Premium
How much curriculum change is appropriate? Defining a zone of feasible innovation
Author(s) -
Rogan John M.
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
science education
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.209
H-Index - 115
eISSN - 1098-237X
pISSN - 0036-8326
DOI - 10.1002/sce.20192
Subject(s) - dilemma , scope (computer science) , context (archaeology) , curriculum , promotion (chess) , frame (networking) , sociology , balance (ability) , science education , curriculum development , epistemology , pedagogy , mathematics education , engineering ethics , psychology , computer science , political science , engineering , philosophy , telecommunications , neuroscience , politics , law , paleontology , biology , programming language
The article grapples with the question of how much curriculum change is appropriate in a given context and in a given time frame. How can a balance be struck between stagnation, on the one hand, and the promotion of unrealistic innovation on the other? In answer to this dilemma, the concept of a zone of feasible innovation (ZFI) is proposed and explored, drawing on the literature of school development, teacher professional development, and of developmental psychology, the work of Vygotsky in particular. A series of procedures are suggested to help define the nature and scope of a ZFI in any given situation. Finally, vignettes from case studies of innovation in science education are evoked to provide real‐life counterpoints to the theoretical constructs of the literature. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Sci Ed , 91: 439–460, 2007