What do we really know about how teachers can use the wonderful innovative learning environments being created for schools around the world?

Stonefields School, Auckland, New Zealand

Graduate researchers (architects, designers, educationalists) around the world are tackling issues such as this, but often in isolation. The ‘Innovative Learning Environments and Teacher Change’ (ILETC) project, based at the University of Melbourne, Australia, aims to bring this thinking together through its series of one-day ‘transitions’ symposia which this year will also be held outside Australia – in the UK (London) on 7th September and in the US (Grand Rapids, Michigan) on 14th September. The symposium in Melbourne will be on 2nd June. It will be interesting to learn where the research on this is at.

The question being asked at these one-day events is: What happens to teachers when they transition into innovative learning environments? I asked Wesley Imms, Associate Professor at the Melbourne Graduate School of Education and lead investigator on this project, to tell me about it. Listen to what he has to say here.

Professor Wesley Imms, Graduate School of Education, University of Melbourne

The aim of the ILETC project is to investigate how teachers can use the untapped potential of Innovative Learning Environments (ILEs) to improve learning outcomes for students and explore the link between quality teaching and effective use of ILEs.

ILETC is part of the Learning Environments Applied Research Network (LEaRN) network hosted by the Faculties of Architecture, Education and Medicine in the University of Melbourne, Australia.

The call for papers from new or established researchers (architects, designers, educationalists) for the events in London and Michigan is still open. The deadline is 1 May, but I am sure that you will be able to squeeze in if you miss this by a day or two.

While the papers might be from graduate researchers, it is a conversation that we can all take part in either at the events themselves or outside.