2010, p. 5). It is linked with certain characteristics of organizational environment like entrepreneurial mind-set, low uncertainty avoidance, openness to change, experimentation, and creativity. Innovation in education could be than defined as implemented (on the level of processes and systems) and adopted (on the level of shared practices and value orientations) new way or method that contributes with added value to competitiveness of education-based organizations ergo universities. An innovation replaces older or traditional mode of doing things or a product. Furthermore, project GAIHE (Governance and Adaptation to Innovative Modes of Higher Education Provision), as a European-wide research project analysing the innovative modes of education provision in Europe, delineated innovation in education as “a trend that has expanded over the past five years and has attracted considerable attention, having the potential to provide fundamental alternations to the higher education offer” (Florea & McGrath, 2014, p. 2). The GAIHE project builds on the premise that innovation has an increased added value for all relevant interest groups. Innovation can be differentiated by the scope, from large and complex innovation to small and simple innovation (Whitworth, 2012, p. 146). Innovation in education provision could be “supply-pushed through the availability of new technological possibilities or demand-led based on market or social needs” (Brewer & Tierney, 2010, p. 5). According to the time-scope of change related to innovation we could further differentiate between slow and consecutive innovation and radical, fast moving innovation. Nevertheless, perhaps the most useful differentiation of innovation in education and its provision deals with various spheres of the education itself. Through this lens the innovation can be distinguished according to which question it relates to: - Who is teaching/learning? - What is being taught/learned? - How it is being taught/learned? - Where the education takes place? The first question on “Who is teaching?” regards for example the alternative providers of education who draw power from the education provision “unbundling” process. Further, innovations regard also business companies that enter the educational sphere and provide allinclusive courses at universities, or alumni services providing students with practical knowledge. On the other hand, the question “Who is learning?” turns the educational innovation discussion to the demographic change as well as to the generational exchange and the “Net generation”. The “What?” question points to the curricula-related innovation that regards issues like utilization of new and prospective approaches linked with inquiry-based learning as a strongly student-centred approach with teaching driven primarily by inquiry or research, promoting student learning through problem-, project-, or case-based learning (Aditomo, Goodyear, Bliuc & Ellis, 2013). Interdisciplinary- and transdisciplinary-based courses as well as robust interconnection of courses with the current company-driven needs and requirements on competencies of graduates belong to this category of curricula innovation, too. The third question of “How?” encompasses issues like the program alignment with external communities of firms or research networks, flexibility in module choices across disciplines, online program support, or international networks in research and education. Further, the information and communication technologies employed in teaching and learning belongs to this category of innovation, too. It is encouraged by the massive global technology innovation in information and communication. Flipped classrooms, online teaching, social media learning, and especially MOOCs (Massive Online Open Courses) are just some examples of these novelties. The last category of innovation under the umbrella of the question of “Where the education takes place?” relates to changes of the physical space of the classrooms, which mirrors (and enables) the changes not only related to technologies or curricula, but also to the change in the overall paradigm of the university education in general that leads us to the virtual classrooms of today. This shift denotes the fundamental transformation of the whole higher education sector stemming from grand societal changes in recent decades. Globalisation, internetization, and eventually virtualization of our contemporary society raises serious challenges for university education provision; being it the role of university in society, the modes of university governance and leadership, organizational structures and processes, together with the marketization of the university and consecutive changes in its economic structure and value. The major “motors” of innovation in education will be theoretically reflected and specified in the next part of the article. 2. Drivers of innovation in university education Higher education in general occupies a considerably different position in the society than other industries do; it is a unique locus given by its role in expansion of the knowledge society, generating new knowledge and dissemination of new practices. Our society expects this sphere to be actually innovation-based by providing innovation through innovative methods and processes. According to Brewer and Tierney (2010, p. 4) a moral imperative exists in higher education claiming for effective access to education, creating a bettereducated work force, and enabling “more individuals to participate in the democratic public sphere”. Over the past twenty years several changes have affected the way how universities operate. These were related to an increase in managerial control and in competition, increased attention to accountability, together with a remodelling of structures and operations following the way corporations conduct their businesses; hence managerialism, marketization and corporatization led to reduction of the academic autonomy, increase of bureaucratic burdens and to the crisis of leadership in the sector (Jones, Lefoe, Harvey & Ryland, 2012). Today’s university education is burdened not only by the above mentioned changes to which it did not respond always accurately and successfully. New challenges ascended in the last decades to which universities as well as the rest of the higher education sector have to respond adequately in case they do not want to lose legitimacy in society as the prominent provider of wisdom and competence. According to the Ernst & Young report entitled University of future: A thousand year old industry on the cusp of profound change (Bokor, 2012), five major drivers of change and innovation will transform the higher education sector. First of all, the