Presentation to teachers doing the Transforming Education in Canterbury Special Topic with the Canterbury University.

1. Westpac Business and Community Hub,– Tuesday 11 March, 2014
Modern Learning
Environments and
Future Focused
Learning

2. WHAT ARE SCHOOLS FOR?
1. Get a good job
2. Learn to be a consumer
3. Learn to adore
technology
“We need to address the
metaphysical or
philosophical purpose of
school – if parents,teachers
and kids don’t believe in the
purpose of school it becomes
a place of detention,not
attention.”Neil Postman 1931 - 2003

3. MENTAL MODELS
Mental models are the
assumptions & stories which we
carry in our minds of ourselves,
other people, institutions, &
every aspect of the world.
Differences between mental
models explain why two people
can observe the same event and
describe it differently; they are
paying attention to different
details.

4. CHANGING SCHOOLS…
“Schools may be the starkest example in
modern society of an entire institution
modelled after the assembly line. This has
dramatically increased educational capability
in our time, but it has also created many of the
most intractable problems with which
students, teachers and parents struggle to this
day.
If we want to change schools, it is unlikely to
happen until we understand more deeply the
core assumptions on which the industrial-age
school is based”
Peter Senge

5. TESTING ASSUMPTIONS…
1996, Prof. Hedley Beare
“egg crate” classroomsset class groups based on age
period-based timetablelinear curriculum
division of all human knowledge into “subjects”
division of staff by “subject”
allocation of most school tasks to teachers
assumption that learning is geographically bound
notion of stand-alone school
limiting ‘formal schooling’ to years 0-13
9-3 school day

6. SHUT THEM DOWN?
These are the fundamentals of the futurist
Alvin Toffler’s vision for education in the 21st
century:
• Open 24 hours a day
• Customized educational experience
• Kids arrive at different times
• Students begin their formalized schooling
at different ages
• Curriculum is integrated across disciplines
• Non-teachers work with teachers
• Teachers alternate working in schools and
in business world
• Local businesses have offices in the
schools
• Increased number of charter schools
http://www.edutopia.org/alvin-toffler-school-reform

7. Students in
physical school,
instruction and
assessment
predominantly on-
site
Students access
formal learning via
the network,
instruction and
assessment
provided online
Students learning
through their
online personal
learning network,
incl. social
networking
environments
Students at home,
library or other
space, pursuing
own interests
individually or
collaboratively
FORMAL
INFORMAL
PHYSICAL
VIRTUAL

8. Principle #1
= Ubiquity
Any time, any place, any pace, any
device…

9. UBIQUITY

10. Principles #2
= Agency
“the power to act”;
informed, enabled, empowered learners

11. • Self directed learning
• Un-tethered to traditional institution
• Expert at personal data aggregation
• Power of connections
• Creating new communities
• Not tethered to physical networks
• Experiential learning
• Content developers
• Process as important as knowledge
gained
FREE AGENT CHARACTERISTICS
http://teachthinktech.learningconnective.org/post/1656186536/free-agent-learners

12. Principle #3
Connectedness
‘edgeless schools’, global reach

13. David Ronfeldt TIMN (Tribal, Institutional, Market, Network)

14. School A
Groups
NETWORKED LEARNING
Network PLN
Federally organised
Collections of entities
Collaborative
Networked knowledge
Externally organised
Single entity
Competitive
Knowledge transfer
Personally organised
Association of entities
Connected
Personal knowledge
The way networks learn is the way individuals learn

16. PARTICIPANT FEEDBACK #1
• MLE supports differentiated and student-centred learning.
• MLE produces better teaching and learning.
• Teachers are more accountable and empowered to collaborate through
the power of 2 – 5 to provide quality teaching and learning.
• De-privatising practice and having learning spaces that are open,
inclusive and accessible is best practice in NZ and beyond.
• And a great quote about MLE architecture: Learning within purposeful
de-privatised learning centred spaces with architecture that “makes you
want to learn”:)

17. PARTICIPANT FEEDBACK #2
• All members of the school's community have to work together to create a
shared vision around learning. As long as everything that occurs can be
true to that vision then teaching and learning can be successful. This
does not mean that everyone has to do everything in exactly the same
way.
• The environment is not the most essential part of the process. There is no
one correct plan for what a MLE should look like.
• Learning doesn't stop with the children, teachers are also lifelong
learners and are learning to improve their knowledge and practice all the
time through use of collaborative teaching and teacher coaching.
• When involved in designing new learning spaces we need to be aware
that we are not just planning for ourselves but for the next twenty plus
years so spaces need to be able to be arranged in a variety of ways as no
one can know what the needs of the learners will be then.

