innovative learning environments · innovative learning environments international seminar and...
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Centre for Educational Research and Innovation (CERI), OECD
Utdanningsdirektoratet, Norway
Innovative Learning Environments
International Seminar and Meeting of Participating Systems
THE ILE ‘UNIVERSE’ – CASES TO DATE
This document contains summaries of the innovative learning environments that have been
submitted by 12 participating systems and included in the project “Universe”. Additional
information is awaited for other cases and a number of participating systems have not yet
submitted their ILEs.
CONTENTS
AUSTRIA ............................................................................................. 3
CANADA-ALBERTA ........................................................................ 19
DENMARK ........................................................................................ 21
FINLAND ........................................................................................... 22
GERMANY-THURINGIA ................................................................. 31
HUNGARY ........................................................................................ 36
MEXICO-NUEVO LEON .................................................................. 40
NORWAY .......................................................................................... 45
PORTUGAL ....................................................................................... 48
SLOVENIA ........................................................................................ 50
SWITZERLAND-BERN .................................................................... 53
SWITZERLAND-TICINO ................................................................. 57
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AUSTRIA
ID ILE case Austria001-SP
Name of the ILE BRG&WRG 8
Location/Address Feldgasse
Country Austria
Website http://www.feldgasse.at
Age range 10 - 18 years
Duration of ILE
Keywords student-centered; holistic; social learning
BRG&WRG 8, an inner city school with high social and cultural diversity, applies
innovative teaching methods permitting students to learn from one another and allows
individualization of the learning process. The school aims to help students become self-reliant and
independent individuals capable of lifelong learning and able to use today's media in a responsible
and critical manner. It expects students to develop social competencies in addition to cognitive
ones.
In the 2nd and 4th years, students learn a variety of student-centred learning methods, including
Eigenverantwotliches Arbeiten (independent learning), open learning, projects, and assessment
according to defined learning aims. There is further individualization through the use of the
Moodle platform and the provision of learning materials via the local IT network.
In order to meet the needs of students from diverse linguistic backgrounds, extraining for reading
and a "reading pass" has been introduced. Moreover, the dual language programme in the lower
cycle and the use of English as a working language with native speaker support in the upper cycle,
especially in the sciences, help prepare the students for an international working environment.
In the afternoons, additional support is offered to students in the main subjects, and sports and
creative subjects are offered. Students are allowed to either learn individually or participate in
activities with others. It should be noted that special attention is paid to students who have an
immigrant background.
In the upper cycle, the organization of learning is especially innovative. Based on a modular
principle, the curriculum is divided into standard courses and elective courses, allowing students
to make their own timetable. In what is called 'special era' projects, students work individually and
independently on interdisciplinary topics from Germany, history and arts, while documenting
their progress in a portfolio. There is also an emphasis on social skill development - combined
lessons are offered in communication, cooperation, and conflict resolution for first years and peer
mediation is provided by upper cycle students.
All teachers at the school have university degrees in their subjects. Teachers teaching school in
specific subjects have obtained various post-graduate certificates. Some have acquired additional
qualifications at the university colleges of teacher education and have participated in in-service
teacher training.
The student portfolios are used for their assessment and also to assess that of the schools.
Additionally, enhanced forms of performance assessment are used including tests within the scope
of piloting national standards for education. Other evaluations are planned for the school,
including the assessment by experts of the modular approach of the upper cycle.
Name of the ILE Hauptschule HIMBERG
Location/Address Himberg
Country Austria
Website http://www.hauptschule-himberg.at
Age range 10 - 14 years
Duration of ILE
Keywords creative & social learning; student-contributed; collaborative;
interdisciplinary; project-based
Hauptschule Himberg aims to empower students to acquire the subject matter competencies they
need, with top priority being accorded to the best possible personal result for each individual. It
attempts to do so by basing the instruction on the principle of creative social learning. This
includes a compulsory unit dedicated to enabling students to develop social skills, to find out how
they perceive themselves and are perceived by others, to learn how to work and live in a group,
how to solve problems in a team, how to deal with aggression, how to manage conflicts, etc.
The school uses a variety of measures to achieve its stated goals: targeted remedial and support
measures; team teaching; involvement of students in decision-making and delegation of
responsibilities to students; special-focus weeks; orientation week for first-year students; joint-
activity weeks, which consists of project week (year 5), summer sports week (year 6), winter
sports week and language week in the UK (years 7 and 8, alternatively); joint planning and
organization of end of year party with students and parents - opportunity for graduates to visit;
close contacts with graduates, with a special focus on feedback on the value of the knowledge
acquired at the general secondary school; use of English as a working language; and, Information
Technology.
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The teaching activities include individual work, seminar teaching, station teaching, optional
exercises, which include research lab, creative design, music group, dance, nutrition, football,
volleyball, karate, gymnastics, etc., special curricula for learning fields (used under the umbrella
of school autonomy), interdisciplinary teaching, practice-relevant vocational orientation with one-
on-one counseling for parents and students, and an incorporation of various pedagogical
principles (SOL, Montessori, Klippert, etc.).
In addition to having undergone the prescribed education for teaching at a general secondary
school, most of them have additional qualifications in different areas. The school places an
emphasis on having a diverse range of competencies among its teaching staff. Teachers also pay
close attention to the concept of role perception - being part of a greater whole with lots of
personal freedom and options, and understanding that common objectives for the students can be
attained in different ways. They also coach trainee teachers and counsel students on vocational
orientation.
Student progress, in addition to being measured by traditional written and oral tests, is assessed
through project work, portfolios, performances, talks, presentations, exhibitions, competitions,
tournaments, and journals.
The school has been part of a government pilot program on the development of educational
standards. An external evaluation was conducted to assess the English as working language
program by the University College of Teacher Education in Baden. Currently, the school is
partaking in the COMENIUS project with 7 other European countries. The school continuously
incorporates insights gained from deliberate perception and observation to better itself.
Name of the ILE Integrative Lernwerkstatt Wien Brigittenau
Location/Address Wien, Vorgartenstrasse
Country Austria
Website http://www.lernwerkstatt.or.at
Age range 6 - 11 years
Duration of ILE 1997 - present
Keywords mixed-age; individual autonomy; social learning
This ILE, which is a state school run by the municipality of Vienna, has all mixed-age classes
(10) with a reform pedagogy focus for students. All classes integrate disabled children into them.
Structurally, the school is a full-day school (open school) with two full-day focus days planned for
the future (Tuesdays and Thursdays from 8:30 to 16:00). Students spend part of their time in
courses, which are offered in groups, formed based on interests, abilities, and needs. There are
also a range of activities offered in the afternoon, characterized by a high level of flexibility for
staff in terms of who works where, as well as by a relatively high autonomy for pupils in terms of
mobility and activities, all within clearly defined limits in terms of space and time.
Emphasis is also placed on building active relationships between all stakeholders, the
development of a constructive culture of conflict resolution, as well as projects aimed at
preventing violence and raising gender awareness. These efforts contribute to the school's focus
area, which can be described as "schooling the senses and nurturing social skills".