democratization of the knowledge and access to it will “ignite” the will of higher education organizations to entry the new markets and global partnerships and stimulate new approaches to distribution of knowledge related to new ways of providing teaching and learning across the globe. Next, digital technologies will literary “bring the university to the device”; MOOCs and rise of the online learning methods will interfere with more traditional ways of “doing” education. Thirdly, integration with industry, scale and depth of industry-based learning, research partnerships and commercialization of education will generate pressures for changes in university structure, governance and culture. Fourthly, global mobility of the academic staff and students, with emerging markets becoming global-scale competitors in the international market will bring more attention to the academic talent cross-country acquisitions and to creation of truly global university brands. And, finally, the contestability of markets and funding brings in an intensified competition between universities for students, academic talent and government funds as never before. Correspondingly to the above mentioned issues, Keohane from Princeton University (Keohane, 2013) defines five basic challenges in current university education. Firstly, it is the development of online education as a powerful and appealing approach that is supposed to undermine the traditional university business model and flourish in the next decade. The second challenge for university education lies in mobility of students, who might feel less strong ties to their alma mater institution, seeing higher education sphere like a shopping mall full of varied possibilities waiting for them to be picked up. Next, Keohane (2013) assumes that the rising costs of education will hinder many students and their families from being able to afford the tuition and fees. Fourthly, a challenge (and at the same time a risk) stems from the reduction of governmental funding mechanism in certain research and scientific fields. And finally, competition of universities all around the world will create pressure to innovate and change perpetually and hence to be able to adjust continuously to the needs and trends in education. The discussion about the drivers of innovation in university education would be incomplete without mentioning also growing concerns with generational exchange and related socio-cultural shifts. Some authors (for eg. Tapscott, 1999; Gros, Garcia & Escofet, 2012) point out that a wholly new generation of students is entering the educational market. By the term “a wholly new generation” the “Net generation” or sometimes called also the “Digital natives” generation is meant. These young people have been immersed by technology intensively from early childhood. This resulted in acquisition of technological skills and associated learning preferences, for which the traditional modes of education are not prepared at all. It is argued that universities need a quick adjustment to their needs. On the other hand, some authors claim, that there is no need for a panic in academic world and call for a “considered and rigorous investigation that includes the perspective of young people and their teachers, and genuinely seeks to understand the situation before proclaiming the need for widespread change” (Bennett, Maton & Kervin, 2008, p. 784). From the debate on the drivers and challenges of university education could be concluded that several social groups have their stakes in the evolution of a more innovative higher education. We assume that stakeholders who in a sense truly require these changes to intrude the traditional university education are especially the: - (1) University governance and management seeking for re-acknowledgement of the university status as the guarantor of innovation and progress in society; - (2) Academic personnel that anticipates to develop and retain competencies within their field of expertise across borders, hence being globally mobile as well as active in the virtual world of knowledge; - (3) Administrative personnel at the university claiming for the right for training and development aligned with recent technological innovation, and hence to be able to provide adequate support for the academic staff and students; - (4) Students requiring an added value from education and an easy access to knowledge; - (5) Employers expecting a better prepared work force with varied skills ready for the corporate environment; - (6) Regional community of the university expecting economic progress and regional development linked to increased migration of people within the region; - (7) State/governmental institutions awaiting positive impacts on the state economy, effective tools for combating the unemployment rates (especially of the youth), and improved national branding and image; - (8) Global community anticipating positive impacts of educational innovations free of conventional state borders that raise the overall quality of life for the human mankind; - (9) Environment together with future generations and their right for a sustainable life supported by a diligent utilization of benefits of information communication technologies in accordance with the idea of environmental protection; - (10) University sector expecting networking benefits stemming from research and education initiatives, and raised goodwill of the whole sector as a prominent innovation lab; - (11) Alternative providers of higher education creating competitive pressure on traditional universities thus awaiting inflow of in education interested people; and finally - (12) Information and communication technologies (ICT) sector expecting on one hand universities to become an important purchaser of the newest ICT devices and services, and on the other hand universities to generate graduates as an ICT-skilled customer population ready to use their products. All of the above identified innovation-oriented university stakeholders request universities to become an open source of innovation for various spheres of society, providing all interest groups with an easy access to knowledge by employing modern technological solutions for teaching and learning. However, certain barriers have to be overcome in order to achieve this goal. The next part of the article focuses on the description of these barriers as well as on identification of particular working actions tied to adjustment to new challenges in university education. 