Social and cultural impacts of becoming an innovative teacher

Due to the socio-economic challenges of the 21st century, a significant role is assigned to innovative teachers. Our research aims to explore the cultural and social factors that support teachers to become innovative. Between 2010 and 2015, teachers in Hungary had the opportunity to formally register their pedagogical innovations. In our interview study-based, we examined the personal and professional life paths of 12 teachers who had formally registered their innovation and compared them with the life paths of 12 teachers who had taught in the same school but had not registered their innovation. The sample was selected from schools in two disadvantaged regions, in equal proportions by county and by type of school. The semi-structured teacher interview transcripts were analysed using Atlas Ti.7 software. The following dimensions of human and social capital accumulation were analysed: family environment, local social network, stages of educational career, and work contact systems. Of the four domains, family environment and local society did not have a decisive influence on the teacher becoming an innovating educator, but extracurricular commitments in higher education, an open and diverse professional network of contacts, and a role definition extended by professional self-actualisation were predictive of innovation.