CLASSROOMS

I read with interest the story from Saturday’s Northern Outlook, which gave a detailed account of buildings being constructed in North Canterbury schools.

All of these new builds were befitting current Ministry of Education policy, the Modern Learn- ing Environment, or MLE.

Another translation for MLE is the Modern Learning Experiment.

As a provider of professional development for teachers, a parent educator, and a children’s advocate, I am aware that there are a great many people who do not view these giant classrooms as ‘‘progress’’, as the article reported.

Even proponents of MLEs have a hard time finding research that provides evidence for the worth of these massive ‘learning spaces’, but it’s comparatively easy to find literature supporting the benefits of small group sizes.

Rangiora High School, in particular, has a long history of standing up to the decisions of Wellington-based bureaucrats when we feel that they do not match the needs of our community.

I wonder how many of us really believe that putting our kids into a cohort of 350 is in their best interests?

I hear a lot of talk of hope: hope that the acoustic paneling in the giant new classrooms will will be sufficient to minimise noise and distraction.

Hope that the new Minister of Education will reconsider this whole direction.

Hope that a new leader at Rangiora High School will somehow mitigate the potential illeffects of this experiment.

Meanwhile, I hope that parents will make their voices heard. To schools, and to government.

—Miriam McCaleb Email shannon.beynon@ fairfaxmedia.co.nz or mail to Shannon Beynon, Northern Outlook, PO Box 114, Rangiora. Please keep your letters to around 250 words. Letters may be edited or rejected for legal, space or other reasons.