3. Barriers of innovation in university education Universities need to be more responsive to stakeholders’ requirements. This affects the number of enrolments, the talent acquisition from an international pool of researchers and lecturers, and the scientific prestige of universities, these resulting in their position on the market, their market share, and profitability. In order to create a win-win solution between universities and their stakeholders certain barriers to innovation in education and its provision have to be eliminated. First of all, regulation of university environment, with the focus on accreditation process has to be revised. Today, accreditation processes follow usually the process-based logic rather than the outcome-based logic (Brewer & Tierney, 2010). Hence, the funding schemes and remuneration of staff promote results that sometimes do not support fully the innovativeness quotient of universities. In general, insufficient financial resources act as a barrier for innovation and change. Further, a more systematic professional development of skilled university personnel is desirable, too. Together with the human resource management functions that do not adequately support the required changes, the lack of skilled academic staff and academic support personnel acts as a massive obstacle to innovativeness at universities. Therefore substantial changes are essential in prevailing human resource systems and policies in order to effectively train, develop, support, and recognize effective practices in education (Marshall, Orrell, Cameron, Bosanquet & Thomas, 2011). Special attention has to be paid to the university leaders and managers, because they are the ones who actually form the internal environment of universities. According to Simkins (2005, p. 23) leaders and managers at universities decide about the “ways in which power and authority are and should be constituted and distributed.” Similar call for establishment of a new approach to university leadership share also Bolden, Petrov and Gosling (2009) who conducted research in twelve UK universities with the aim to capture a range of views on distributed leadership in university setting. Also Jones, Lefoe, Harvey and Ryland (2012) recognized that a new model of leadership is needed for the whole higher educational sector. They define the distributive leadership as an approach that places an emphasis “on collective collaboration rather than individual power and control” (Jones, Lefoe, Harvey & Ryland, 2012, p. 67). Distributed leadership relates to so called relational stream in the leadership theory. In the university setting it calls attention to the active involvement of all employees either directly or indirectly engaged in teaching and research. The goal is to improve participation and engagement of teachers and other personnel, taking the view that “leadership is largely emergent, informal and widely dispersed” constructed through social interaction involving spontaneous collaboration of employees (Bolden, Petrov & Gosling, 2008, p. 360-361). Authors suppose that this type of leadership is a prerequisite for consecutive changes in other parts and aspects of the university, like systems, strategies and organizational structure, especially the financial structures, human resource systems, information technology and strategic planning. In order to perpetually create and re-design the education resources (“Who”?), the education goals and content (“What?”), the education provision mechanisms (“How?”), the educational environments (“Where?”), and to create sound feedback and quality evaluation mechanisms together with working revisit strategies, universities would need the: - Empowerment of professionals who have career bonds with these institutions; - Sophisticated accreditation procedure supporting innovation in education and its provision; - Redesign of the human resource functions, which have to be considerately aligned with the new strategic objectives; and - Refinement of funding formulas based more on attainment of results and outputs than on processes. These changes lead to recognition of universities as entrepreneurial entities that address the pressures and challenges of the 21st century (Hannon, 2013). The guiding idea within this transformation persists: a strengthening demand for universities that are able to better align with the environmental challenges. It is a vision of a university that instils innovative mode of thinking through the governance structures and managerial policies and practices; a university that fosters an environment, within which the innovation-oriented mind-sets, decisions and behaviours are wanted, encouraged, developed and rewarded. Conclusion The theoretical reflection of the current challenges of university education may be probably best summarized by the inspiring words of Keohane: “Disruptive change is never easy for those who have helped construct the status quo … it undermines much that we take for granted and rely on … It sometimes destroys things that are worth treasuring. This is why we fear it. But disruptive change also provides an opportunity for restructuring that can actually improve our institutions” (Keohane, 2013, p. 102). In line with Keohane we assume that no fundamental changes will happen without the will and commitment of various power authorities (both at the level of the macro-environment that affects universities as well as at the level of university management) to fulfil the needs of relevant innovation-oriented university stakeholders. Our political view of this situation is somehow “softened” by a societal-relational perspective that considers the importance of the social characteristics of the organizational context. This implies that without the active participation of all university stakeholders in free and open communication and collaborative share of knowledge and information, the so much desired and awaited innovation in university education cannot proceed. After all, as Archer, Garrison, and Anderson pose it, in not taking into account the communication and learning innovation “universities risk sliding into mediocrity and perhaps irrelevancy as far as the teaching function of the university is concerned” (Archer, Garrison & Anderson, 1999, p. 28). Universities have to become open to all interest groups, providing them with an easy and flexible access to knowledge. At the same time there is also the need for a balance between openness and rigorous inclusiveness of knowledge. Surely, the scenario of a university as an shopping mall enabling to selectively pick up knowledge that reinforces the “information bubbles” phenomenon (preferential selection of information reinforcing existing attitudes of people, see Liao & Fu, 2013) together with the massive McDonaldisation (for the term “McDonaldization” see Ritzer & Stillman, 2001) of university education is not desired. 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