The learning is organized so that there is a high degree of individualization and differentiation in
the learning process. Project-based learning affords students' opportunities to learn from others
across age and other categories. Interactions between facilitators and students are guided by the
principle of mutual respect. The instruction is based on reform pedagogy, and applies principles of
Montessori, Freinet, Jena plan and variants of open learning. The school makes used of the
renovated school building as well as the outdoors, an example of which is the tree-house that is
being built in the school courtyard, in the learning process. The goals is to provide children,
especially those with disabilities, a friendly environment that is geared to the children's need and
provides adequate framework for living and learning at school.
The term "learning facilitators" is used to collectively describe all the educational staff, regardless
of whether they are deployed primarily in teaching or in after-school supervision. This is a
preliminary step in merging all learning, coaching, and support activities provided by all our staff
members in the best possible manner.
Feedback on learning progress and on current focal points of learning activities is provided
regularly in the form of personal presentations made by the pupils to parents and facilitators on a
portfolio basis. For the purposes of internal evaluation of the school among parents and teachers, a
"quality committee", which has members from all groups of stakeholders, has supplied valuable
feedback and data in 2 large-scale surveys, with high return rates, conducted in 2007 and 2009.
There is no funding available at this time for external evaluation.
Name of the ILE GTVS Europaschule
Location/Address Vorgartenstrabe, Wien
Country Austria
Website http://www.europaschule-wien.com
Age range 6 - 11 years
Duration of ILE
Keywords project-based, individualized, mentoring, cultural learning
GTVS Europaschule has expanded the standard curriculum to cover topical and global issues:
technologies of the future, intercultural competencies, climate change etc. Every year, several
projects are carried out by the whole teaching team with all the children in the school. Learning
and recreational activities are interlined at the school, whose latest contemporary focus includes a
project on obesity prevention in cooperation with a physician, psychologist, and nutritionists. To
increase the involvement of parents in the learning process, beyond the cooperation in classes and
with the parents' association, the school has set up a "cultural cafe" where parents (especially
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those with an immigrant background) and teachers can meet once a month outside of school to
discuss relevant topics.
The school aims to promote global citizenship competencies and enhance intercultural skills. It
attempts to empower students on a personal level, and bestow social and ecological responsibility
on them. Also, it seeks to familiarize learners with real-life situations and understandings of
interdependencies.
There school also places an emphasis on diversification of languages. In addition to English as a
standard foreign language from year 1, it also offers Italian, Turkish, though with insufficient
demand, and students' native languages such as Bosnian, Croatian, and Serbian. A mentoring
project - "Balu und du" - has been developed, and staffed by students from Vienna College of
Teacher Education, to serve children with special social needs. Individualized support in all
classes is ensured through, project-oriented teaching, and the "support round about", in which
children from all forms attend non-form-specific remedial lessons where they are assigned to
small groups to cater specifically to their individual needs and problems.
Students are afforded the opportunity to select from a variety of special-focus topics - outdoor,
language or creative activities, sports, therapy units, etc. There is also the opportunity to select
recreational activities for leisurely interests and the opportunity to be a part of the school council,
which lets students be a part of important decision made about the school.
All teachers hold teacher's diplomas. Some of them have university degrees in sociology, special
needs and ortho-therapeutic pedagogy, and intercultural competencies. The leisure coaches have
appropriate education and training. Other staff members have additional qualifications in areas
such as special needs, speech therapy, kinetic learning, drama pedagogy, creative design, Warnke
method (dyslexia support), etc.
Various evaluations are/have been performed. The mentoring project is being evaluated by the
University of Osnabrück and the cultural cafe initiative by a graduate of Danube University
Krems. The school participates in various competitions and award processes for benchmarking
purposes (for example, the school won the ESIS award for innovative language projects in 2005
and 2008, and the UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development Award in 2007).
Learning outcomes are also assessed and verified through communication with secondary-level
schools the graduates transfer to.
Name of the ILE Hauptschule St. Marein bei Graz
Location/Address St. Marein/Graz
Country Austria
Website http://www.hs-marein.at
Age range 10 - 14 years
Duration of ILE 20 years
Keywords individualized; socio-emotional learning; interdisciplinary; project-
based; mixed-age; teacher-teacher collaboration
Hauptschule St. Marein bei Graz was founded on the belief that school development is a process
that is in need of continuous evaluation, reflection, enhancement, modification and amendment.
The school has progressed in close collaboration with a network of innovative schools.
It aims to provide a stable emotional environment in the classroom where students can feel at
ease, and offer a sense of belonging and family, for those who are not fortunate enough to have it
at home. KL:IBO project launched at the school offers professional support and guidance to the
students when it comes to developing personalities, personal perspectives, and visions for the
future. The focus is on each student's strengths and aptitudes, which helps to develop individual
abilities. This is achieved through strength portfolios, vocational orientation, and individualized
open teaching. In addition, students' self-reliance is developed through differentiation and
individualization, via ongoing efforts in organizational development to improve cognitive
achievement.
Six to seven 45-minute units of instruction is provided every day. Furthermore, 25 minutes of
coaching and support activities take place daily. The first three units are dedicated to
German, mathematics, and English, which are taught using within-class differentiation divided
into basic courses and exercises. Instead of homework, students get weekly work schedules which
for the most part can be completed at school with teacher guidance. The remaining units of each
day are devoted to topic-specific interdisciplinary project-based instruction, covering all subjects.
Organizationally, there are mixed-age classes and permanently assigned classrooms (homerooms).
Small teams of teachers collaborate and there are rituals at the school that include morning circle,
discussion of topics, presentations, festivities and celebrations. Teachers are given the flexibility
to develop individual unit contents. The surroundings are utilized in the learning process through
outdoor teaching, field trips, and excursions. Students support their peers and are given the option
to select their groupmates in project work.
Teachers possess the prescribed education that is required of instructors in general secondary
and/or special schools. Most also have additional training in diverse fields such as social learning,
Jena plan pedagogy, dyslexia, dyscalculia, school development, and information technology. Staff
meetings are organized to share the available knowledge and expertise.
The school model is subject to both self- and external-assessment. In the summer of 2009, a
research study has been proposed, which would be conducted in cooperation with the University
College of Teacher Education of Styria.
Name of the ILE Volksschule 23 Klagenfurt - Wölfnitz
Location/Address Klagenfurt
Country Austria
Website http://ww.vs-klagenfurt23.ksn.at
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Age range 6 - 11 years
Duration of ILE
Keywords individualized, interdisciplinary, student-directed
Volksschule 23 Klagenfurt is a school that has marked ecological orientation and demands active
learner participation. It has been rated an ECOLOG school for 6 years now. It aims to offer
children up-to-date, individualized and differentiated teaching in mathematics and German in
order to proactively counteract dyscalculia and to provide efficient support strategies to children
with dyslexia problems as early as possible. The school develops and applies interdisciplinary
curricula, with mathematics as the starting point. Learners have responsibility for their own
learning, working independently during periods of open learning, and at their own speeds, yet in
line with learning schedules applicable for longer periods of time (6-8 weeks).
Up-to-date teaching methods comprise of, but are not limited to: developing team and problem-
solving skills, providing a sustainable foundation for learning later in life, paying special attention
to different starting levels for learning, different aptitudes and skills, and different learning speeds,
keeping in mind that not being able to understand implies a lack of knowledge; learning contents
are to be acquired, consolidated, and exercised through active, explorative and hands-on learning,
for information cannot be converted into knowledge unless it means something to the learner, and
remembering that learning achievements depend on prior knowledge as well.
