Knocking down walls and bu furniture?
What are Innovative Learning Environments in NZ schools really about? Dianne Smardon and Jennifer Charteris University of New England, Armidale, NSW, Australia
Are we facing a learning revolution through Innovative Learning Environments (ILEs) or are we merely recycling the ‘open barns’ of the 1970s? Migrating from the notion of ‘Modern Learning Environments’, the New Zealand Ministry of Education (online) term ILEs as ‘the complete physical, social and pedagogical context in which learning is intended to occur’. It is an environment that is ‘capable of evolving and adapting as educational practices evolve and change – thus remaining future focused.’ The Ministry of Education has clearly signalled strategic intentions for 21st century learning practices through the provision of infrastructure targeted in their ‘Four year plan 2015–2019’.
I think it’s about doing things different ways and having the flexibility to really put the focus back on the learner. So many people are at the moment around me turning it into a commercial commodity where the starting point is focusing only on the physical environment and the furnishing you’ve got, and the acoustics in your room, the access with devices and technology and internet . . . Innovative learning environments have to start with the pedagogy and what you are doing with your children. (Natalie) It is also pertinent to highlight that ILEs are not just about localised learning, the notion of de-privatisation is scaling up beyond the classroom to schools as networks or ecosystems.
Is it old wine in new bottles? Learning ecosystems At risk of sounding long in the tooth, we both remember teaching Most of us are familiar with the common-place biological term in the ‘open plan’ classrooms of 1970’s construction. Back then ‘ecosystem’ as an interaction between a local community of the success of open plan classrooms depended on the willingness organisms and its environment. The Organisation for Economic and capabilities of teachers to work flexibly with like-minded Cooperation and Development (OECD) incorporate the concept others. In working with teachers in ILEs and in clusters of schools of ‘ecosystem’ into the vernacular of schooling by adding the term in schooling improvement contexts, we consider that ILEs offer ‘learning’. They define ‘learning ecosystems’ as ‘interdependent great potential for reconceptualising what we understand about combinations of different species of providers and organisations content, resources, learners and playing different roles with teachers. . . . Education can take place learners in differing relationships Nevertheless, it is important to to them over time and in varying be mindful of the politics behind anywhere, anyhow and arguably mixes’ (OECD, 2015, p.13). The any educational innovations notion of an ecosystem where be delivered by anyone. associated with 21st century learning is personalised across a schooling rhetoric. Since the range of institutions and spaces 1970s there have been a range of moves: the de-privatisation of (physical and cyber), is articulated by Lynette. classrooms, outcomes based curriculum; learners themselves I think what I got from it was a move away from the individualised (measured, monitored and taught to self manage); mindset of school as a ‘be-all’ and ‘end-all’– that education the scrutiny of student achievement (data-driven practice); only happens in one school, in one classroom between the appraisal systems as intensified performance management; hours of 9 and 3. Students should be entitled to many ways ubiquitous technologies; and Education itself framed as an of learning and many different inputs into that learning. So ‘ecosystem’ rather than an isolated event. The current epoch is it could be that they’re enrolled in this particular school, definitely not old wine in new bottles. School leaders seem to be but they also have this online thing going on. Or they’re paddling permanent ‘white water’. enrolled in different courses at different schools and the With the signalling of so much change, we surveyed learning is tailored to the child, rather than the child to that over 200 Primary and Secondary teachers and principals school – and the school is there to provide everything . . . It to learn more about their perceptions of ILEs. We are also is all at system level, you know. (Lynette). appreciative of the thirty-one principals who additionally agreed to in-depth interviews1. A range of perspectives were Thus, as a learning ecosystem, Education can take place voiced. Although the financial and managerial concerns anywhere, anyhow and arguably be delivered by anyone. For of remodelling the physical environment is a considerable many years now, school leaders have been challenged to think issue for many principals, there is a very clear emphasis on about learning at three levels – at, across and beyond their school. pedagogical concerns. Principals are thinking about what the This is intensified with the perceived need to network with other changes mean for learners in their schools. organisations and individuals beyond the school and in the
Participants have been given a pseudonym.
y ing new Jennifer Charteris
globally connected context. The OECD identify that networks, communities, chains and initiatives that extend beyond the school are critical in the building and sustaining of innovative learning. Examples in the NZ context include ‘Investing in Educational Success’, ‘Networked Learning Communities’ and now, ‘Communities of Learners’. These initiatives are central policy levers for ILE development. Principals we spoke with incorporated their conceptual understandings of learning ecosystems with the education system that currently exists in many schools. Mel describes how each aspect of the system influences and impacts upon others with a ‘flow-on’ effect where resources, content, leaners and teachers (the pedagogical core) interact in a systematic way.
