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Teacher pedagogic practice in reimagined learning spaces
- 1. Emerging teacher practices in new learning spaces Dr Jill Willis, Dr Derek Bland Dr Hilary Hughes Dr Raylee Elliot-Burns
- 2. How would I like to learn?
- 3. $16.2 billion as part of Building the Education Revolution (BER) enabled 3000 school libraries to be built or refurbished. This study – 7 schools in Qld. What pedagogic patterns emerge in new learning spaces?
- 4. The physical environment of school libraries enabled expanded, new formal and informal pedagogic practices and extended the learning space to the community.
- 5. Learning spaces created opportunities for students to be: Confident learners Comfortable and flexible furnishings that children can rearrange, choices of seating, multiple spaces within the library, celebrations and displays of learning, competitions and experimentation, easy access to resources and help, permission to be shared owners of the spaces and users of booking systems. Creative learners Colourful and collaborative spaces, connections to outdoors and animals and playful places, multimedia rooms, laptops and iPads, games, student clubs, games, craft activities, guest artists and speakers, incorporation of science and technology events, celebrations of reading and displays of books, technologies and artworks. Active and informed citizens Leadership roles for students, lunchtime activities and clubs, special day celebrations and events, connections to inquiry sources both physical and virtual, specific teaching of information skills, suggestion boxes, links to parent and community events in the library space Melbourne Declaration (MCEETYA, 2008)
- 7. Flexibility and space = expanded repertoire “I think that it’s freed up teachers to be able to think of using other methods that they would have normally shut down.” Teacher, school 5.
- 8. Teacher learning new pedagogic practices Teachers learn when there is - Equilibrium & Disequilibrium: opportunity to challenge beliefs and learn new practices in personal, practical and formal ways (p. 387) - Collaboration and Space: “too much collaboration is stifling, and too little is isolating” (p. 236) - Shared beliefs about learning: as “school level beliefs about learning influence both individual and collective behaviour by creating norms of action” (p. 392) Opfer and Pedder, 2011
- 9. Equilibrium, disequilibrium & experimentation Janet extended the virtual student parliament into the physical spaces of the library, like the movie night planned by the students.
- 10. Collaboration and space Greater choice for students about where to work, and creative group work and inquiry based learning emerged
- 11. shared beliefs about learning We were asking ourselves what is the purpose of the library? You know, why are we building a library that is different? Why are we doing things this way? (School leader, 7). “ Kids will be kids…..” Tensions of mobile furniture: teacher control and student independence
- 12. Teachers explored new pedagogies within the spaces when there was opportunity for flexibility, experimentation, and collaboration that sufficiently supported their beliefs about student learning. Transition to new spaces can be assisted by orientations to the expectations and possibilities afforded by the new spaces, for both teachers and students.
Editor's Notes
- We would like to acknowledge that this presentation is based on the Research project Reimagining learning spaces, funded by the QCSSI and coordinated through the CYRC and QUT.
- If you were asked to reimagine the spaces in which you learn, what would you prefer? Would your learning space reflect a desire for adventure, mystery and exploration? This drawing came from our research project that investigated reimagined learning spaces. Our study draws on the concept of “built pedagogy” and how the patterns and interactions of learning are both afforded by and constrained by the learning spaces. YET little known about the experiences of teachers and learners in newly designed learning spaces, and whether the potential for reimagined pedagogies is being realised.
- The chosen research context was school libraries as they have the potential to inspire creative and engaging pedagogy across the whole school community and had recently received funding under the Building the Education Revolution - $16.2 billion for over 3000 libraries. We selected 7 case study sites throughout Qld, and gathered perspectives from Teacher librarians Students Teacher Leader Through their Drawings Video tours & Interviews the research question focused on what pedagogic practices emerge in new learning spaces. Pedagogy – the enacted principles that describe how people participate in learning, and the practices that emerge through that participation. Understanding the views of the students and teachers, as actors in the interactions, is therefore critical. - This presentation focuses on the teachers’ practices, yesterday’s on the student perspectives.
- the library is one of the few indoor spaces in a school where students can experience both formal learning during class time, and informal learning and socialising during break times with other children from across multiple grade levels. From the overall findings of the project, it could be seen that The spaces enabled expanded versions of existing practice, enabled new practices, included informal learning opportunities and extended the learning to the community.
