Educational Change and NEXTSchool A Review of Literature Informing Innovative Approaches to Teaching and Learning

Abstract

In this paper, we examine the current literature on whole-school-system change processes, and the ways in which research findings may be applied to schools in Quebec, Canada. Throughout the paper we use a current school change initiative, NEXTschool, to explore the possibilities and challenges that some of this literature presents, applied to a specific context. At the conclusion we offer a conceptual framework that underpins how we conceptualize the NEXTSchool initiative. The review focuses on three fields that have emerged as relevant to current change movements: 21st century educational change/reform, power dynamics, and design thinking as a systems-change process.