This study explores teachers’ understandings and practices of innovation in teaching, highlighting the factors that enable or constrain its implementation. Findings indicate that teachers perceive innovation as a purposeful, learner-centred process that integrates problem-solving, adaptive strategies, and technology to address diverse student needs. The study identifies school culture, leadership support, professional collaboration, and alignment with personal beliefs and professional goals as critical enablers of innovative teaching. Conversely, resource limitations, rigid curricula, and resistance to change are significant barriers. Teachers’ agency, professional judgment, and values mediate these influences, underscoring that effective innovation results from the interplay between systemic structures, collaborative practices, and individual commitment. Based on these insights, the study recommends systemic interventions, including continuous professional development, adequate resourcing, and structured platforms for collaboration. Leadership approaches that encourage autonomy, shared decision-making, and access to instructional and technological resources can empower teachers to experiment and sustain innovative practices. Furthermore, fostering professional learning communities and cross-school networks can enhance collegial support and collective problem-solving, enabling the co-construction of knowledge and contextually responsive innovation. These findings contribute to understanding how systemic, collaborative, and individual factors converge to shape teaching innovation, offering practical guidance for policy and practice aimed at advancing learner-centred, adaptive, and sustainable educational innovations.
