An approach to innovation in doctoral programs in education

Abstract

This article analyzes the concept of educational innovation culture as a starting point for students to conduct reflections about the development of their doctoral theses. The methodological approach adopted was a qualitative research perspective, based on perception studies. Thirteen students enrolled in the doctoral program in Education at the Universidad Santo Tomás (Colombia) answered an open-ended questionnaire based on the description of life experiences and framed in nine moments of the innovation cycle. The results revealed a high level of recursiveness in the life experience used to think about and solve problems that require new routes or processes. On the other hand, a lack of knowledge of the basic principles of innovation processes and of systematic methods focused on achieving innovation results was observed. Likewise, we identified that participants do not build relationships between innovation processes and their academic background. These results are presumed to explain, to a large extent, the scarce social relevance of doctoral theses in education in Colombia. As a conclusion, we suggest that it is important to address methodologically the problem of educational innovation in doctoral training programs.