PLANNING LEARNING SPACES IN PRACTICE LAUNCHED

 Super stoked to see https://planninglearningspaces.com/planning-learning-spaces-in-practice/ launched which show cases the #planninglearningspaces case study at Grey Lynn School, Auckland which I was proud to facilitate.

Over the last year I have been working with Terry White, who is the UK Project Director of Planning Learning Spaces. I spent my time in lock down in New Zealand doing research and development around co-creating a series of workshops that could be facilitated to support the PLS Design Framework.

These workshops were  facilitated as a trial to develop a prototype in two Auckland New Zealand Schools: Grey Lynn Primary and Oranga Primary in Auckland and in Trumpington Park School in Cambridge.

Having completed the PLS framework through my role as a Professional Learning Facilitator I am now able to  implement the professional learning needs identified in the "Project Implementation Review" workshop in these two schools.

Teaching teams are now building on the PLS framework and digging deeper to develop collaborative practices in their learning hubs through my work as a Ministry of Education Professional Learning Facilitator with Momentum Learning.

In New Zealand the next round of MOE PLD funding applications closes on 19 February, 2020. I am happy to speak or facilitate workshops online around my areas of expertise.

Both streams are exciting work and anyone interested in exploring futher can contact me if you wish to explore options. sjconsultnz@outlook.com

Learner Led Design

Freemans Bay School is recognised as a Microsoft Showcase School and is a Global Schools Alliance founding member. Late last year we made a video to support our application to continue being a  Microsoft Showcase School. This short video clip shows the development of our school build and how the learner led design is reflected in both pedagogy and learning spaces. Our learner led design has a lens on digital technology, ELearning and developing a future focused curriculum. 

We also had an article published in Learning Spaces magazine. This magazine is published by Association of Learning Spaces and pulls together the views of designers, educators, architects and those interested in promoting modern curriculum through spaces and pedagogy.  The magazine is well worth subscribing to. The article, also shows our thinking around the learner led design at Freemans Bay School,

Rebuilding our School: Reflections

Freemans Bay School

Engage  Empower Enrich

Freemans Bay School is one of the oldest schools in the New Zealand. Established in 1888, it is part of the Auckland City, Western Bays network that is expected to have long term population growth.

This means that more new schools will be developed in Auckland under the Ministry of Education Flexible Learning Environments policy. (FLE).

Having been through a total new rebuild at Freemans Bay School, I have been reflecting on where we could make systems improvements on designing and transitioning into FLE environments.

Now that we are at the end of our three year rebuild project, this post is around my thinking on:

What system changes need to be explored at a national level and school level to support schools in a learner led design process that will not only see the buildings completed but also support collaborative ways of teaching and learning in the new spaces?

MOEs policy of FLEs requires a systems thinking revision at  national level.

In UK and Scandinavia the first consultant that is appointed to any new education facility is the education design consultant. This person is the lead consultant who supports schools through the process of developing and supporting the school vision both at the design stage and beyond.

We need to rethink our systems nationally to ensure that school leaders and teachers are supported to work in collaborative and flexible learning environments in a strategic way.

Having visited many new and refurbished  FLE schools in NZ and overseas, I am interested in how our MOE design policies and procedures can be strengthened to ensure that the dots a joined between the school vision for learning and the design,  incorporating evidenced best practice to inform their decisions. This process needs to be resourced at a national and school system level.

It is important for schools to consider strategically how teachers, in their teams can transition into new spaces - contextualising new ideas concerning curriculum, pedagogy and co-teaching. If the teachers theories of practice are not aligned with appropriate practice in FLE spaces they may not engage in the shifts of practice required.

   

Meeting the increasing diversity of students is recognised as being a too bigger ask for one teacher working in isolation.

Hattie’s comprehensive study of factors affecting schooling concluded that the most powerful strategy for helping students to learn, was ensuring that teacher work in teams. (Hattie, 2009)

Asking teachers to make the shift to a collaborative learning focused environment in teaching teams, on a daily basis, adds a significant layer of complexity to teaching and ways of working.

When teachers have shared ownership of groups of learners they need to be able to spend time together to plan, research, implement and adapt their practice

In our NZ primary schools teachers already have 30 hours class contact time with 1 hour a week mandated for classroom release. Time is a significant barrier to the success of collaborative learning focused relationships. This issue needs to be addressed at a national and school level.

At FBS we have recognised that staff need to be strategically supported through the change process, to be prepared to collaborate to deliver a personalised learning curriculum. 

This support is provided through a mixture of vision led workshops focused on collaboration, coaching and teacher led inquiry. We have cut down the number of after staff workshops to ensure that teachers have time to meet and to discuss their learners needs.

In 2010 Linda Darling-Hammond et al researched how high performing countries organised successful professional development for teachers. The findings were ‘extensive opportunities for ongoing professional learning embedded in substantial planning and collaboration time in school’.

