Leading Open Innovation in Schools

Schools are challenged to become innovative and adaptive organisations that facilitate and continuously develop appropriate teaching and learning approaches and environments. In this context, the central steering role of school leaders, strategic innovation strategies and knowledge management are highlighted in educational research (Bryk, 2010; Cheng, 2015; Chu, 2016; Fullan, 2016; Kovačević & Hallinger, 2019; Leithwood, 2021; Serdyukov, 2017). Collaborative innovation and engaging in networks of knowledge exchange are crucial for innovation (Chu, 2016; Harris, 2008; Torfing, 2019). However, schools predominantly rely on their internal knowledge, struggling to engage in knowledge exchange (Fullan, 2002; Pietsch et al., 2023). Overcoming the barriers to knowledge exchange, meaning that ideas and expertise must remain private property within organisations, is the central goal of open innovation (Chesbrough, 2003). Accord-ingly, external ideas and knowledge are equally as important as internal ideas and expertise in terms of enabling innovation. Managing knowledge across organisational boundaries enables flexible development tailored to individual circumstances and capacities (Bigliardi et al., 2021; Chesbrough & Bogers, 2014). While the concept of open innovation has been applied to the educational context, revealing the relevance of broad knowledge flows for school innovation (Pietsch et al., 2023; Pietsch et al., 2024), little is known about the necessary conditions for successfully implementing open innovation. On this basis, in this work, I analyse the interplay between individuals’ attitudes and mindsets, leadership and innovative behaviour, as well as organisational capacities and knowledge-sharing practices, and the resulting effects on open innovation in schools. The following research questions are examined in this dissertation: 1. How can open innovation be successfully implemented in schools? 2. To what extent can transformational leadership, leader-member exchange and knowledge-sharing practices facilitate the conditions needed for open innovation in schools? 3. How are the mindsets and attitudes of school leaders and teachers, as well as schools’ absorptive capacity, interrelated in the process of implementing open innovation? As part of this dissertation, three research articles were written that examined the overarching research questions using multivariate methodological approaches. These articles are contextualised and discussed within the theoretical background, followed by a presentation of the theoretical and practical implications.