Children's interest in higher numbers in not discouraged and golden bead decimal material up to
10000 is used in dyscalculia prevention efforts. Reading/writing-learning principles are applied
according to the "Kieler Leseaufbau" and "Lautgetreu Lese-Rechtschreibförderung von Carola
Reuter-Liehr" programmes, which aid children with dyslexia problems.
The school environment is based on Montessori pedagogy, with mutual respect and appreciation
as the underlying principles of interaction. Pupils work independently and individually on
learning letters, numbers and the multiplication table based on pre-planned working units.
Following recent insights from dyslexia research, at primary level 1 only words whose spelling is
phonetically regular and a few high-frequency in the mandatory vocabulary is taught.
In addition to legally required qualifications, teachers are proficient in Montessori and Freinet
pedagogy, undergo school librarian training, and participate in a course focused on developmental
problems in children. There is extensive collaboration among teachers at the primary level and
best practices are shared. Teachers have become facilitators and coaches in the learning process,
instead of following a "lone wolves" approach.
In 2007/08 the school was an IMST pilot school. There are ongoing surveys of learning outcomes
and an external evaluation by IMST is planned. For students, reading and writing screening
according to the Salzberg model is followed from year 1, and mathematics testing based on the
Eggengerger model is in the planning stage.
Name of the ILE BRG/BORG Landeck
Location/Address Römerstrasse
Country Austria
Website http://www.brg-landeck.tsn.at
Age range 10 - 18 years
Duration of ILE 2002 - present
Keywords interdisciplinary; computer-based
BRG/BORG places much emphasis on its student learning information technology. The school
caters to learners aged 10-18 who were assessed "very good" or "good" at primary school. In the
very first year, students receive grounding in using the computer, emails and the school's learning
platform. In the lower cycle, IT is taught 2-5 days per week as a compulsory subject under school
autonomy provisions, depending on the selected focus. IT is chosen by two thirds of all students,
and music/creativity is chosen by approximately one third of all students. In the IT branch,
students attain the ECDL level in the lower cycle, and in the music/creativity branch students are
required to develop music projects into performance-level maturity and they are performed at
internal and public events.
The school offers many optional exercises such as recreation and sports activities. In recent years,
up to 100 students have also been part of the drama group and have carried out large-scale
projects. Furthermore, in the school's own studio, the media team produces short films,
documentaries, and interviews that are made available to the local TV station. Some live events
have been broadcast over the internet. Also, in an interdisciplinary cooperation with music, the
cartoon group produced a number of award-winning cartoon and animated films, which were
broadcast on Japanese and Bavarian TV. Since the 2008/09 year, a separate group has been
devoting itself to robotics and in preparing for Robocup 2009. The chess group at the school has
won several regional and national awards.
The school is equipped with many modern amenities. Every room has a PC, a video projector, and
a large projection screen. The school has a modern server structure, a Moodle platform, the web
2.0 Mahary platform with blogs and e-portfolio. Plans are in the works for hotspots for laptop
based learning.
Teachers facilitate the learning process on the learning platform, which offers training material for
students to practice at home. Students who do not have internet or PC access at home are allowed
to access the computer rooms outside of teaching hours. The platform utility is most significant in
cross-disciplinary and inter-institutional projects. One such project is the current project in
Biology and English - "Forest" - that is being carried out in cooperation with the higher-level
academic secondary school Schopenhauserstrasse.
Many teachers have acquired the required knowledge in ECDL and INTEL courses. They have
been and are learning how to use the computer and new media in a number of school-specific
INSET event and through the eBuddys system.
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An external evaluation of the school was conducted by the University of Innsbruck within the
framework of eLSA in 2007. Another external evaluation was conducted in 2005 within the
framework of School Portraits Austria. A further internal evaluation is planned for this year.
Name of the ILE Höhere Lehranstalt für wirtschaftliche Berufe des Zisterziensertiftes
Zwettl (HLUW) special focus on Environment and Business
Location/Address Schulestrasse 13, Yspertal
Country Austria
Website http://www.hlaysper.ac.at
Age range year 9 - year 13
Duration of ILE 1990 - present
Keywords self-determined; open learning; holistic; theme based;
HLUW aims to respond to the issue of globalization and the dominance of technology in the
world economy, as well as to related problems of the environment in which we live. At the subject
level, the objective is to educate "eco-social" managers for small and medium-sized enterprises.
The school attempts to create specialist networkers, analysts, and project managers who solve
ecological, economic and social problems in companies and organizations. General learning aims
also include high commitment, consistency, frustration tolerance, and accepting "foreign"
elements. The focus lies on laboratory engineering and management engineering skills.
At the methodological level, the school has implemented the following principles since its
foundation in response to societal challenges to the 21st century: The view of the whole is
preferable to the details, supremacy of practice over theory - theoretical instruction is built around
practical experiences and theory and practice are assessed jointly.
Four weeks of project instruction, blocked in modules, are offered per year in which students
obtain an understanding of how companies actually work. In dedicated learning weeks at the start
and end of the term (teaching projects), learner related pedagogical methods are used - from self-
determined, open learning to team work and developing assessment proposals for the team
members. A structured, pre-scientific project report and its presentation mark the end of at least
15 project assignments students submit in the course of 5 years at the school.
In practical exercises, students learn to keep accurate records in line with established standards.
These exercises focus on completion of such assignments that are necessary for the school and the
affiliated boarding school and are of practical relevance (for example: repairs, furniture
manufacturing, turning waste into compost and selling it via JUNIOR firms). The affiliated
boarding school promotes life-long learning skills through a variety of self-reliance activities.
Students also acquire "real world" experience by becoming toxic substances officers, quality
managers, safety officers, etc.
Teachers, in addition to the standard training and education, undergo internal and external
preparation for specific challenges. They do not have rigid roles, and are flexible and innovative,
making them excellent facilitators to the school's overall goals.
The school is an ISO 9001,14000 and ECOLOG certified school. It is a member of the Global
Marshall plan initiative and has received the Austrian Environmental Quality Seal. The school has
published sustainability reports in the last 3 years and its graduates have gone on to have excellent
opportunities in European and Austrian labor markets.
Name of the ILE Lernwerkstatt im Wassserschloss (LSW) Pottenbrunn - Privatschule
mit Öffentlichkeitsrecht
Location/Address Pottenbrunn
Country Austria
Website http://www.lernwerkstatt.ws
Age range 6 - 16 years
Duration of ILE
Keywords self-determined; holistic; strong family involvement
LSW is an innovative learning institution where learning is always self-determined by students.
The aim of the school is holistic development of the young person in accordance with their
individual talents and skills. This includes the acquisition of fundamental understanding and
actions structures in the following areas - language and writing, mathematics, social and
emotional development, arts/creativity, and physical exercise.
Learning is self-organized and students are free to select the activity and the level of facilitation.
In general, the school follows the pedagogy of Maria Montessori, Rebecca, and Mauricio Wild.
Moreover, experiences derived from implementing various pedagogical principles guide actions at
the school.
Learning takes place in the Pottenbrunn mooted castle. There a variety of areas in the learning
environment - kitchen, workshop, board games, mathematics, languages, the world, painting,
handicraft, role play, exercise, music, and multi-purpose area for other activities. Weekly outings
are arranged to different sites and on different themes, as well as a summer and a winter week.
The gymnasium of the local school is used regularly, and contacts have been built with companies
and organizations to offer internships to pupils.
