CURATED LEARNING: A PEDAGOGICAL APPROACH TO MAXIMISE LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS FOR STUDENTS’ DEEP LEARNING ETHEL D. VILLAFRANCA MA Museum Studies BA Philippine Arts ORCID: 0000-0003-4944-3729 Submitted in total fulfilment of the requirements of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy November 2019 Melbourne Graduate School of Education The University of Melbourne Printed on archival quality paper I dedicate thesis to my parents, Aida and Ricky Words cannot express how grateful I am for the enumerable sacrifices and challenges they’ve had to overcome for us I am who I am and where I am today because of them ii ABSTRACT Globally, billions of dollars have been allocated in developing highly adaptable, technology-infused, and connected learning spaces, called Innovative Learning Environments (ILEs), capable of accommodating a variety of pedagogical practices intended to equip students with skills and competencies critical for thriving in this rapidly changing world. However, research indicate that teachers are unable to fully maximise the potential of these ILEs. In contrast, many museums appear to have considerable success at intentionally manipulating learning environments and adapting pedagogy to suit intended learning outcomes. Understanding these museum practices may prove valuable in helping school teachers use ILEs better. Two case studies were conducted to draw out strategies of museums in capitalising features of the learning environment to promote students’ deep learning. Twenty-eight individuals from nine purposely selected institutions across Australia and New Zealand participated in this research. Thematic analysis of data from 42 observations and 25 interviews resulted in a proposition of a pedagogical approach, Curated learning, that leverages the interdependence between pedagogy and the built environment. Curated learning has the potential to help teachers use features and elements within their learning environment in ways that support students in developing deep learning competencies that, ultimately, will help them succeed in their academic, professional, and civic lives. This research is embedded within an Australian Research Council (ARC) Linkage Project, called Innovative Learning Environments and Teacher Change (ILETC), that investigates how school teachers across Australia and New Zealand can utilise ILEs to improve pedagogy that leads to students’ deep learning. Specifically, this research contributes to a growing body of international research on the effective use of ILEs and pedagogy. Furthermore, equipping teachers with the capacity to maximise ILEs will magnify the value of the financial investment and help them prepare students to thrive in this highly competitive and rapidly changing world. iii DECLARATION This is to certify that: • this thesis comprises only my original work towards the Doctor of Philosophy except where reference is made in the text of it; • due acknowledgement has been made in the text to all other materials used; and • this thesis is no more than 80,000 words in length exclusive of tables, maps, bibliographies and appendices. ETHEL D. VILLAFRANCA iv PREFACE Publications arising from this thesis Refereed Conference Proceedings/Presentations Healy, S., Grant, G., Villafranca, E., & Yang, P. (2015, June). Beyond the bounded notion of the classroom: A theoretical orientation for evaluating the geographies of new generation learning environments. Paper presented at Second Annual International Learning Environments Research Higher Degree Symposium, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia. Healy, S., Grant, G., Villafranca, E., & Yang, P. (2015). Beyond the bounded notion of the classroom: A theoretical orientation for evaluating the geographies of new generation learning environments. In W. Imms, B. Cleveland, & K. Fisher (Eds.), Terrains 2015: Mapping Learning Environment Evaluation Across the Design and Education Landscape: An International Symposium for Research Higher Degree Students (pp. 13-20). Villafranca, E. (2016, June). Understanding affordances in museum education context. Paper presented at the Third Annual International Learning Environments Research Higher Degree Symposium, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia. Villafranca, E. (2016). Understanding affordances in museum education context. In H. Micheltree, B. Cleveland, & W. Imms, W. (Eds.), What's Working? Informing Education Theory, Design and Practice Through Learning Environment Evaluation (pp. 113-118). Villafranca, E. (2017, May). Understanding affordances in museum education context. Paper presented at the Museum Galleries Australia National Conference, Brisbane, Australia. Villafranca, E. (2018, June). Beyond these museum walls: Educators as curators of learning. Paper presented