What is it?

The OECD Innovative Learning Environments (ILE) project analyses how young people learn. It studies which conditions and dynamics allow them to be able to learn better. By identifying concrete cases of innovative learning environments from all over the world, ILE aims to inform practice, leadership and reform through generating analysis of innovative and inspiring configurations of learning for children and young people.

The distinctive contribution of the ILE project is to analyse, with numerous international examples, innovative ways of organising learning at the micro level (learning environment) and how this connects to the meso level (networks and communities of practice) and strategies to implement learning change at the macro, system level.

The goals of this project are to serve the educational reform agenda by:

• Analysing and synthesising current international research findings on learning, teaching and learning environments.
• Identifying and analysing examples of innovative learning environments from all over the world.
• Engaging with the community of policy reformers, innovators and learning scientists to discuss how to make better use of these findings to make OECD education systems learning driven.

Documents

Read more about the ILE project here:

• The ILE project (English): PDF
• Innovative Learning Environments – Rationales, frameworks and dilemmas. By David Istance, OECD:  Version PDF  and Version PPS PDF

Papers

• “Technology-Rich Innovative Learning Environments by Jennifer Groff”
• “Learning Study by Eric Cheng”
• “Innovative Approaches by Gesa Van den Broek”
• “Learning Futures by Valerie Hannon”
• “Hybrid Learning by Zitter and Hoeve”

Publications

• Innovating to Learn, Learning to Innovate
• The Nature of Learning: Using Research to Inspire Practice
• The Nature of Learning Practitioner Guide (English) (Catalan)
• Innovative Learning Enviroments

Coordinators of the Innovative Learning Environment Project

• Judy Halbert and Linda Kaser
  Vancouver Island University, British Columbia, Canada
• David Istance (OCDE), senior member of OECD’s Centre for Educational Research and Innovation (CERI). Head of OECD Innovative Learning Environment (ILE) project.
• Lone Lønne Christiansen and Per Tronsmo
  Norwegian Directorate for Education and Training, Norway
• Susanne Owen
  Department for Education and Child Development (DECD), Policy and Communications Directorate, South Australia
• Dorit Tubin
  Department of Education, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Israel
• Tanja Westfall-Greiter
  University of Innsbruck, Austria

Members of the OECD ILE project

Participating systems

Australia (South Australia)
Australia (Victoria)
Belgium (Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles)
Canada (Alberta)
Canada (British Columbia)
Chile
Denmark
Finland
France
Germany (Thuringia)
Germany (Baden-Württenberg)
Israel
Italy (Tuscany)
Korea
Mexico (Conafe),
Mexico (Cooperation Network for Educational Innovation)
Mexico (Únete foundation)
New Zealand
New Zealand (Learning and Change Networks)
Norway
Peru (Innova Schools)
Slovenia
Spain
South Africa (KwaZulu-Natal)
Sweden
Switzerland (Bern)
Switzerland (Ticino)
Lego Education
UNICEF (Macedonia)

Learning laboratory systems:

South Africa
French Belgium
Peru
New Zealand (Learning and Change Networks)
Canada (British Columbia)

Further Information

• Documents
• Previous exploratory phase
• Contacts
• Website:
  http://www.oecd.org/edu/ceri/innovativelearningenvironments

Other resourses

Video “Creating innovative environments to improve learning” (David Istance, OECD):

Video “Collaborate, innovate and lead. The future of the teaching profession” (John MacBeath, University of Cambridge):

What is the ILE CAT project?

Innovative Learning Environments in Catalonia (ILE CAT) is a project developed by the Jaume Bofill Foundation in conjunction with the OECD, whose goals are the following:

• To reflect on the theoretical and practical aspects that could provide a leadership model capable of creating and sustaining learning environments; to align learning goals with the broader goals of the organization; to build networks and relationships for learning and encourage leadership by other leaders; and to offer avenues for a specific policy.
• To define a leadership for learning model that considers the above aspects cross-functionally.

A set of actions has been planned to achieve these goals:

• Creation of an international group of experts on leadership for learning, coordinated by the OECD.
• Organisation of a seminar with local and international experts in Barcelona (held in November 2012)
• Presentation of the ILE CAT research and methodology at international conferences such as the one held in Chile: Santiago International Conference on Innovative Learning Environments (ILE) January 2013
• Development of qualitative research on leadership for learning in Catalonia with the participation of 12 Catalan experts and field work involving six schools during the 2012-2013 academic year.
• Authorship of a chapter in the international report on the OECD ILE project, to be presented at the International Conference on Leadership for Learning (4 and 5 December 2013)
• Preparation of a report on educational policies that address leadership for learning in Catalonia, which will also be presented at the International Conference on Leadership for Learning (4 and 5 December 2013)
• Creation of a Professional Learning Community (PLC) to give continuity to the themes of leadership for learning developed through research and at the ILE conference in Barcelona in 2013.

