Innovative Learning Environments: a flashback to 'open plan' or a leap into the future?

Abstract

Innovative Learning Environments (ILEs) are Dianne Smardon a global phenomenon. ILEs are a culmination of architectural imagination, pedagogical development, technological advantage and intensification of student, teacher, and school leader productivity. Over 50 countries are currently remodelling learning spaces and rethinking pedagogical approaches for 21st century learning (OECD, 2015). In Aotearoa (New Zealand), we have heard horror stories of teachers arriving back at school after the holidays to find classroom walls knocked down and an unanticipated remodelling of their space. As teacher educators, with a particular interest in teacher professional learning and development (PLD), we are concerned about the possible disjuncture between teacher preparation and the wholesale implementation of ILEs that is underway.