Shock Innovation: Conceptualisation of Digital Transformation in Education during the Covid-19 Pandemic

The article considers the transition to distance learning in the context of COVID-19 pandemic as innovation. In particular, it shows that the spread of innovation in an extremely fast and compressed way does not fit the classical model of innovation diffusion by Rogers. Based on the results of the analysis, the authors supplement the innovation theory with a model of shock innovation which aims to describe the phenomenon of momentary transformations. For that reason, a comprehensive and extensive description of innovation diffusion was narrowed down to three key characteristics and linked to three levels (micro-, meso- and macro-). The narratives of school principals which have been extracted from the interviews (N=10) were compared with the characteristics of this three-levels model. The analysis revealed that a shock innovation is characterized by the fact that (1) the initial impulse has a source, external to the system, (2) requiring an obligatory response (forced change); (3) manifested by an innovative “breakthrough” due to the extreme mobilization of the resources; and (4) “densification” of traditional innovative processes for the diffusion of innovation at three levels - individual (micro), group (meso-) and systemic (macro-). The discussion highlights the aspects of the identified characteristics that should be taken into account in designing the strategies of schools’ development, as well as bridging the gaps in the educational system caused by the pandemic.