Student progress is determined through observation and on-going contact with children, which are
documented in appraisal sheets and summarized yearly in a development report. Moreover, there
are regular team reflections on the development state of each individual child.
Teachers are required to have a Montessori education or comparable reform pedagogical
education. Some hold teaching diplomas from university, and most have special
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qualifications such as advanced seminars on non-directive pedagogy. Teachers are expected to
show affection, love, and respect vis-à-vis the children and to trust their development plan. They
are not expected to intervene directly; instead, they act as counterparts to adolescents who live
through a phased of confrontation with the world. They observe and facilitate group processes and
act as moderators in developing communication and in conflict work.
Although there are no external evaluations, a comprehensive quality assurance manual guides the
internal evaluation process.
Name of the ILE Europaschule - Linz
Location/Address Linz, Lederergasse
Country Austria
Website http://www.europaschule-linz.at
Age range 5th - 8th years
Duration of ILE
Keywords holistic; inclusive; individualized; social learning
Europaschule-Linz is a pilot school that offers a modern teaching approach. Its points of reference
are the latest scientific findings in the area of methodology and didactics as well as the skills,
leanings, and needs of the learners. Within a Europe that is opening up and growing together,
Europaschule attaches great importance to building and maintaining international contacts.
Foreign languages are particularly stressed in the school. The entire teaching staff at the school is
involved in empirical research in education. Additionally, the school is a practice school for
students in programmes leading to teacher accreditation for primary, general secondary, and
special schools.
The school promotes educational processes within which the students learn to assume
responsibility and in which the development of intelligence and personality are to the fore. An
inclusive and holistic approach is preferred and therefore there are no ability groups -
heterogeneous classes are conducted with flexible ability differentiation. The pedagogy attempts
for general orientation with a further focus on multiple intelligences. In depth coverage only takes
place in interdisciplinary projects, the priorities in the first two years are the topics
health/nutrition/physical activity, and creativity and design.
As an alternative to performance assessment and feedback, the following procedures are taken:
assessment and feedback are given in writing and orally without marks, written feedback is given
in the form of a portfolio (it also includes a section on self-assessment by the student), a general
report on the student's work and social behavior. Written feedback is produced twice a year and
the oral feedback is provided during the two meet-the-teacher days and during weekly office
hours.
At the end of each semester, a full day is set aside for the presentation of the student work in an
exhibition under the motto "We make time for you". Comprehensive feedback discussions take
place at this time.
In the 5th year, in introductory phase up to Christmas takes place under the special focus of
method training, in which students acquire learning, communication, organization, and
presentation techniques. In 7th and 8th years, students are offered 4 optional in-depth strands -
language and communication, science and engineering, music and creative design, and applied
media design - and add-on courses for further education, for which five hours are dedicated every
year.
In addition to regular teacher training, some teachers have proficiencies in Montessori methods,
sociology, psychology, educational science or pedagogy, or other higher education.
Currently, a study is being undertaken to assess whether the feedback culture developed in
connection with alternative performance assessment and conceived as an integral part of learning
processes has had an impact on the development of personality traits and the general performance
progress made in the school. There is also continuous use of various qualitative and quantitative
research methods.
Name of the ILE Educating Multilingual Language Users
Location/Address Rankweil
Country Austria
Website http://www.hlwrankweil.at
Age range 14 - 19 years
Duration of ILE 2002 - present
Keywords multilingual; hands-on; international learning
HLW Rankweil is a five year College of Management and Service Industries. It aims to promote
wider use of language learning strategies, enhanced learner autonomy, lifelong language learning,
and enhanced metalinguistic awareness.
In addition to sound general education, the school provides an intensive vocational training in
subject-related practical, theoretical and business-oriented subjects. Students develop working and
decision making skills that they can put into practice in careers in the service and public sectors as
well as the tourism and catering industries. Further objectives include personal growth, creativity,
critical awareness, social involvement, teamwork, cooperation skills, and communicative skills in
both the students' mother tongue and foreign languages.
Among the modern languages offered are English, French, Spanish, and Italian. In the third year,
students study marketing in English and German. Moreover, based on evidence that positive
transfer occurs between known languages in a multilingual environment, students are given the
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option of a multilingual seminar in the 4th year, which offers flexibility in switching from one
language to another and makes students aware of similarities and differences between languages.
The curriculum also calls for mandatory work placements of 12 weeks after the third year. An
overwhelming majority of students choose to do it abroad and within the Leonardo program. The
foreign countries include Great Britain, France, Italy, Spain, Belgium, and Ireland.
The teachers are: language teachers who prepare the students for their work placement, language
teachers who themselves speak several languages and have adopted a multilingual approach,
teachers of business management with very good command of English, and one language teacher
who completed a doctoral thesis at Innsbruck University on whether metalinguistic awareness can
be trained and how the multilingual system works in young people.
One important indication that the initiative is achieving the outcomes that it is aiming at is the
high percentage of students who complete their work placement abroad. One important criterion
for these students for their choice is the opportunity to improve their language skills. Another
indicator is the high percentage of students (40 - 50%) who participate in the multilingual
seminar. Currently, a study is being carried out that will attempts to show how the multilingual
system present in the learners' minds changes due to the training in metalinguistic awareness and
the active use of different languages in multilingual contexts.
Name of the ILE Dalton up-to-date
Location/Address
Country Austria
Website http://www.mittelschule.at
Age range 5th - 8th grades
Duration of ILE 2000 - present
Keywords self-directed learning; individualized; goal oriented
The Dalton plan education includes an educational commitment, a rich academic and non-
academic offer, estimation and acceptance by the students. It is founded on the belief that
effective learning is composed of active, self-acting, stand-alone learning. It also understands that
each student needs a multiplicity of competencies, which is further developed and upgraded, so
that students are ready for life after school.
The Dalton plan education is a symbiosis of bonded class-phases and guided free working. Each
student gets a differentiated set of exercises and teachers coach students in different age-group
levels and in specially equipped rooms.
The curriculum calls for developing competencies and for the acquirement of key qualifications.
Learning groups are inhomogeneous because of different paces and abilities of learning.
Individualization and differentiation is practiced and the learning is goal and performance-
oriented. The central objectives of learning are divided into 3 pillars - liberty with responsibility,
cooperation, and time management. Student helps to design the form and figure of their classes.
Some of the teachers have had academic courses in dalton-plan education. Each teacher is trained
in open teaching and self-directed learning. Coaching as method of guidance for individual
development, and decision support is practiced by the whole team of teachers.
In addition to the traditional ways of testing, parent and teacher feedback as well the teachers'
student observations. Students also demonstrate their progress through portfolio work. In
mathematics, teachers are implementing a method of evaluation called the "competence profile".
Additionally, the school is assessed through an internal evaluation that is the result of the monthly
Dalton-Council and regular team meetings with teachers.
Name of the ILE Hauptschule 1 Schärding
Location/Address Schärding
Country Austria
Website http://www.asn-linz.ac.at/schule/schaerding
Age range 10 - 14 years
Duration of ILE
Keywords project-oriented; personalized; social learning; ability-based grouping
This ILE gives students the freedom to further their personal leanings and skills within action-
based and project-oriented work, specializing in the fields of new media, health and social issues.
