Um, what’s modern learning?

What are modern learning environments, and what are parents’ options if they don’t think these new styles of learning are the right fit for their kids?

First, let’s break down the terminology.

A modern learning environment (MLE) is a classroom that is different to the traditional style of rows of desks facing a teacher.

An innovative learning environment (ILE) is a collaborative, flexible classroom that can evolve to meet the needs of a rapidly changing society. It covers teaching style and technology, as well as lighting and colour.

A flexible learning environment (FLE) refers to the physical classroom design, encompassing light and colour, furniture, and how pupils and teachers are able to move between spaces.

The idea is for teachers to work together, and for students to work with the teacher who best fits their learning needs – all in 50 to 300-person open-plan classrooms.

The Government is spending millions of dollars on the modern open-plan classrooms, setting them up all around the country, but some parents are moving their children to different schools to avoid them.

Figures from the Ministry of Education in 2017 showed it had spent $747.7 million on contracts to build, and in some cases maintain, 19 new ILE schools since 2013.

The ministry now requires new school buildings to have good acoustics, heating, ventilation and lighting, and non loadbearing internal walls to ensure future flexibility but other property modifications are determined by individual schools’ boards of trustees.

Ministry of Education head of infrastructure Kim Shannon told Radio NZ the feedback it had received from teachers, students and families about modern learning was overwhelmingly positive.

‘‘Innovative learning environments includes the whole physical, social and teaching environment.

It allows students to study on their own, work with their peers in groups, be independent learners, and to develop skills that help them collaborate with others,’’ she said.

A 2017 Government-sponsored study into innovative learning environments found it had been "difficult to justify’’ their use to date.

The Melbourne University study surveyed 6000 schools, including all 2529 schools in New Zealand, found a stronger correlation between ‘‘positive teacher mind frames’’ and better student learning in open plan classrooms than traditional ones, though its lead author cautioned it was hard to draw clear causal links in a ‘‘deeply complicated’’ area like education.

A paper from the New Zealand Council for Educational Research said teachers struggled to let students learn through failure in MLES, while Melbourne Education Research Institute director John Hattie wrote that, without investment in teachers, open classrooms were ‘‘missed opportunities’’ at best.

One teacher, who asked to remain anonymous, said he was struggling with 50-child classrooms at his Christchurch primary school.

At least half of his fellow teachers were exhausted, he said.

The level of collaboration between the teachers sharing spaces ended up distracting them from working with the pupils, who were in turn distracted by each other, causing learning outcomes to go down, he said.