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The Ministry of Education is funding a significant building programme for primary and secondary classrooms across Aotearoa, New Zealand. In New Zealand there is an expectation that new or refurbished classrooms will be innovative, modern or flexible learning environments. This paper reports findings from a critical policy analysis of the discourse within Ministry of Education documents focusing on the design of learning environments published 2010–2019. Using a ‘what’s the problem’ approach (Bacchi in Women, policy and politics: the construction of policy problems, Sage, London, 1999), we examine the representation of the ‘problems’ which the policy documents relating to modern learning environments intend to address. We use an eight-stage process of analysis of these documents in order to identify policy priorities, ideologies, assumptions and potential outcomes in order to see how these are used to justify authority and action. This analysis revealed two larger ‘problems’ and a number of subthemes underpinning these documents. We suggest that the construction of these problems has conflated many aspects of both space and teaching and learning and relied on unquestioned assumptions about ‘modern’ learning and collaborative teaching. We conclude by considering the implications of this policy direction for New Zealand’s education system.

Classroom furniture has evolved over time from fixed desks facing the front to maintain order and control to a range of flexible furniture types to encourage student-centred pedagogies. This article reports research that applied a socio-material approach to explore how furniture is used in a flexible learning environment. Data were gathered from observations, reflections, student focus group interviews and teacher interviews in one school in New Zealand. In this context it was found that students used furniture for different purposes. Individual student preferences and differences were evident including unconventional use of furniture. The use of furniture was influenced by the teachers, students, environment, furniture design and the curriculum, and mediated by pedagogy and a focus on developing autonomy and environmental competence. The students demonstrated environmental competence, including awareness of the ways that the available furniture can be used for different types of curriculum activities and how environmental and social conditions can affect comfort, collaboration and concentration levels. In classrooms where students move around the space, environmental competence should be deliberately embedded in the teaching programme implicitly and explicitly. In this context, the teachers controlled the environment and the students had restricted autonomy over their use of furniture. The notion of student-centredness in contemporary classroom environments requires further investigation.

AbstractThis article presents a systematic review of literature that explores the educational value of the Internet in the home for school aged children. Research published between 2008 and 2018 was examined and 67 items were analyzed. A range of positive, negative and neutral correlations or outcomes of home Internet use were identified across the three functions of education; academic achievement and skills, developing the individual and socialization. Overall, there were significantly more positive correlations or outcomes reported. We conclude that there is educational value in home Internet use and the value is influenced by the nature of online activities.

AbstractThis article explores digital divides identified in research literature and considers educational policy directions that may mitigate or enhance future inequities. A review of literature identified three categories of digital divides in society; access, capability, and participation. To explore the strategic focus in schooling, data were gathered from a national survey of New Zealand school board chairs and the interviews of eight school principals. The focus in schooling was found to be on the access divide for students with variation across socioeconomic contexts. Developing capability was centered on teacher rather than student capability, which may reflect the notion of the teacher as a “digital immigrant” and students as “digital natives.” To bridge future digital divides, schooling policy needs to focus on developing student digital capability and preparing all future citizens to be able to participate in a digital world. (Keywords: BYOD, digital, divide, equity, inclusion, New Zealand, policy)