Educational Research and Innovation EDUCAT Innovative Learning Environments I ONA How to design a powerful learning environment so that learners can thrive in the 21st century? OECD’s L Innovative Learning Environments (ILE) is an ambitious international study that responds to this challenging R Educational Research and Innovation E question. The study earlier released the influential publicationThe Nature of Learning: Using Research to S E Inspire Practice. This companion volume is based on 40 in-depth case studies of powerful 21st century A learning environments that have taken the innovation journey. R CH AND INNOVAT AND CH Innovative Learning Innovative Learning Environments presents a wealth of international material and features a new framework for understanding these learning environments, organised into eight chapters. Richly illustrated by the many local examples, it argues that a contemporary learning environment should: Environments • Innovate the elements and dynamics of its “pedagogical core”. • Become a “formative organisation” through strong design strategies with corresponding learning leadership, evaluation and feedback. I ON • Open up to partnerships to grow social and professional capital, and to sustain renewal and dynamism. • Promote 21st century effectiveness through the application of the ILE learning principles. In conclusion it offers pointers to how this can be achieved, including the role of technology, networking, and changing organisational cultures. This report will prove to be an invaluable resource for all those interested in schooling. It will be of particular interest to teachers, education leaders, parents, teacher educators, advisors and decision-makers, as well as the research community. “Much has been written about learning environments, and about innovation but nowhere will you find such a deep and cogent portrayal of the key principles as in the OECD’s report, Innovative Learning Environments. Learners, pedagogical core, learning environments, partnerships, sustainability – it’s all captured in this remarkable volume.” (Michael Fullan, OC, Professor Emeritus, OISE, University of Toronto) “Everyone in education is talking about innovation. What is different here is that the best of what we know about learning is at the centre and is richly illustrated with real cases to answer the question, ‘What will this look like?’” (Helen Timperley, Professor, Faculty of Education, University of Auckland) Environments Learning Innovative Consult this publication on line at http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/9789264203488-en. This work is published on the OECD iLibrary, which gathers all OECD books, periodicals and statistical databases. Visit www.oecd-ilibrary.org for more information. C entre for E ducational R esearch and I nnovation ISBN 978-92-64-20347-1 96 2013 06 1 P 9HSTCQE*cadehb+ 962013061.indd 1 16-Sep-2013 10:07:02 AM “Much has been written about learning environments, and about innovation but nowhere will you find such a deep and cogent portrayal of the key principles as in the OECD's report, Innovative Learning Environments. Learners, pedagogical core, learning environments, partnerships, sustainability ̶ it's all captured in this remarkable volume.” (Michael Fullan, OC, Professor Emeritus, OISE, University of Toronto) “Everyone in education is talking about innovation. What is different here is that the best of what we know about learning is at the centre and is richly illustrated with real cases to answer the question, ‘What will this look like?’” (Helen Timperley, Professor, Faculty of Education, University of Auckland) “From OECD's The Nature of Learning to Innovative Learning Environments, this second ILE volume inspires and guides all who are committed to creating, enacting and sustaining powerful learning. In this 21st century, designing and enabling deep learning is the shared goal of individuals, communities and economies across the globe. To know that this is possible ̶ that we can and are creating ‘schooling for tomorrow’ today ̶ is the gift of this book.” (Anthony Mackay: Co-Chair, Global Education Leaders Program; Chair, Innovation Unit UK) “What impresses me about this work is the clarity about the links between complex goals, processes and outcomes through a focus on innovative learning environments across the globe. Innovative Learning Environments manages both to bring alive the lived realities of very different people at the same time as distilling principles and key messages. This is a book that people concerned about education can learn from whatever their starting point.” (Philippa Cordingley, Chief Executive, Centre for the Use of Research and Evidence in Education (CUREE), UK) “As societies experience unprecedented and unpredictable change, schools and education systems are at the nexus of hope for the future. OECD’s report Innovative Learning Environments documents how educators in a number of countries are engaging in bold and forward-thinking innovations to renew, re-imagine and re- invent contexts for teaching and learning. The ILE framework gives a powerful conceptual steer for how this can be done and the case studies are vivid descriptions of the “real world” of transforming environments into places for learning. This volume offers concrete examples, shows the hard work that creating context for learning requires and, most importantly, provides inspiration to take the journey.” (Professor Lorna Earl, President 2011-2013, International Congress for School Effectiveness and Improvement) Educational Research and Innovation Innovative Learning Environments This work is published on the responsibility of the Secretary-General of the OECD. The opinions expressed and arguments employed herein do not necessarily reflect the official views of the Organisation or of the governments of its member countries. This document and any map included herein are without prejudice to the status of or sovereignty over any territory, to the delimitation of international frontiers and boundaries and to the name of any territory, city or area. Please cite this publication as: OECD (2013), Innovative Learning Environments, Educational Research and Innovation, OECD Publishing. http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/9789264203488-en ISBN 978-92-64-20347-1 (print) ISBN 978-92-64-20348-8 (PDF) Series: Educational Research and Innovation ISSN 2076-9660 (print) ISSN 2076-9679 (online) The statistical data for Israel are supplied by and under the responsibility of the relevant Israeli authorities. The use of such data by the OECD is without prejudice to the status of the Golan Heights, East Jerusalem and Israeli settlements in the West Bank under the terms of international law. Photo credits: Cover © Inmagine LTD. Corrigenda to OECD publications may be found on line at: www.oecd.org/publishing/corrigenda. © OECD 2013 You can copy, download or print OECD content for your own use, and you can include excerpts from OECD publications, databases and multimedia products in your own documents, presentations, blogs, websites and teaching materials, provided that suitable acknowledgment of the source and copyright owner is given. All requests for public or commercial use and translation rights should be submitted to [email protected]. Requests for permission to photocopy portions of this material for public or commercial use shall be addressed directly to the Copyright Clearance Center (CCC) at [email protected] or the Centre français d'exploitation du droit de copie (CFC) at [email protected]. FOREWORD – 3 Foreword Innovative Learning Environments (ILE) is an international study carried out by the Centre for Educational Research and Innovation (CERI) of the OECD. It is focused on innovative ways of organising learning for young people with the view to positively influence the contemporary education reform agenda with forward-looking insights about learning and innovation. ILE began as an integral part of the OECD/CERI work on Schooling for Tomorrow but represented a substantial departure from it, with its focus on learning rather than schooling and on beginning first with the micro level of learning environments before extending the view to more systemic implications (rather than the other way around). There was an initial scoping phase with Mexico playing a leadership role; this resulted in the first publication Innovating to Learn, Learning to Innovate (OECD, 2008). The three strands of ILE that emerged when it was established as an international study in its own right – “Learning Research”, “Innovative Cases”, and “Implementation and Change” – describe the organisation of the project but they are much more than this. The design reflects the belief that a critical starting point to consider innovative change in the organisation of learning is the close understanding of learning itself. This first research strand resulted in The Nature of Learning: Using research to inspire practice (Dumont, Istance and Benavides (eds.), 2010). The next main component in the project design was immersion in what practitioners have actually been working with around the world in their own innovative learning environments – “the Innovative Cases” – as described below. Having thus developed frameworks of research-based principles and of the organisational architecture of learning environments, and having identified a wealth of inspiring learning innovations, this has then established a substantial foundation on which to consider more widespread change strategies. The latter work on “Implementation and Change” is still on-going. This