Resources:

• Infography of the “seven principles of learning” (Catalan)
• Guide (in Catalan) The Nature of Learning Practitioner Guide

ILE CAT working group

Research coordination: Joan Badia and Màrius Martínez
Coordination Jaume Bofill Foundation: Anna Jolonch and Valtencir M. Mendes
Methodological assessment: Roser Salavert

Joan Badia i Pujol
Professor of Catalan language and literature in secondary education. He has now returned to teaching after a long career in management in the Catalan civil service, where he worked in the fields of innovation and educational management, teacher training and academic planning for higher education. As a lecturer, he teaches at the University of Vic (UVic), the Open University of Catalonia (UOC) and the University Foundation of Bages (FUB). He promotes learning based on reflective practice and is a co-founder and member of the practicareflexiva.pro platform, which promotes vocational approaches to teacher training (initial and ongoing). He has held senior policy-making positions in the Department of Education of the Catalan government, where he has been deputy director of Lifelong Learning and Teaching Resources (2004-2006), director general of Innovation (2006-2009) and deputy director of University Academic Planning and the European Space for Higher Education (2009-2010). Together with Mario Martinez, he coordinates the team of experts working in the Catalan ILE project (Jaume Bofill Foundation).

Imma Buñuel
Secondary school teacher in Barcelona and lecturer at the Education Faculty, Autonomous University of Barcelona. She is also a language and social cohesion advisor to the Department of Education of the Catalan Government, training teachers in reading, language and classroom relations.

Eugeni Garcia Alegre
Research Associate at the CRES-UPF. He graduated with a PhD in Economics from the University of Barcelona (UB), having completed the doctoral programme “Public Sector Economics”. After working as a secondary school teacher, school principal and education inspector, he joined the University Pompeu Fabra (UPF), where he initially worked as an assistant manager of finances and resources (1992-1997). Since 1997 he has worked at the UPF as an assistant lecturer and lecturer, teaching in the fields of public management and educational management. He has taught on the Master of Public Management programme, ESADE UPF-UAB (1997-2007). In 2000, he rejoined the Department of Education as an education inspector (2000-2003). In 2004 he worked on the School Autonomy Plan, with responsibilities in the area of the Organization and Quality of Schools Centres (2004-2009), first, as Deputy Director General of Schools, then as the head of the Office of Educational Policies, and finally, as Deputy Director General. From 2004 to 2006, he was a member of the Schools Council of Catalonia. From May 2009 to December 2010, he was Director of the program for the reform of non-university educational assessment in Catalonia. He worked for the Catalan Inspectorate of Education from January 2011 to September 2012. He has published several papers on education and public administration.

Maite Gorriz
Mathematics teacher. She works in the field of schools’ management and has carried out research on school leadership training. On paid study leave, she began training in schools leadership and management. This has included a Masters in Senior Management from the EAPC, an ESADE School Managers’ course, and study visits through the PAP OAPEE, (European Community) to the University College Syd, Haderlev, Denmark 2008 (Leadership and change in the educational system) and Järfälla Model Sweden 2012 (Management in education). Following this training she coordinated the schools’ management initial training course at the Public Administration School of Catalonia.

Begoña Gros
PhD in Pedagogy and lecturer at the Faculty of Education of the University of Barcelona (UB). During the last few years, she has been head of research at the Institute for Education Sciences at the University of Barcelona (2004-2007), and Vice-rector of Research and Innovation (2007-2012) at the Open University of Catalonia (UOC). She directs the research group “Learning environments and materials” and has participated in research and innovation projects at national and international level. Her research is associated with the study of the processes of educational innovation through the use of digital media, the analysis of collaborative knowledge-building processes and the design of environments and resources mediated by learning technology.

