Theorizing Intellectual Property in Education Innovations

• In Event: Teachers as change agents: Equitable education and practices

Proposal

Positive change in education is a shared goal across education systems globally. However, the development and spread of technical and pedagogical innovations to improve educational outcomes brings with it emergent phenomena in education related to the production of knowledge about education and change. Actors in this field work with a variety of motivations and under a variety of conditions, however in our work identifying innovations in education globally, we have noticed emerging trends related to the ways that education innovations spread from one context to another. Among these trends is a nascent increase in the types of intellectual property used by educators to improve their practice. This move represents a shift from the traditional domains of intellectual property in education, for example the production of approved textbooks for the official curriculum by sanctioned publishers. In other fields related to innovation, topics such as knowledge production and intellectual property have been widely studied. In education, the emergence of new educational technologies and branded methods raises questions about educational access, provision and the work required to ensure equity in education. This paper develops a theory of the emergent phenomenon of intellectual property in education innovation. We theorize the creation and use of intellectual property as it relates to the spread of education innovations, especially across international borders or between innovators and those who adopt and adapt education innovations. Drawing and expanding on Rogers’ Innovation Diffusion Theory, we develop a framework understanding how teachers, private institutions, and public organizations create and share knowledge about education innovation and change. Using this framework, and drawing on our observations as researchers at HundrED, we elaborate some of the tensions of this emergent phenomenon, including the use of open-source learning materials, professional branding, and the development of professional capital. We propose that the production and dissemination of knowledge about education practice plays a key role in the diffusion of innovation in education, however that questions of creative ownership and the work required to realize or implement innovations are often left aside in theories which assume an organic diffusion of innovations between actors. We then connect this framework to related streams in contemporary discussions of education innovation, including the marketization of education and the need for professional recognition.

Authors

• Clara García Millán, HundrED

• Crystal Green, HundrED.org