Rethinking Innovation and Leadership: A Conceptual Framework for Educational Transformation

Innovation is often framed as the remedy for systemic problems in education, but its relationship to leadership is under-theorized and is frequently collapsed into a technocratic and managerial lens. This chapter challenges dominant discourses on innovation and argues that these perspectives are inadequate because they neglect the ethical, relational, and contextual dimensions in which forms of educational change transpire. To that end, this chapter presents the framework for contextualized innovation leadership (FCIL), positioning innovation as a social and value-laden process emerging from four interdependent spheres: problem framing; capacity and culture; coordination and governance; equity and ethics. Based on a conceptual analysis, the chapter illustrates the shortcomings of policy transfer and stresses the importance of contextually intelligent interpretation and adaptation of innovation across varied educational contexts. It asks an important question: can leadership be reframed part of the moral ecology? That is, as enabling systems and actors to contend with complexity and to negotiate meaning for a way forward, facilitating equitable and contextually appropriate transformation? This chapter, therefore, provides a well-integrated, grounded framework for approaching innovation leadership in current educational settings.