Enacting a vision: one school’s transition to becoming an ILE

Using the OECD’s (Educational research and innovation: innovative learning environments. Centre for Educational Research and Innovation, 2013) Innovative Learning Environment (ILE) model as an analytical lens, this chapter examines one school’s ILE transition, highlighting the complex and interconnected nature of factors guiding its evolution. It begins by exploring definitions and understandings of ILEs, and alignment with arguments promoting their potential to better-prepare students with the skills, capabilities and competencies deemed important for leading productive and fulfilling lives in the 21st Century. The associated concept of key competencies informs curriculum in many countries and has been linked with a move to (re)develop classrooms to reflect designs thought more suited to supporting the development of these capabilities in students. It is argued ILEs are specifically designed to allow students to work more flexibly and collaboratively. Curriculum is often planned to utilise a range of technologies where students work in teams on project or problem-based learning tasks, designed to build capabilities including self-management, learning independence, problem solving and critical and creative thinking. However, innovative learning environments demand more than just changes to the design of physical teaching spaces. Outcomes from this study indicate the critical importance to successful ILE establishment of challenging teachers’ often entrenched beliefs about the purpose of schooling, and the need to empower and harness the talents of all staff towards achieving a clearly articulated and understood vision. This chapter uses data excerpts from nearly seven years of research to provide unique insights into this process, identifying key knowledge useful to understanding the complex interrelationship between curriculum, pedagogy, technology, and physical learning space design in the development of ILEs.