Schools need to consider how they can support the daily collaboration of the teaching teams and additional PLD opportunities, based on best practice, that promote their school vision around learning in their  FLE environments.

What system changes to we need to have at a national and school level to support teaching and learning in FLE environments?

Connected Educators

October was "Connected Educators" month. I was invited to collaborate to on a project to develop an e-book with a group of highly motivated people, all who have a interest in education based here in New Zealand.

The chapter I wrote is about the amazing opportunities that I have enjoyed through connecting with others through Twitter.

Enjoy the book!

Where to start? Extend What you Value!

I always remember reading in one of Fullan's leadership article "Visions That Blind" the statement,  "Extend what you value".

Fullan quotes Shein, (1985) observation "The process of developing collaborative work cultures is complex. It requires great sophistication for school leaders: to express their own values without being imposing; to draw out other peoples values and concerns; to manage conflict and problem solving; to give direction and to be open at the same time".

I often think we feel locked into organisational systems in terms of the way that we do things, and that these ways often go back to how schools were organised in the 1960s or back in even further. We need to rethink last years  organisational structures in our schools to align with what we want to happen today, to drive our vision around personalizing learning to a reality.

In the article above Fullan expresses the need  to have recruitment action to allow for the development of leading collaborative culture in schools. He contends that teacher professional development based on collaboratively developing the school vision is required in the short and long term. This will allow the development of a collective understanding of the learning vision of the school. The areas of focus he suggests are:

• collaborative inquiry
• reflective practice
• growing technical expertise
• restructuring 

A key organisational event that ticked the boxes above that we employed was to create a new leadership position where the school leader, with prestige of salary and release from classroom teaching would lead professional learning and e-learning (blended learning) throughout the school. Effectively this school leader would map the professional learning, curriculum and ICT use in the school. This was an unusual move for a school in New Zealand of under 400 students at the time. It was pivotal to the first restructure of our infrastructure to support strengthening collaboration and personalising learning and coherence around our vision development. 

We decided a good place to start was to define what we want in terms of teaching and learning. What would that look like if it was in place in every learning area of our school. 

This professional learning collaborative inquiry is ongoing.  The model involves collaborative inquiry, reflective practice, growing technical expertise and restructuring. This professional learning model has developed a strong sense of purposeful teaching and learning practice which has led to new ways of organising teaching and learning. This has supported the process of redesigning old spaces, structures and practices that support our vision of "Engage, Enrich and Empower".

This infrastructure change and inquiry based professional learning is a strong transition component for readiness to move into our new buildings in the future. It also led to other innovative organisational and physical changes that support  transition and coherence of our school vision. These I will explore in the next few posts. I look forward to your thoughts.

  

Organizational culture and leadership: A dynamic view, by Edgar H. Schein. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, 1985,

Creativity and passion in Copenhagen

Strandgårdsskolen is located in a low socio economic  suburb in Copenhagen. It has been rebuilt over several years and has a clear pedagogical strategy. This school has succeeded with a big turn-around with significant improvements to student achievement results. The learning spaces are varied and attractive. They include subject based classrooms, breakout spaces and specialist teaching areas.

   There was strong link between the indoor and outdoor spaces demonstrating a commitment to utilising outdoor    spaces for learning.

AFUK – The Academy for Untamed Creativity This is an alternative provision for under 24 year olds who have dropped out of the ordinary school and youth education system. It is built in an old rolling stock factory and has a creativity focus, including design, drama,  art and circus performance. This creative approach to engaging at risk students in education is very successful. Once again I was impressed with the Danish way of hooking into passion and creativity in a very personalised way. Students have opportunities to explore different activities such as circus, performance, theatre, writing, visual arts, design and at the same time exploring options for their future.

Engaging Challenging Communities in Learning Design

Croxteth Primary School, Liverpool Host: Headteacher:  Karen McBride Governer: Rev Iain Brookes The Croxteth Community Primary School and Child Development centre is in Mossway Liverpool - it is a new school build and opened in June 2012. This school is set in an area that has experienced generations of unemployment and the social issues that go hand in hand with low socio economic areas. The new school design has engaged the community and dramatically increased the school and home partnership around learning. Karen explained that a lot of the design elements came from student led design, This is a single storey building with classrooms arranged around three covered courtyards. The building includes a impressive central learning zone / information centre, garden rooms, art and music rooms, a large community room and a creche. There is an impressive ”4D Create” media room where the students can be immersed in  different worlds virtually to support their learning. There are outside areas for integrating play with the curriculum, as well as vegetable gardens and large tarmac areas. There is very little wasted circulation space and areas such as the internal courtyards are utilised for moving through as well as learning and gathering places. A key feature of the building is its sustainable ’green roof’ which has been planted with vegetation to absorb rainwater and provide insulation. Along with solar roof panels and water collection the school is very sustainable. The students are taught in regular classrooms and the shared spaces are utilised for break outs for independent and collaborative work. These spaces inspire creativity. I was really impressed  with the positive effect the inclusive process of school design had on this community. The improved results in student achievement is a testament to how school design can engage the community and strengthen school and home partnerships around learning.