Jordi Longás Mayayo
Doctorate in Social Education and Pedagogy. Lecturer at the Faculty of Psychology, Education Sciences and Sports (FPCEE) at the Blanquerna Foundation (Universtat Ramon Llull -URL) and a member of the consolidated research group PSITIC (URL). Director of the School Risks Observatory at the FPCEE Blanquerna (URL). He has published various studies and research papers on school organization, healthy schools and psychosocial risks in teaching, and lectures on the Masters in Risk Prevention programme at the IQS (Institut Químic de Sarrià) – Sarrià Chemical Institute.

Neus Lorenzo Galés
Neus Lorenzo is an education inspector with over thirty years’ experience at different educational levels, from primary and secondary to university and lifelong learning for adults.  She has been responsible for the coordination of several European projects and the organisation of international activities focused on stimulating educational environments, the creation of trans-border school networks, and teacher training exchanges. In the past ten years she has specialized in the coordination of programmes for learning languages, in training head teachers and school leaders, and in the use of communicative technologies in the classroom with methodologies aimed at the integration of content and language competences. More recently, she has guided the telematic dissemination of information about innovations in language teaching and learning in digital environments, via her Twitter persona, @NewsNeus. She currently works in educational management, research and leadership.

Màrius Martínez Muñoz
Lecturer at the Faculty of Education Sciences of the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB). He has been dean of this faculty and a member of the Schools’ Council of Catalonia. He is involved in research at the IDEA Forum (UAB) on learning communities, and he is a consultant and trainer for the Departments of Education and Justice of the Government of Catalonia, as well as for the Barcelona Provincial Council (DIBA), where he has led projects on school-to-work transition networks. He advises various Chilean universities on curricular skills. He teaches on Bachelor of Education and Social Education programmes and the Masters in Teacher Training for Secondary Education and Adult Education programmes. He has published reports and articles on learning communities and careers guidance. His recent research has dealt with the transition from primary to secondary education, for the Department of Education, the effectiveness and impact of the Ithaca campus, for the Institute of Education Sciences (UAB), the effectiveness of the Limits program (training program for parents), for the Department of Justice (Centre for Legal Studies and Specialized Training), and academic and professional guidance in Catalonia, for the Jaume Bofill Foundation  and Institute of Education Sciences (UAB). He is currently the main researcher in the Recercaixa 2012 project “Impacte de l’orientació professional de joves per a l’accés i la transformació del mercat laboral” (Impact of career guidance for young people on access to and transformation of the labour market).

Josep Menéndez Cabrera
He holds an MBA from the ESADE business school. His specialities are Education Leadership, Teacher Training, Innovation and ICT projects, Management and Public Relations. Menéndez is director of the project for the new CETEI Technology Centre. He supervised the project from its initial conception to the inauguration of the centre, which provides technological innovation in education for teachers and students in Catalonia. He has been CEO of the Joan XXIII Foundation since 1998 and Vice-director of the Jesuit Education Foundation (FEJ) since 2009.

Joaquim Núñez Cabanillas
After training as a teacher (University of Barcelona – UB), he took a BA in Philosophy and Education Sciences (Autonomous University of Barcelona ­ UAB), a Master in Monitoring and Assessment (UAB) and a Master in Innovation and Assessment (UAB). He has worked as a primary and secondary school teacher (1977-1996), as an associate lecturer in pedagogy at the Autonomous University of Barcelona (2003-2006), and as a trainer for the Institution of Education Sciences (ICE-UAB, 1987-1997) and for the Department of Education of Catalonia (1992-1997). He was Deputy Director General of Teacher Training and Development from 2006 to 2009 and has been an education inspector since 1996 (1996-2013).

Carmina Pinya i Salomó
A pre-school, primary and secondary education teacher, she currently works for the Teacher Training Unit of the Institute of Educational Sciences at the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB), following several years spent at the Learning Resource Centre in Sabadell. Since 1998 she has participated, created and coordinated various ICT projects, both locally, nationally and internationally, with the aim of encouraging teamwork between students and teachers in the participating schools. She has taken part in various research projects, working groups and conferences related to the educational use of ICT in classrooms, schools and social networks. She is co-author of the evaluative research paper on secondary schools commissioned by the School Assessment Board of the Educational System of Catalonia.

Antoni Tort Bardolet
PhD in Pedagogy from the University of Barcelona and Director of the School of Doctoral Studies at the University of Vic. His main research topics are local education policies, education and immigration, family and school partnerships, history of schooling and public opinion and education. Together with Jordi Collet he leads a project on “Families, school and school success” funded by the Jaume Bofill Foundation. The aim is to strengthen links between schools and pupils’ families over a period of two years in order to assess whether this has an impact on children’s school results.