at the Transitions18: Continuing the Conversation, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia. Villafranca, E. (2018, June). Museum educators as curators of student learning. Paper presented at the Museum Educators, Evaluators and Technologists MEETDAY 2018, Melbourne, Australia. Villafranca, E. (2019, December). Curated Learning: Understanding how museum educators maximise learning environments for students’ deep learning. Paper presented at the Annual Australian Association for Research in Education Conference, Brisbane, Australia. v Invited Presentations/Workshops Villafranca, E. (2018, May). Curated Learning: Teaching strategies for collection- based classroom teaching. Workshop with museum educators and school teachers. Museo De La Salle: Cavite, Philippines. Villafranca, E. (2018, May). Using Curated Learning for engaging gallery tours. Workshop with museum professionals and tour guides. Bahay Tsinoy: Museum of Chinese in Philippine Life, Manila, Philippines. Villafranca, E. (2019, February). Curated Learning: The pedagogical relationship between museums and schools. Workshop held at Talking Spaces 9: The Decade Ahead, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia. Villafranca, E. (2019, March). Curated learning: What’s space got to do with it? Presentation at the Designing Learning: MAAS Research Symposium – 2019 Sydney Design Festival, Sydney, Australia. Digital media Villafranca, E. (2019, November 16a). Pedagogical affordances (Version 1). figshare. doi:10.6084/m9.figshare.10314617.v1 Villafranca, E. (2019, November 16b). LEAD Framework (Version 1). figshare. doi:10.6084/m9.figshare.10315385.v1 vi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This PhD journey of 80 thousand words. First of all, I am grateful to the University of Melbourne for without the Melbourne International Research Scholarship and the Melbourne International Fee Remission Scholarship, I would not have been able to pursue this PhD. I would also like to thank the Australian Research Council for funding part of my candidacy through the Innovative Learning Environment and Teacher Change (ILECT) Project, within which this PhD research is situated. The last 18 months of my candidature was like scaling a vertical wall, while carrying a full backpack, and after walking for 20 kilometres—on stilettos. A fellow PhD told me to look up online ‘PhD and the Valley of Shit’. It was one of those many weeks when I was particularly struggling with thesis writing. Reading the essay confirmed that, yes, I was definitely right smack in the middle of the valley! That post led me to this other article, The Swamp of Sadness, by Anitra Nottingham (2016). She used the book, The Never-ending Story, as a metaphor for the PhD journey. Oh, how my heart—my 80s kid heart leapt! I remember the movie version of the book vividly. I loved the adventures of Atreyu with his luck dragon, Falkor. I cried with every misadventure he had to endure but also felt the jubilation when he triumphed in the end. Nottingham (2016) said that most PhD candidates will eventually arrive at, what the movie called, the Swamp of Sadness. This, she emphasised, is a very difficult period in our candidacy, one that, sadly many PhD candidates know far too well—that point when everything seemed to be too hard, and every little step was excruciating. Some candidates, when they get to the swamp, panic and sink even faster. Others would freeze and sink quietly, without anyone around them even noticing. The third type, the survivors, she added, tends to look for a rope. A rope could be anything that will help you pull yourself out of the swamp—a conversation, a paper to read, an advice. This, for me, was the most salient part of the article “... the people you surround yourself with in your thesis journey are crucial. Cultivate those who can vii throw you the best kinds of rope, so you can more easily believe in their rope” (Nottingham, 2016). A long list of people, at various points in my PhD, have thrown me a rope and held on to the other end while I pulled myself out of the swamp towards thesis submission. To the ILETC Project Team, foremost to Joann Cattlin for always looking after my best interest even though it was not part of her job description as Project Manager, thank you. I am also grateful to the chief investigators and my fellow PhDs in the project namely Fiona Young, Vicky Leighton, Anne Knock, Raechel French, Dion Tuckwell, Mark Osborne, and Dan Murphy, as well as our research fellows, Chris Bradbeer and Dr Terry Byers, for the illuminating conversations, insightful directions, and thoughtful suggestions. This study would not have been possible without the study participants. While I cannot name any of them, I am indebted to them for their generosity with their time and expertise. I am deeply grateful to