Conclusion: Tenets for Cultivating Ecologies: Towards Sustaining Innovations and Self-Improving Schools

Abstract

In this concluding chapter, we take an ecological perspective and synthesise all preceding book chapters to derive three key tenets for building new contexts that emphasise synergies to diffuse and sustain educational innovations. The first tenet is concerned with calibrating top-down and bottom-up approaches and structures across the respective layers of the education ecology to create optimal conditions for diffusing innovations. The second tenet is concerned with collaborations and networks as means to build lateral connections and partnerships. Instead of competition and accountability, there is collective moral purpose to develop capacity, mentor, and collaboration between schools to co-construct innovations that benefit local contexts. The ultimate goal of networks and spreading innovative practices is to focus on sustainability and enable self-improving school systems. This leads to the third tenet, which is concerned with ecological leadership as a role that stakeholders across all levels of the education ecology could embrace to mitigate tensions and contradictions, align local needs with overall system mandates, and harness collective wisdom.