The transformative educative prospects of flexible learning environments

Benadé, Leon

doi:10.24135/teacherswork.v12i1.47

Cited by 4 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 3 publications

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“…This theme aligns with Hedges and Cooper's (2018, p. 370) "relational play-based pedagogy" as well as Smith's (2007, p. 155) discussion of the "climate of reciprocity" that Te Whāriki encourages. This theme also links to the interest in flexible learning spaces in the schooling sector both in New Zealand (Benade, 2015) and internationally (Zandvliet, 2019), with flexibility and openness (in space, in materials, and/or in pedagogy) being understood to offer greater affordances than more rigid alternatives.…”

Section: Theme 4: Openness Opportunities and Flexibilitymentioning

confidence: 94%

Space speaks: A portrait of an early childhood centre and the affordances provided by the learning environment

McChesney¹,

Clarkin-Phillips²

2020

ECF

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The quality of early childhood education and care fundamentally depends on teachers’ wise practice. However, the environments in which that education and care occur can influence, inform, and shape teachers’ practice, and children’s and families’ experiences. This article draws on a written “portrait” of the learning environment created at one New Zealand early childhood education (ECE) centre, capturing both physical and non-physical aspects of the environment and highlighting the affordances the environment offered to children and families/whānau. A Reggio Emilia lens is used to inform analysis of the learning environment and the associated affordances. The portrait (McChesney, 2020) and this article may support practitioners by providing a vision of what can be in terms of early childhood learning environments, and by providing a possible framework for self-review and inquiry.

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Section: Theme 4: Openness Opportunities and Flexibilitymentioning

confidence: 94%

Space speaks: A portrait of an early childhood centre and the affordances provided by the learning environment

McChesney¹,

Clarkin-Phillips²

2020

ECF

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“…As Benade points out, these definitions have changed over time and denote both the physical spaceswhich are intended to be 'flexible'and the activities which happen within them (learning, teaching, content and resources)which are anticipated to be 'innovative'. The designs have caused controversy with some educators calling them 'barns' due to room size and number of students in a space (Benade, 2015). In this paper we use a poststructuralist methodology, developed by Carol Bacchi (Bacchi, 1999;Bacchi & Goodwin, 2016) and referred to as 'what's the problem represented to be' to undertake a critical discourse analysis of the New Zealand government education policy texts published between 2010-2019 concerning the design of school classrooms.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Critical Review of Learning Environment Policy Discourse in Aotearoa New Zealand

Starkey

Wood

2021

NZ J Educ Stud

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The Ministry of Education is funding a significant building programme for primary and secondary classrooms across Aotearoa, New Zealand. In New Zealand there is an expectation that new or refurbished classrooms will be innovative, modern or flexible learning environments. This paper reports findings from a critical policy analysis of the discourse within Ministry of Education documents focusing on the design of learning environments published 2010-2019. Using a 'what's the problem' approach (Bacchi, 1999), we examine the representation of the 'problems' which the policy documents relating to modern learning environments intend to address. We use an eight-stage process of analysis of these documents in order to identify policy priorities, ideologies, assumptions and potential outcomes in order to see how these are used to justify authority and action. This analysis revealed two larger 'problems' and a number of subthemes underpinning these documents. We suggest that the construction of these problems has conflated many aspects of both space and teaching and learning and relied on unquestioned assumptions about 'modern' learning and collaborative teaching. We conclude by considering the implications of this policy direction for New Zealand's education system.

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Reimagining and Reshaping Spaces of Learning: Constituting Innovative and Creative Lifelong Learners

Benadé

Bertelsen

Lewis

2017

Transforming Education

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The transformative educative prospects of flexible learning environments

Abstract: An opinion piece on flexible learning environments.

Cited by 4 publications

References 3 publications

Space speaks: A portrait of an early childhood centre and the affordances provided by the learning environment

Space speaks: A portrait of an early childhood centre and the affordances provided by the learning environment

A Critical Review of Learning Environment Policy Discourse in Aotearoa New Zealand

Reimagining and Reshaping Spaces of Learning: Constituting Innovative and Creative Lifelong Learners

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