Policy Perspectives on the Study of Educational Innovations
Abstract
Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis July-August, Vol. 2 No. 4, 1980 Policy Perspectives on the Study of Educational Innovations Paige Porter Murdock University Australia 1 have been concerned with the issue of educational change and the problems of implementing educational innovations for some time now. Why I have consigned myself to this particular purgatory is often beyond me. The subject is an incredibly messy one which sooner or later touches on almost all aspects of schooling. The literature is voluminous and confusing. The educational reform euphoria of the 1960's and 1970's has now passed and nearly everyone in the community is aware that it is not as easy as it looked. Nevertheless, the concept of change go away; on the contrary, it makes process; it is what education is all about. Reduction in educational budgets will not make the problem of educational change go away; on the contrary it makes the problem even more critical. Rather than regard the situation as a crisis, however, we can regard it as an opportunity. Certainly the management of change during a period of decline is a more challenging problem than the management of change during a period of growth. Having begun