18. PARTICIPANT FEEDBACK #3
• Excitement and challenges are two words that come to mind. In a positive
way of course!
• I keep coming back to the children and what will best meet their needs.
During our great trip, we saw children engaged in their learning. I know
we see this in more traditional classrooms too.What I liked was the level
of engagement of the teachers in their own learning, in the confidence
they displayed, and their conviction that the open spaces created a more
dynamic and effective teaching model.
• I also liked the belief the leaders had in that they were making a
difference for their students and for their teachers.
• I liked seeing children demonstrating independence in their learning
and their ability to self manage.The published league tables affirmed the
levels of achievement were to be commended, and that the National
Testing did not inhibit the learning in depth and breadth that was taking
place.

19. PARTICIPANT FEEDBACK #4
• Outstanding, passionate, inspirational leadership - I think that's crucial in
setting up a successful MLE.
• Also a clear, collaboratively formed vision is vital. Each successful
principal we saw, was passionate about ensuring that the vision was lived
and breathed by everyone and that the learning spaces reflected the
vision.
• We have an amazing opportunity in ChCh to create something special. I
truly believe that all the 'stakeholders' are keen to make this happen. I
feel very grateful that I was on this tour. I only wish everyone involved in
our merge could have had the same opportunity.

20. THOSE KEY WORDS
• Differentiated and student-centred learning.
• Accountable and empowered to collaborate
• De-privatising practice
• Open, inclusive and accessible
• Collaborative teaching
• No one correct plan
• Shared vision
• Dynamic and effective teaching model
• Demonstrating independence
• Outstanding, passionate, inspirational leadership
• Collaboratively formed vision
• Learning spaces reflected the vision.

21. WHAT MAKES THE DIFFERENCE?
1. Dynamic, future-focused leadership
2. Clear articulation of a collaboratively developed and
owned vision, values and beliefs
3. Primary focus on the learner
4. Collaborative, de-privatised practice
5. Learning spaces reflect the vision

22. UNPACK
• How adequately do our learning
spaces cater for the type of
learning we are wanting our
children to experience?
• Do our current spaces work
against the things we’re trying
to achieve?

23. LEARNING SETTINGS

24. LINKING PRINCIPLES TO PLACE

25. METAPHORS FOR CHANGING THINKING…
• Cave: for private concentration.
• Camp fire: group process.
• Watering hole: encounters and impulses.
• Sandpit: experimentation and practical work.
• Mountaintop: presentation of progress and
discoveries.
Source: Prakash Nair

26. CAVES: PRIVATE CONTEMPLATION

27. CAMPFIRE: GROUP PROCESSES

28. WATERING HOLE: ENCOUNTERS AND IMPULSES

29. SANDPIT: EPXERIMENTATION

30. MOUNTAINTOP: PRESENTATION

33. SCHOOL SPATIAL TYPOLOGIES
tradi&onal
school
plan
separate
classrooms
opening
off
corridors
large,
open
undifferen&ated
space
separate
classrooms
linked
to
shared
central
space
mul&-­‐op&on
space
made
up
of
many
diverse,
discrete
but
connected
spaces
/
se<ngs
SCHOOL SPATIAL TYPOLOGIES
Source: Mary Featherstone

38. Source: Mary Featherstone

39. duration of activities?
documentation of activities?
what furniture, equipment, resources?
what services are required?
what surfaces are required?what floor, levels area?
ambience, climate control?
degree of enclosure?
Source: Mary Featherstone

40. MODERN LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS
http://bundlr.com/b/core-education-modern-learning-enviroments

41. http://www.core-ed.org/professional-learning/mle-matrix

42. http://eps.core-ed.org/

43. http://eps.core-ed.org

45. Derek Wenmoth
Email: derek@core-ed.org
Blog: http://blog.core-ed.org/derek
Skype: <dwenmoth>