Diffusion of Innovation and Sustainable Leadership: Investigation of a Testing Regime Change in an English for Academic Purposes Program

Research on the diffusion of educational innovations suggests that innovations are not introduced on their own merits; contextual factors are equally responsible for the facilitation or inhibition of innovations. To illustrate this claim, this paper focuses on two program leaders’ accounts of diffusion of innovation and survey results (201 participants) about the implementation of assessment change—the innovation—in an English for Academic Purposes program. The study is part of a larger longitudinal case study that triangulated teachers’, students’, and program leaders’ accounts about a testing regime change. Henrichsen’s 1989 Hybrid Model of Diffusion of Innovation was used in three phases of the study: during the former testing regime; during the implementation of the new testing regime; and after three semesters of implementation. Two research questions are answered: (a) How do program leaders perceive innovation attributes proposed by Henrichsen? and (b) How are the intended effects of the innovation different from its actual effects? The analysis found that the innovation had positive influences on teaching and learning but the diffusion of innovation encountered challenges. Program leaders admitted that although the change was systematic, it was still a complex process. Survey results showed satisfaction with the new tests in terms of student/participant academic readiness. The findings have implications for future diffusion of innovations studies in examining the influence of contextual factors, such as power relationships beyond the innovation itself, in promoting positive influences.