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Dianne Smardon
The learning ecosystem is where each thing has a flow-on effect that affects the different aspects of what’s happening in the classroom. So, for example, if you have a class with no laptops, introducing computers or laptops into that classroom would have a flow-on effect as to how the students can learn and how the teacher has to teach and what opportunities the kids have, you know, what further things are going to open up for them. (Mel) It can be unhelpful to construct a binary ‘either/or’ argument between physical changes to classrooms and pedagogy. Pedagogy and design are interrelated and co-produce learning. Raleigh, as a learning leader, sees the underlying philosophy for learning as of paramount importance.
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I think ILEs are really about the pedagogy as well as the physical space. We have just finished spending 2 million dollars on changes to our property, to bring it more in line with the Ministry’s guidelines. One of the things that I talked about with the staff, and we talked it about an awful lot, was ‘how does space influence learning?’ The critical part is the learning. It’s not the space. Space does influence what you can do, but the pedagogy you adopt can be utilised in any space. (Raleigh) Challenges for principals By making the physical changes to school environments, as maintenance and scheduled changes are timed, it is hoped that these moves will positively impact on teaching and learning. Rather than merely changing the shape of classrooms, ILEs signal a profound shift to the nature of schooling in Aotearoa/New Zealand. With the pending Educations Reform Act, Investing in Education Success policy and moves to reshape schools into ILEs we now are facing some of the most pervasive shifts in the education system since ‘Tomorrow’s Schools’ in 1989. ILEs pose a pivotal challenge for ‘white water’ leadership where principals, as learning leaders, critically navigate the topography of proposed change. As a significant shift in schools and schooling, teacher preparation and professional development are of profound importance. Grant highlights the importance of brokering the relational dynamic and philosophy for 21st century learning.
Total Teaching PD Opportunities in July/August 2016 Neil MacKay, acclaimed international presenter and educator, returns to New Zealand in 2016 to offer whole school/cluster based professional development around his concept of Total Teaching. This PD equips teachers with just enough RTLB/RTLit skills to “notice and adjust” for students without labels but with clear learning needs in areas like Dyslexia, ADHD and High Functioning Autism. Comments from his 2015 Workshop Tour A Principal writes, “Already I have had several of my staff comment how positive, refreshing and inspiring the day was and that they have already implemented teaching strategies in their lessons this week related to what Neil shared.” An RTLB writes, “The teachers were buzzing afterwards and back at school and I hear lots of talk of change and follow up which is what we want – a paradigm shift and change at the chalk face.”
Individual schools and clusters are invited to make contact Neil at info@actiondyslexia.co.uk to discuss bookings for 2016. Final date for bookings will be end of November 2016. Neil is also happy to discuss events for parents and conferences. More details at www.actiondyslexia.co.uk
Right, I get the challenge – that it’s all very well to put in furniture and create an ILE but it’s the practice that goes on there . . . Our plans have just been finished now before it goes out to tender. I want two teachers working in there who have the right philosophy and mind, who like working together and they like learning together. And so, you know, I think the philosophy is the most important thing, not the type of furniture we dump in there. (Grant) Structural support The structural support provided for this initiative is far more significant than changing the size of the learning space. It includes prioritising targeted support for principals who, as learning leaders, empower teachers to also lead and innovate. Pedagogically, what may need to alter is the philosophy and beliefs held by teachers about learners, learning and how learning happens. How might teacher professional learning and development be broadened to broker this space? Acknowledgement The authors wish to thank the principals across New Zealand who generously contributed to this research. About the Authors Ms Dianne Smardon led professional development projects for teachers and school leaders in New Zealand, between 1998 and 2013. She worked with school leaders and teachers as a consultant in Hong Kong. In researching teacher education in New Zealand and the Pacific, she has contributed to a range of research teams. She has published research articles on school leadership and systemic improvement through collaborative peer coaching practices. Based in Hamilton, Dianne undertakes contract work for the University of New England as a teacher educator in Nauru. Dr Jennifer Charteris is a teacher educator with teaching experience in New Zealand, Australia and the UK. She has worked with students, teachers, principals, school communities and school in-service advisors across the primary, secondary and tertiary sectors. She has participated in consultancies for the Ministry of Education in New Zealand. As an in-service teacher educator with the University of Waikato, NZ, Jennifer provided professional learning for principals and teachers that aimed to raise student achievement through targeted assessment for learning and culturally responsive pedagogies. She is currently Senior Lecturer of School Pedagogy at the University of New England in Armidale Australia. References Organisation Economic Cooperation Development (OECD). (2015a). Schooling Redesigned: Towards innovative learning systems. Educational Research and Innovation. Paris: OECD Publishing.
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