Classroom teaching integrates environmental education in a variety of ways. The school aims to
empower students to perceive and shape their school as a place within their natural environment,
by encouraging ecological learning and environmental awareness with a view towards promoting
sustainability. Moreover, health promotion activities that increase students' physical and mental
well-being and change the attitudes of children and their families are part of the curriculum as
well. It is done in cooperation with the "Healthy Municipality" project of the town of Schärding.
The monthly social skills training targets behavioral development and relationships.
The overarching aim is to prepare children for a successful transition to working life or higher
education. The following are stressed: Quality improvement based on school developed learning
aims, Quality management that is characterized by a willingness to achieve personal initiative and
inventiveness, and conflict resolution through all those involved in the school community.
Special-focus projects that are aimed at integrating new media and considering important topics in
health and social issues are mandatory for the students.
Learning is organized in ability groups and classes. A learning-by-discovery method is
followed, in which the path to the teaching goal is not clearly pre-defined. Rather, students always
are given the option to research independently, using trial and error. In the past few years, 4
empirical research projects were conducted using this method.
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All teachers are graduates of training institutes for general compulsory education teachers and
some have further education achieved by completing programs at universities (PhD, Master of
Arts programmes, or subject-related educational management) and INSET courses (self-reliant
working according to the Klippert model, etc.). Teachers are viewed as learning coaches and not
as imparters of knowledge. There is much collaboration between the students and the teachers,
and teachers and parents.
A number of evaluations have been performed on the ILE. Research projects conducted jointly by
teachers and students based on the "exploratory discovery" method serve as good
demonstrations of the school's principles. There are periodic internal surveys through feedback in
the form of discussions with staff, feedback questionnaires, etc. An evaluation was conducted
within a "Leadership Academy Case Study" by the University of Innsbruck. The school has also
participated in a number of IMST/MNI (Innovations in Mathematics, Science, and
Technology Teaching) projects.
Name of the ILE Kirchberg Primary School
Location/Address Kirchberg
Country Austria
Website http://www.kirchberg.eduhi.at
Age range primary school age
Duration of ILE
Keywords student-centric, social learning; project-based; cross-class learning
Kirchberg primary school is oriented toward the principles of Freinet education, which lets
children express their views and responds to pupil's questions and needs. Co-determination and
the sharing of responsibility are very important. The focus is on promoting maturity,
independence, and self-reliance, on the one hand, and on constructive and nonviolent conflict
resolution methods, on the other. For conflict resolution, a "peace stair" with four steps has been
created for nonviolent communication based on the Marshall Rosenberg model. These features
mean that children have an active say in the social life in the classroom as well as in classroom
teaching. Democracy and communication are predominant and characteristic forms of encounter
in the classrooms.
The primary learning aims are: achievement in subject contents, acquisition of required personal
skills, and achievement in methodological, strategic, social, and communicative skills. Learners
are expected to become independent, self-organized, and self-reliant. The learning is organized
according to a pupil centered approach, covering individual work, work schedules, project work
and cross-class learning, as well as joint instruction and teaching in small groups.
Many teachers have training and qualifications supplementing the required teacher credentials.
Teachers are expected to work closely with students and become learners in the school
environment. The school head strives to coordinate and concentrate strengths in order to take the
development further.
Learning outcomes are monitored on an ongoing basis by means of the progress documentation or
the portfolio. Portfolios require and enable an ongoing dialogue between the students and
teachers. A performance appraisal interview at the end of each semester and at the end of the
school year is part of the portfolio work. As far as school evaluation goes, Kirchberg was a pilot
school in the Reading Portfolio project.
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CANADA-ALBERTA
Name of the ILE Community Learning Campus
Location/Address Olds, Alberta
Country Canada
Website http://www.communitylearningcampus.ca
Age range grades K - 12
Duration of ILE 2006 - present
Keywords holistic; constructive; vocational training
Community Learning Campus (CLC) is an innovative approach to high school, post-secondary,
and community education, and addresses specific rural needs by sharing resources and working
jointly with a variety of community groups and agencies. It is the result of collaboration between
Olds College (OC), Chinook's Edge School Division (CESD), the town of Olds, and the
University of Alberta. CLC's vision is to provide an active, constructive, and holistic educational
environment that brings together high school and post-secondary education in one place that
creates a seamless transition for students wishing to enter the workforce, apprenticeship, college
or university. It aims to personalize learning to meet diverse needs, create a campus that
encompasses and promotes environmental sustainability, and advance rural community
development.
The learning environment, which includes face-to-face, online, and video-conferencing with
constructive teaching pedagogy, ensures that students develop independence, self-regulation,
collaborative skills, and critical thinking ability. CLC places much emphasis on assessment for
and of learning, and therefore students are able to reflect on their learning and teachers can use
assessment to improve teaching and learning.
The school develops a Learning Map for each student that identifies areas of interest and develops
a learner pathway. The structure and pedagogy of the school is markedly different from a
traditional school. The school has two streams for delivering instruction - seminar based and class
based (both of which are constructivist and project-based). The school follows a "quad" structure
where grades 9 and 10 have optional courses in the morning and core high school courses in the
afternoon, and vice versa for grades 11 and 12. The options are divided into 25 hour modules so
that every month the student is able to take another course in his/her learning pathway. The
learning pathway does not steer students to a particular career. Instead, it allows them have
flexibility in offering different college based courses.
There are a variety of teachers/instructors/facilitators involved. Teachers throughout the CESD are
involved with either direct instruction or video conferencing. All teachers hold Alberta Teaching
Certificate and a minimum of a Bachelors degree. OC instructors come from disparate
backgrounds and hold credentials that include trade certificates, Bachelors, Masters, and PhD
degrees. There is much collaboration between instructors and teachers in the delivery of
instruction.
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DENMARK
Name of the ILE Lisbjergskolen - Pedagogical Platform
Location/Address Lisbjergvej
Country Denmark
Website http://www.lisbjergskolen.skoleintra.dk
Age range 6 - 13 years
Duration of ILE 1996 - present
Keywords portfolios; self-learning; individualized
Pedagogical Platform intends to encourage and qualify children to become self-directed, self-
reflected, and self-evaluative learners. The reason for starting the program was a dialog between
the management and the staff that revealed that there were pedagogical and didactic differences in
the way teachers and educationists worked with pupils.
The ILE puts forward a holistic approach to education and aims to include all children. The
students and teams of teachers/educationists are organized into two groups - the first consisting of
pupils ages 6-9, and the other from ages 10 - 13. Within the larger two groups, students are further
divided into groups of 12, called home groups. Each home group is headed by a pair of teacher
and educationist, who collaborate extensively.
The overall goal of the Pedagogical Platform is to promote four integrated and holistic "life
competencies" - knowledge, self-assessment, conduct, and being. Each student has a plan for
interpersonal and educational development, titled "the child's storyline". Every two months
teacher-pupil feedback sessions are held that tracks the storyline on the basis of portfolios, in
which progress is evaluated and new aims are set. Each student possesses three types of portfolios
- working, selection, and presentational. The first contains all the student's work, the second
consists of a subset of the work that has been chosen by the teacher, and the third contains two or
three products from each subject that has been carefully chosen after a discussion between the
pupil and the primary-teacher. As far as evaluations go, the school has a quality report, something
that is required by law. 85% of teachers report that the school promotes a high degree of well
being for pupils, against a 69% average for the municipality, and 80% of the parents think the
school supports encouragement of students' ability to make up their own opinion on matters. Only
66% of parents in other schools in the municipality thinks so.
