The imperative of complementarity between the school level and the classroom level in educational innovation

The results are presented of a qualitative study on the implementation of special-needs provisions in four primary schools in the Dutch-speaking part of Belgium. It shows how primary schools deal with such an innovation as the extension of special-needs services. In the conceptual framework, the assumption that an innovation should be considered not only from a structural-functional perspective but also from an individual-cultural perspective is explored. The research data were subjected to within-site and cross-site analysis. The findings reveal the importance of complementarity between actions at the school level and the classroom level. An individual-cultural perspective is necessary if one wants to grasp the nature of this complementarity.