Visit to IPACA Academy

The first schools that Terry White took me to in UK was the Isle of Portland Aldridge Community Academy (IPACA) opened in September 2012, bringing together five Portland schools, the Grove, Brackenbury and Underhill, Southwell and Royal Manor Arts College. The new primary school is a converted leisure centre. The school is co-educational state school providing for students aged 4 – 16, together with Foundation Stage units including nursery and reception age children.

IPACA is sponsored by educational charity The Aldridge Foundation, which has strong links to the community forging employment opportunities for school graduates. This thinking is considered critical as most school leavers stay in the area – the school has a commitment to   building  networks with commercial and manufacturing organisations in the district and incorporating opportunities for students in their teaching and learning.

IPACA is led by Head teacher Alison Appleyard and its Governing Body. This body includes Sponsor Governors, Staff Governors, Local Authority Governors, Parent Governors and co-opted governors selected by the Academy Trust

Professor Stephen Heppell,  is the patron of IPACA. Stephen is recognised internationally as a leader in education. As a Heppell.net school the staff  here have the advantage of working directly with Stephen Heppell who influences the direction of the school.

Gary Spracklen is the Director of Digital Learning and Innovation across all campus of IPACA. His role is to drive the vision around digital learning and innovation. As an early adaptor and enthusiast for digital and future focused learning, Gary is exploring different ways he can work with the leadership team to make sure that the thinking and culture around digital learning and innovation is consistent across all five campus with ideas being explored at all levels of the school.  His blog can be explored at www.digitalipaca.blogspot.co.uk

Is an ”all through school” focused on ”stage not age” Currently 5 years to 9 years, but new build will take students to 18 years. The students work in house groups, across two year groups.  Each space can accommodate 90 students with 3 teachers, plus two teaching assistants. Most learning support happens in the classroom. A typical lesson has one teacher leading 1 supporting and 1 stretching more able students. Every learner has a chrome book from Yr 7 up. 

Key educational elements of  the design include:

·        spaces within spaces

·        flexibility

·        personalising learning

·        Why before the How and What

·        mixed age learning

·        digital learning

The flexible environment is achieved by a range of different furniture including high backed sofas and utilising furniture to make withdrawal spaces. These spaces were observed being used flexibly in the junior areas of the school

Gary  explained that in UK there is huge pressure to teach to the SATS which schools and teachers are judged on nationally. Personalising learning is considered to be a risk because there are tests to pass and jobs and careers can be lost if the student achievement results take a dive. IPACAs SAT results are impressive. Gary is working with staff across all campus to have confidence in letting go didactic approaches and to have the belief that the fantastic student achievement results will just get better with the open and team teaching approach in the modern learning environment that IPACA is committed to.

We had a brief visit to the Royal Manor campus where the senior students are currently located and met with principal Alison Appleyard where we discussed the proposed  new campus at Southwell Park. This exciting project is an old Navy base that is currently a commercial centre.

It will cater for students between 3 and 16 years old, with the main school buildings divided into houses or “schools within schools”, and a separate section for early years children from Nursery to Year 3, with its own entrance and play areas. 

The plans or Southwell Park  include:

·        a performing arts theatre

·        heated swimming pool

·        a new sports hall

·        specialist sports, art, drama, music, science and environmental science facilities

·        cutting-edge computer facilities and new technology to support learning

·        a dedicated zone to support enterprise for students and the community.

TheSouthwell Park campus would offer a range of after-school activities and facilities will be available for after school and community programmes as part of the commitment to linking to the local community.

--- SEE GARY'S GOOGLE ATMOSPHERE PRESENTATION BY CLICKING HERE ---

My take outs from the IPACA schools include:

• ·        The collaborative teaching model of one teacher leading the lesson, 1 supporting and 1 stretching students, plus 1 or 2 teacher assistants for three teachers with 60 students.
• ·        The importance of the school structures supporting the vision of the school – eg exploring leadership and team structures in relation to the school vision around teaching and learning.
• ·        Teacher development around the vision and reflecting the vision/ way of working needs to be a priority. If we want staff to be developing a programme of personalised learning / learner led design – then they need to be involved in such a programme for their professional learning.

 I    I was impressed with the work in schools in UK where new schools were being created utilising commercial buildings - in this case both a leisure centre and naval base. This is a great way to respond to roll growth accommodation needs and get good bang for buck. The concept of several schools or campus in an Academy was new to me.   I wonder how head teachers can keep in touch with staff and learners across so many campus. The current New Zealand Government policy direction is to create communities of schools informed I think from the academy concept. While I am sure there are advantages the concern for me is that Government policy makers may consider this a way to drive right wing policy around testing through a top down hierarchy rather than developing curriculum that is future focused and relevant to learners future lives.