FINLAND
Name of the ILE Taloista kaupunki
Location/Address Tampere
Country Finland
Website http://www.tampere.fi/taloistakaupunki
Age range Grades 4 - 7
Duration of ILE
Keywords web-based; architecture-based learning
Taloista Kaupunki sees the built environment as a natural learning resource in everyday school
life, seeing the future in the integration of school and physical environment. The project generates
inspiration, tools, and methods for learning in and about the built environment. The main
objectives, which are based on the Finnish National Core Curriculum, are to
provide architecturally-oriented learning material for basic education, strengthen the participation
of the residents in city development, and improve the recognition of the cultural heritage.
The ILE includes an interactive web application where personal observations are gathered in a
central database. The learning environment consists of both the virtual community and the real
built urban environment together. Learning and the classroom work consists of getting pupils
interested in their own environment by observing it, thereby bringing real life content into the
teaching of the theoretical subjects. The observations form the basis of exercises and class
discussions.
Seven specific observation points have been prepared to make it easier for the teachers to
integrate building spotting in everyday school work. Each observation point has a learning
package of information available online. A sample observation involves paying attention to how
the building elements and details build-up the houses and how the houses build-up the city, what
kind of shapes and colors there are, and what the buildings say about the time when they were
built.
The ILE is organized by a steering group that consists of a the Development Director of Tampere
City Education and Teaching Service Centre, the Principal, teachers, alumni, architects, and
officials from the city's planning division. The school also cooperates with experts from a
museum, university, and the National Board of Antiquities.
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The learning outcomes are assessed through normal evaluation of pupils' learning. High student
motivation has observed throughout the project and the teachers have found that the built
environment is adaptable to different learning objectives.
Name of the ILE Active Childhood and Youth in Kuopio: Culture Path programme
Location/Address Kuopio
Country Finland
Website www.kulttuurikasvatus.kuopio.fi
Age range Grades 1-9
Duration of ILE Since fall, 2006
Keywords Cultural learning, humanistic, holistic
The Culture Path programme in the city of Kuopio aims at promoting and improving the
emotional, physical and social well-being of the child and young people as well as the
empowerment of teachers by ensuring that every pupil has equal opportunity to become
acquianted with culture and cultural services. By its activities, it promotes social and cultural
equity and non-violence. The programme covers all cultural facilities (museums, theaters,
churches etc. including cultural environment) as a complex learning environment instead of
limiting learning just to the classroom and school.
The programme was started to promote equality among students, to create and strenghten learning
environments in cultural facilities and to bring culture more strongly into the school curriculum. It
was initiated by the cultural services in cooperation with the education services of the city of
Kuopio in fall 2006. It is for all the students at comprehensive schools in the city of Kuopio,
approximately 9000 students aged 7-16 in grades 1-9.
The Culture Path programme is divided into nine paths which every student attends annually as a
part of the school curriculum: Library, Art, Museum, Media, Environment, Dance, Music, Theatre
and K9-card. With a K9-card, a 9th
grade student may use cultural services at little or no cost after
"trekking" eight years in Culture Path at comprehensive school. All the paths in the programme
fulfill the requirements of each grade's curriculum in both individual subjects (e.g. literature, art,
music) and larger subject areas. The pedagogy is based on a humanistic approach emphasising the
holistic, emotional and multisensorial dimensions of learning.
The Culture Path programme creates places to learn which promote humanistic and constructive
way of learning. The students are introduced into learning processes which are holistic, active,
communal and socio-emotional and promote critical thinking as well as involvement. It aims to
bring culture into individual subjects and larger subject areas in different grades, and to promote
socialization, cultural identity, media and responsibility of nature, environment and sustainable
development. The aim is that a student learns as a member of community and expresses
him/herself freely and creatively.
The Culture Path programme coordinator is responsible for interaction and cooperation with the teachers,
cultural facilities and the educational services of the city of Kuopio, and every school has its own
Culture Courier, a contact person between schools and cultural facilities. The programme
produces and provides innovative learning materials for use by teachers. It gives teachers tools
and practical examples for goal-oriented cultural education that emphasises direct experience,
creativity, comprehensiveness, multi-sensoriality, and social interaction and understanding.
Results take a long time to emerge but it can be seen already that the teachers have become more
acquainted with the use of cultural facilites and the learning materials produced by the programme
as a learning environment. Culture has become more everyday and possible barriers between the
education services and the cultural services have diminished.
Name of the ILE Fiskarin malli / Fiskarin koulu (The Fiskars model / Fiskars elementary
school)
Location/Address Fiskari
Country Finland
Website
Age range Elementary school, 1st to 6
th grade and "esikoulu" (last year of Finnish
kindergarden, grade 0); 6 years to 12 years of age.
Duration of ILE Since 2006/7
Keywords Learning by doing, immersive learning, student-professional
collaboration
The public elementary school Fiskarin koulu located in the city of Raseborg has broadened its
definition of learning environment to encompass the Fiskars village community in which the
school is situated. The village has about 600 inhabitants of which 107 are members in The
Artisans, Designers and Artists Cooperative of Fiskars. The village history as an ironworks village
is still very much present in the village: most of the old building are intact and are now the homes,
studios and workshops of the new inhabitants.
The knowledge of the local artisans, artists and other community members is integrated into the
curriculum and teaching of the school. The curriculum is a combination of the normal curriculum
used by all Finnish public elementary schools and the "Fiskars model", the special model of using
the wider learning environment that has been developed at the school. All the pupils of Fiskars
elementary school take part.
One of the ways in which the surrounding environment/vicinity is incorporated is through art and
craft workshops developed together with members of The Artisans, Designers and Artists
Cooperative of Fiskars. The workshops have been developed to suit the different grades (1-6th
grade and the "esikoulu" (last year of kindergarden)) and are part of the schools curriculum. In the
art and craft workshops, the pupils get acquinted with the profession of the artist leading the
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workshop and with his or her workplace. They also make something themselves under the
supervision and guidance of the workshop leader. The workshops are combined with preparation
work in class beforehand. Depending on the subject of the workshop the teacher can also choose
to continue to elaborate on the subject in class after the actual workshop. In the Fiskars school
learning environment active participatory ways of learning are combined with more traditional
classroom teaching. The pupils learn in "real life" contexts / authentic environments, while adults
can follow their education more closely, which creates a safer learning environment. The
workshops link the new generation to the village's history and the pupils learn practical skills and
are trained in creative problem-solving.
The workshops cover: Esikoulu (last year of kindergarden/year before starting 1st grade) - paper -
making of paper - paper art; 1ST
grade - wood - woodworks – woodworking; 2nd grade - painting
- fine art; 3rd grade - textile - knitting design; 4th grade - ceramics – design; 5th grade - nature -
environment - linnen workshop / or blacksmithing; 6th grade - glass - blown glass.
The vicinities of the school are incoporated into the curriculum in other ways. The school's pupils
take part in "travel in time" - workshops ("aikamatka") created by the local Fiskars museum to
learn about different periods in the village's history and about earlier professions and crafts. In
2008, they also participated in a community theater production that took place in the open air in
different parts of the village. In 2009 the pupils of the school are participating in making an
exhibition about the local environment together with a local artist.
