Comparing Pedagogical Innovations

The study of educational innovations has become increasingly important in education research as many countries around the world have embarked on education reforms that aim to change both the goals and practices in education. Studies of models of innovation, evaluations of the impact or outcome of innovations as well as the processes of organizational change are the key approaches taken in this area of research. Understandably, the specific goals and processes involved in each innovation are strongly dependent on the respective institutional, socio-cultural and national contexts and priorities. It is thus not surprising that comparative studies of innovations are relatively rare. SITES M2, as an international comparative study of innovative pedagogical practices involving 28 participating systems, thus faced important methodological challenges the solution of which was no less an innovation in itself. This paper examines the methods of analysis used and the kind of research findings that resulted from the work of three research teams that had conducted comparisons of the case studies of innovation collected, including the work of the SITES M2 International Coordinating Centre (ICC). Even though all three studies attempted to examine similarities and differences across multiple case studies, the analysis conducted by the ICC looked for characterizations of the innovations while the other two studies developed meaningful ways to compare the cases in terms of “levels of innovation” across a number of dimensions. In discussing the methodological differences