Innovation through Supported Autonomy: An Interactive Exploration of Teacher Autonomy in Institution-Wide Innovation Programs

Stimulating innovation is a balancing act. Institutions want to provide direction, but the only way to really innovate education is when academic professionals change the way they teach. On the basis of quantitative and qualitative data from a longitudinal study of innovations in education at Utrecht University, we will explore which factors explain a positive attitude toward (IT) innovations and how to incorporate these factors in an institution-wide innovation of education program. Faculty autonomy is the central variable in our analysis. We will explore autonomy in relation to other relevant variables, as well as what this means for implementing an innovation project.

Outcomes: Understand the role that faculty autonomy plays in stimulating an innovative academic culture in relation to other explanations for innovation *Apply the insights from our study to the thinking about managing innovation at your institution *Evaluate the use of different strategies in the tense relationship between professional autonomy and institution-wide goals