- . The spaces also enabled the learning outcomes identified in the Melbourne declaration, of being confident and creative learners and active citizens. These outcomes and other rich data from the research project are all available from the website if you would like to explore them in more detail, with the address on the next slide.
- The web site gives a detailed overview of the whole project and our findings. The rest of this presentation and the paper concentrates on the experience of the teachers in transitioning
- The teachers who were interviewed were early adopters who were exploring the library spaces with their classes. The new library spaces became an extension of their classroom space that enabled them to expand their repertoire of formal learning activities for their students. The teacher in school 5 commented, “I think that it’s freed up teachers to be able to think of using other methods that they would have normally shut down. In school 7, Emma valued the flexibility. PLAY VIDEO Teachers used the space for science experiments, buddy reading, guest speakers and collaborative and inquiry based learning. There was flexibility and space.
- The case study teachers were early adopters. By analysing their experiences of transition to new practices in new spaces we can understand how to support teachers who are later adopters. Opfer and Pedder in a recent meta analysis outined some key principles that underping teacher learning of new pedagogic practices. READ slideTeachers learn when there is Equilibrium & Disequilibrium: opportunity to challenge beliefs and learn new practices in personal, practical and formal ways (p. 387) Collaboration and Space: “too much collaboration is stifling, and too little is isolating” (p. 236) Shared beliefs about learning: as “school level beliefs about learning influence both individual and collective behaviour by creating norms of action” (p. 392) Opfer and Pedder, 2011
- Innovators like Janet (school 3) drew on recent formal learning in her digital pedagogical licence to experiment. There was equilibrium between her desire to innovate and the opportunities provided by the new learning spaces eg: the green screen room and laptops in the new library. She then extended the virtual student parliament into the physical spaces of the library, through events planned by the student parliament. READ Janet extended the virtual student parliament into the physical spaces of the library, through events planned by the student parliament. CLICK TO PLAY VIDEOREAD Janet extended the virtual student parliament into the physical spaces of the library, although she felt isolated as there was not opportunity to discuss experimenting with peers, or think through the challenges that might be causing disequalibrium. There were very few formal opportunities for teachers to be oriented to new spaces and new ways of working.
- Greater choice for students about where to work, and creative group work and inquiry based learning emerged. Quite a few teachers would send students to work in the library independently, knowing that the teacher-librarian was there and able to supervise through a variety of spaces easily as the glass walls and partitions enabled passive supervision. Choices enabled greater agency for teachers and students. CLICK PLAY ON MOVIE Collaboration between teachers, and teacher-librarians and support staff was an important factor in supporting new pedagogical practices. Yet teachers and students also needed the freedom to rearrange the spaces and experiment.
- In school 7, the new library spaces provoked new cultural norms. Discussions between school leaders, architects, parents and teachers during the design phase about the purpose of the library provoked a wider discussion about pedagogy READ We were asking ourselves what is the purpose of the library? You know, why are we building a library that is different? Why are we doing things this way? (School leader, 7). This was the exception, as most schools did not provide opportunities for teachers to examine their beliefs. The challenges in using flexible and open spaces also highlighted individual teacher beliefs about learning. For one teacher (4), mobile furnishings were a distraction inviting silly behaviour from students and she wished for less mobility. For another, mobility was an essential element, and she was frustrated it took too long to move furnishings of the way (3). Interestingly both of these perspectives were informed by a view of learning that recognised children were energetic and “kids will be kids”. Mobile furniture created tensions between teacher control and student independence. These were mostly solved through the teachers creating routines, but it meant teachers stayed within their pedagogic comfort zones unless the Teacher-librarian had a chance to work alongside and create conversations about future possibilities such as in school 5.
- In conclusion, we observed that Teachers explored new pedagogies within the spaces when there was opportunity for flexibility, experimentation, collaoration and the spaces sufficiently supported their beliefs about student learning. One of the key recommendations from the report was to make the most of the time of transition as an opportunity for learning and experimentation and reimagining learning. Transition to new spaces can be assisted by orientations to the expectations and possibilities afforded by the new spaces, for both teachers and students. We would encourage you to share the website with colleagues.
- The web site gives a detailed overview of the whole project and our findings. The rest of this paper concentrates on the experience of the teachers in transitioning