The positive outcomes of this kind of learning environment are difficult to "measure". We do
know however that the pupils have been very excited about the workshops and what they have
learnt there. Also the teachers are very motivated to work with this wider learning environment
and enjoyed cooperating with the artisans and other professionals in the village.
The ILE strongly believes that the children learn more easily when learning is supported by
authentic environments that provide examples, visual memory aid and contexts. The knowledge
and skills of the other professionals active in the village provide an extra support to the teaching at
school. It aims to make pupils learn more deeply as the pupils are given a more active part in their
own learning process.
Whilst continuing with its work to integrate its wider learning environment into the school
curriculum the Fiskars school is also developing a learning environment model for other schools.
The aim of the model is to show elementary schools how they can incorporate their local vicinities
into the teaching and learning taking place at the school. Fiskars school is currently working with
elementary schools in Karjaa and Pohja two other parts of the Raseborg city.
Name of the ILE Liikkeelle! (On the Move!)
Location/Address Heureka, the Finnish Science Center, Vantaa
Country Finland
Website
Age range Lwer and upper secondary school students and teachers in Finland; student
ages 13 to 19.
Duration of ILE Since early 2008
Keywords Holistic, cross-disciplinary, learning, collaborative learning, virtual
learning
On the Move! is a development project for learning environments funded by The Finnish National
Board of Education. The project is implemented by the City of Kalajoki and Heureka, the Finnish
Science Centre. The project co-operates with the University of Helsinki, the University of Oulu
and experts from the fields of education and social sciences, environmental sciences, and
community planning. Eight pilot schools participate in the project in the school year 2008–2009.
It takes the pupils and teachers out of the class-rooms to study and evaluate their local
environment, for example by carrying out air quality and noise measurements, evaluating the
pleasantness and aesthetics of the environment, and familiarizing themselves with local history
and urban planning. The project aims at producing a concept of authentic, collaborative and
inquiry-based learning in the school neighborhood, using modern technology and media in a
pedagogically meaningful way. It is producing an Innovative Learning Environment on the
Internet, including a social forum, an interactive GIS-platform, as well as methods and tools for
different subjects and for project management at school. The goal is to create a flexible, user-
oriented environment that the students might also use in their free time, and to narrow down the
gap between the school and the every-day reality of the youth outside school. However, the school
building and the classrooms also maintain their importance as a social meeting point for the
community.
Key subjects include natural sciences, history and civics, art, mother tongue, as well as sports and
health education. One of the goals is to enhance cooperation within the school between the
different subjects and disciplines, but also to increase communication and mutual learning
between the schools and other actors of the society. Methods, materials and tools are produced for
various subjects as well as project management. The participation of young people is a key
element: the students share their knowledge and insights with local authorities, politicians, and
experts. Besides the more conventional methods to do this, the project experiments using social
media as a tool for societal participation of young people.
The project seeks to respond to 21st sentury learning challenges. Situated, customized and self-
oriented learning are known to result in good learning outcomes, and the methods used respond
well to the learning needs and motivations of the digi-native generation. The knowledge gained by
the students is integrated and holistic rather than fragmented and decontextualized. The role of the
teacher is of a guide or a team leader of the learning project. As students usually are more skilled
in using new technology and social media, they can become experts in this sense. A diversity of
learning sources is used, and the cooperation with experts in different fields provides the students
role models and more realistic ideas of career options. The students attain knowledge, skills and
attitudes that are needed in active citizenship and democracy. At schools, the project aims to have
an influence on the pedagogic policies and practices, and to promote the culture of a learning
community.
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The knowledge and skills to be gained by the students are, e.g.: Using and evaluating various
sources of information to acquire knowledge, using the scientific method, representing their
knowledge and insights to other people, understanding how the democratic society functions and
how to participate, using the modern informations technology and media in a meaningful, safe
way. Furthermore, each school and teacher set their specific learning goals in different subjects.
Attitudes and qualities to be attained are, e.g., self confidence as a learner and an actor,
collaborative skills, responsibility for one's life-long learning.
In each pilot school, an interdisciplinary team of teachers is responsible of the school's project.
The project also has a working group of pupils, which participates in producing and testing
learning methods and tools. Each school carries out their own project, based on their local
environment, social interests and learning goals. The school neighbourhood is used as a learning
environment and a source of information. Cooperation between subjects is encouraged: the
teachers act as overhead managers but students also take an active role in setting the goals,
designing activities and evaluating the results.
Name of the ILE New Innovators for the World: A Development Project of the Social
Learning Enviroment with Tenth Formers, Upper Comprehensive Learners
and Foster Home Youngsters
Location/Address The College of the Home Mission Society of the Church of Finland,
Pieksämäki
Country Finland
Website www.sisop.fi
Age range 15-18 years old
Duration of ILE Since 2008
Keywords Individualized, small-group learning, collaborative, emotional
learning, social learning
The Development Project of the Social Learning Environment has been established in order to
support both the social and the psychical welfare of the learners. The core aim of the project is to
create a learning environment, where it is easier to learn and which provides different kinds of
support for studies and for life as a whole. This means to teach the learners according to their
special needs, to study and discuss the different learning methods the learners have, and to
improve the group dynamics among the learners.
The concrete aims of the project are:
o To help the learners to get the school-leaving certificate from comprehensive school and
to apply for and to get into further education;
o To help learners to learn how to learn and to identify their own learning methods or
strategies;
o To create a safe and pleasant learning environment and to create and produce material
supporting the learners;
o To provide professional development for teachers and school assistants who work with
the target groups, and to co-operate with other schools, colleges and organisations.
Learners have succeeded in finishing their basic education and getting the school-leaving
certificate from comprehensive school; they have improved their motivation to study, for
example, absenteeism from school has diminished.
There are different kinds of challenges in supporting the learners of small-group teaching at the
higher comprehensive, learners in the 10th form and the young in youth homes specialising in
rehabilitation of drug abusers, to be able to get along in life. Some have great difficulties in their
own lives, especially with family affairs. They have maladjustment to the normal basic education.
Some learners are also socially excluded and/or taken into care and placed in foster homes. The
project works with small-group teaching: there are 8 learners in one group, consisting of four girls
(three 16-year-olds and one 15 year-old) and four boys (aged 14, 15, 16 and 17); and 17 learners
in another, consisting of 12 girls (nine 16-year-olds and three 17-years-olds) and 5 boys (three 16-
year-olds, one 17-years-old and one 18-years-old).
The learning aims are to confirm learners’ self-esteem by increasing the number of the
experiences of succeeding at school; to increase learners’ social skills; to diminish absenteeism
and improve learning results; to help the learners to finish their basic education and to continue
their studies after comprehensive school; to confirm learners’ capabilities to take control of their
own lives and to prevent learners’ marginalizing from the surrounding society.
Education is based on the core curriculum, which is confirmed by the National Board of
Education (FNBE) and on the curriculum confirmed by the provider of education, the College of
the Home Mission Society of the Church of Finland. Learners study daily in small groups with the
guidance of the special teacher and a school assistant, and there is much discussion and interaction
between the learners and the teachers. If needed, the learners have access to remedial teaching.
There is a homelike environment created for the small-group teaching, taking place in an
apartment consisting of four rooms and a kitchen with desks, sofas and armchairs. On special
occasions or with a special need, the learner can study in privacy, too. One aim of the
Development Project of the Social Learning Environment is to create a safe learning environment
where grouping of the learners is possible. Furthermore, it is also possible to study with the help
of web courses.
