The Learning Environment

What is the Learning Environment?

Quite simply, it is everything that a school is and does that impacts upon a learner's potential to achieve.

It is the physical environment ­ the bricks and the mortar, the paint on the walls and the tarmac on the playground but in our Design, the Learning Environment extends far beyond these physical attributes.

The EdisonLearning Design identifies the many and diverse environmental and social factors that impact upon a student's capability to engage in learning. The Learning Environment strand of the Design has been developed from this research to enable schools to develop a context in which the high expectations of all members of the learning community can be consistently met and exceeded.

The EdisonLearning Design provides a learning environment that is consistently:

• Inclusive and learner-centred
• Respectful, safe and orderly
• Positive and supportive
• Focused on good teaching
• Rooted in a set of core values
• Modelled by teachers and all other adults in the school
• Supportive of teachers as learners

How do we support schools in making this happen?

In our Learning Environment module, we work with schools to review the use of time, team structures and resources with the objective of ensuring that:

• Teams of teachers have regular time each week to monitor student progress together, plan Future work and engage in collaborative professional development
• Small schools are created within the larger school so that teachers and learners develop lasting, consistent and constructive relationships
• The school develops a positive, value-centred strategy for managing student behaviour
• The school establishes strategies and systems that visually and physically bring the school's core values and code of conduct to life for students and adults
• All staff have formal and informal professional development opportunities to maximise their contribution to the school and to student achievement