Changing Practice in Innovative Learning Environments: What's Working?

Two recent influences on the development of school learning environments in New Zealand have been the Christchurch earthquakes and the New Zealand Ministry of Education’s ten-year property strategy. Following the 2011 Christchurch earthquakes, the New Zealand government embarked on an ambitious plan to regenerate 115 schools with an overall investment exceeding NZ$1.1 billion. One of the opportunities provided by the Greater Christchurch Renewal programme was that of rebuilding the schools, not as they were before the quakes, but as ‘Innovative Learning Environments’ (ILEs) – also variously described as open, flexible, collaborative or new generation learning environments. Simultaneous to the reconstruction and remodelling of the Christchurch education network, the New Zealand Ministry of Education has been prioritising the construction of innovative learning environments to ensure school property is ‘fit for purpose’. The building of ILEs will continue to be a high priority over the coming years, with the Ministry’s policy being that if schools lack “the range and quality of teaching spaces needed to support educational outcomes, they will need to upgrade these spaces before they undertake other projects” (2011, p. 13). One of the key challenges presented by both the Christchurch rebuild and the Ministry’s 10-year property strategy is transitioning the teaching workforce from working primarily in industrial-era classroom spaces into new, open, flexible, collaborative ILEs. This paper describes the approach – methodology and methods – being taken by the author to researching the process of school leaders leading the implementation of innovative learning environments in these schools, with a particular focus on change leadership