Disruptive Innovations: An Inside-Out Systems Argument

Education systems—like any social or economic system—are dynamic in nature and are deeply interconnected (Forrester, A systems-based approach to policymaking. Springer, 1993; Haraldsson, Introduction to system thinking and causal loop diagrams. Department of Chemical Engineering, Lund University Lund, 2004; Meadows, Thinking in systems: A primer. Chelsea Green Publishing, 2008; Senge, The fifth discipline: The art and practice of the learning organization. Broadway Business, 2006; Stroh, Systems thinking for social change: A practical guide to solving complex problems, avoiding unintended consequences, and achieving lasting results. Chelsea Green Publishing, 2015). Education systems are comprised of many different and interdependent elements, including actors such as teachers, parents, policymakers, students, and community members, along with other elements such as technologies, financing structures, information flows, and rules. Traditionally, bringing about change in education systems has been thought of as a top-down process, driven by policymakers or government departments. Systems theory, however, challenges this notion; through the acknowledgement and understanding of system complexity and the notion of interconnectedness, systems scientists argue that, because every part of a system is in some way connected, change can come from anywhere within it. In this chapter, Christopher Johnstone, Sheldon Berman, and Jackie Jodl explore how disruptive innovations can bring about change in education systems. Drawing from their many years of experience in the field, and from their work on a recent Research Brief published by the Special Olympics Global Center for Inclusive Education, Johnstone, Berman, and Jodl introduce three disruptive innovations that have seen notable success in making education more inclusive: Text-to-Speech (TTS) and Speech-to-Text (STT) technologies; Universal Design for Learning; and inclusive sports and youth leadership. Importantly, through an exploration of system interconnectedness and disruptive innovation, Johnstone, Berman, and Jodl argue that inclusive education is not simply an ideal at the level of policy, but it is something that can be achieved through the actions of stakeholders working in any part of the system.