Social innovation living labs as the environment for education development

Schools in particular, and education in general (understood as a certain idea and practice, and a set of processes leading to the intended results) face many contemporary challenges. It requires schools to be open to innovations, including social innovations that can radically change the rules of the game and the accepted social practices adopted so far in the given area of interest. The conventional approaches to the organization and management are not sufficient to fully describe and explain the processes underlying social innovation, especially digital ones, which require the involvement of many stakeholders, including not only schools but also policymakers, social organizations, researchers, academic institutions and common citizens. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to create a conceptual framework to describe, explain and design such living labs based on value co-creating paradigm as a proposition that enable to co-design social innovations in education. The discussion undertaken in the paper is theoretical and primarily based on the method of the analysis and criticism of literature on education management understood as design science/sciences of the artificial, design, design science and design-led approach to innovation. The main research method used to solve the scientific problem is deduction, which referred to the critical literature study has allowed to achieve the research goal. In addition, abductive reasoning was used as a method of search for practical and theoretical explanations of the nature of different processes underlying examined cases. Consequently, no traditional case analysis was used, but certain results of empirical research were a starting point for the undertaken reasoning and premises for determining the limits of the theoretical search. Assuming that teachers as triggers of change could play the crucial role in such labs as the innovation environment, they were asked three research questions: What do teachers know about creative methods of work? How do they use them in the classroom and other forms of work (especially based on cooperation)? What is their attitude to such methods and their role in enhancing innovation in education? Paper presents results of pilot research carried out with participation of teachers from chosen Polish schools of different type. The results present teachers' awareness, practices and attitudes towards innovative methods of work as a way of enhancing innovation in education. Analysis and conclusions from the study is the basis for recommendations for educational management practice and management science development within the idea of social innovation living labs. It not only shows what is necessary step to stimulate innovation in education but also defines more general rules and practical directives for schools that may be empirically tested.