The term “innovation education cluster” in the conceptual field of modern pedagogy

the article focuses on the pedagogical meaning of the term “education cluster”, the history of its introduction into conceptual field of pedagogical science, content comparison of Russian and foreign term; and also attempts to conduct a metaphorical analysis of it. The study is based on more than 50 Russian and more than 20 foreign Internet sources available in the open access. The main study methods are analysis of the Internet sources, content-analysis, and the description of a metaphorical model of the term. Moreover, the results of the questionnaire on understanding the term held among students and professors of Petrozavodsk State University are rendered. The term “cluster” is known since the end of the previous century. M. Porter introduced it in his book “The Competitive Advantage of Nations” in 1990; and in the Russian science the term was first mentioned in 1993. Since the beginning of the XXI century, it has become popular in a foreign scientific context relating to the conceptual field “education”. The paper analyzes the definitions of education cluster in Russia and abroad and reveals the connotative difference between them. The author provides the examples of education clusters functioning in Great Britain, France, and the USA. Furthermore, the article reveals the opponents’ opinion on the use of the term. The author defines the term “innovation education cluster” and analyzes its metaphorical model. This term significantly differs from the words “segment, sector, unit, group, concern”, etc. It implies not a mere combination of research and pedagogical institutions, but emphasizes their close interaction and interdependence, which leads to the qualitative transformations of the institutions involved and the cluster in total. The outcome of the cluster is a whole new product. Finally, the author discusses the practice of creating an innovation education cluster in the Republic of Karelia.