Name of the ILE “Model Vihti” – school garden, farm, forest and environmental art education
in everyday school work.
Location/Address Vihti
Country Finland
Website http://www.vihti.fi/palvelut/koulut_ja_opiskelu/prime100.aspx
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Age range 3-12 years, mainly 7-12
Duration of ILE Pilot 2003, full project 2008
Keywords Sustainable development; experiential learning; collaborative learning;
community-based learning; environment; agriculture, horticulture,
forestry
The modern era often fails to provide children with hands-on experiences of nature, forests and
basic everyday knowledge of food production. This may have severe implications in the future:
sustainable development to be carried out by adults without the skills and understanding of nature
and primary production is a contradiction.
Development project "Model Vihti" is a complete model to enlarge the learning environment
outside of classroom. It functions without special fundings or fees to be a part of everyday school
work year throughout the seasons. It has been built to serve all primary schools in Vihti and serves
as well the daycare and pre-school children in same schools. It is led by project facilitators in
collaboration with schools, all main officials in Vihti Municipality (youth and leisure, culture,
environment, education and pre-primary education) and local NGOs such as 4H and The Martha
Organization. Local collaboration between schools, Vihti Municipality, parents, NGOs and farms
and people seeks to create sustainable learning environments outdoors. All schools in Vihti (15
schools different sizes and pedagogical backgrounds, covering 3,500 learners) are eligible to take
part. Three students have been involved from the University of Helsinki and Universities of
Applied Sciences, documenting and organizing learning environment and material for learning
outdoors.
"Model Vihti " has its roots in NGO work by Vihti 4H- association, which emphasises learning by
doing and the four Hs stand for hands, head, heart, health. The core of learning is based on school
curriculum, "Model Vihti" is giving new possibilities to organize learning, involving the children,
teachers and other persons working in schools, project facilitators as well the officials in Vihti
Municipality and local NGOs building up different every day settings and special happenings.
"Model Vihti" means a holistic network for schools to improve the learning and well-being of
children and to give better working motivation for teachers and other personnel in schools as well.
It enlarges the learning context out of the class room and into the nearby environment. There is
also nature-based environmental art education.
1) All schools have a small garden plot to cultivate, mostly it is used by the 3rd grade by spring
time: planning the next season, growing plants indoors, preparing the soil, planting and sowing
seeds before school holidays. In the autumn the same children are in the 4th grade and they pick
the yield and prepare the soil for winter time. This garden is in wide use for all classes and
subjects in curriculum by other grades of the school.
2) School-Farm collaboration means the possibility to work and learn in the farm. Pupils are
divided in groups with different tasks to be useful for the farmer: cleaning horses' boxes and
equipment, doing the work needed at the moment like carrying firewoods to storage etc. Children
learn how much is needed to produce food, how nature is playing part in every stage in cultivation
and agriculture, their work is important and meaningful, children and teachers and farmers
experience positive achievement and learn to work together.
3) Nearby forest is a place to learn the basics of forestry in Finland, the balance of nature, get
knowledge of water system, climate change and work towards it in sustainable manners. This part
includes the principles of first aid, dealing with the cold, making up a safe fire in forest, using
trangias, everyday rules and rights etc.
The most important outcomes from this ILE are holistic and meta-cognitive, children learn to
appreciate their own skills and knowledge, enlarge thinking to include processes about nature in
nature, and have access via hands-on experiences to feelings and deeper knowledge and
understanding.
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GERMANY-THURINGIA
Name of the ILE Stiftung Deutsche Landerziehungsheime Herman-Lietz Schule
Haubinda
Location/Address Haubinda, Thuringia
Country Germany
Website http://www.lietz-schulen.de
Age range 6 - 20 years (410 students)
Duration of ILE 1901 - present
Keywords collaborative; socio-cultural learning; interdisciplinary; agricultural
focus
Hermann-Lietz Schule Haubinda was founded with the goal of creating a school environment
where students with different levels of talent and from various socio-cultural backgrounds can
come together to form a community of cooperative learners. It aims to help each student graduate
with the highest diploma possible for him/her, educate students in practical/manual skills and
foster a sense of shared responsibility, and instill a high standard of tolerance and democratic
thought.
The school, which follows the obligatory Thuringen curriculum, is organized on the 19th century
pedagogic principles of Dr. Hermann Leitz. Students are placed in teams led by groups of teachers
in lower grades (teams 1 to 4 and teams 5 to 6), and by topics of interest in the middle grades
(team 7a to 10a - Natural Sciences; Team 7b to 10b - Economics, Environment, and Europe;
Team 7c to 10c - Drama). Regular meetings are organized throughout the year to unify various
team curricula and to promote interdisciplinary learning and projects. The school has a school
board, composed of parent and teacher representatives, which helps oversee the functioning of the
school, as well as a school Parliament, which is composed of the school chancellor, and student
and teacher representatives, that helps determine the course of day to day school activities and
rules. The school makes use of eighty hectares of land, which includes forests, fields, and the
various buildings scattered across campus.
Student evaluations are conducted via grades and school reports, which are issued twice a year.
Parents also receive a verbal evaluation of their children's development. An outside firm, Steg,
conducts periodic surveys of the teachers and parents to provide feedback on how to improve the
school's performance. The school model is studied at the University of Bamberg, where students
analyze the Lietz pedagogy and make recommendation's for school activities.
The school is recognized by the local as well as higher level authorities as a successful example of
an innovative school. Over 90% of the students successfully attain their sought after diploma.
Around 55% of graduates go on to pursue further studies. There is a high demand for the limited
spots in the school.
Name of the ILE ImPULS-Shcule
Location/Address Schmiedefeld, Thuringia
Country Germany
Website http://www.schule-schmiedefeld.de
Age range 10 - 16 years
Duration of ILE 1995 - present
Keywords holistic, student-directed, project-based, individualized, cross-
curricular
The administration sees ImPULS-Schule as a school that: is formed around the child and his/her
"world"; prepares and builds up a learning culture, which has lifelong learning as its aim; and
keeps the balance between both the support of the individuals interests and needs of the students
on one hand and the moral values and standards of the society and the general culture and the
other. The school was initiated as a project school for the "Development of Teaching and
Organization in a small, integrated secondary modern school with Jenaplan and media profile".
The school's primary focus is on student achievement, which is improved through holistic
learning. It includes a focus on social (which is supported throught many extracurricular
activities) and moral learning in addition to developing academic knowledge and ability. Students
are perceived as independent, sef accountable, self-active learners who are able and ready to use
their creativity. The pedagogy is organized around these concepts and individual-, partner-, group-
and project-work are practiced through "weekly-plans" or "learning stations/circles".
Assessment is performed through clearly defined quality criteria according to issue-, social-, self
competence and competence of methods. Special "observing instruments" such at the "Note-
book" and rubrics for assessing competencies in lessons were developed. Twice a year students
recieve a school report letter, which gives an individualized assessment of their competencies.
These reports are accompanied by individual conversations between students, parent and teachers.
The first such conversation of the year results in the development of the learning contract for
every student.
The school utilizes a staff with a variety of expertise to carry out its mission. The Head teacher
finished teacher training in Chemistry and Mathematics, has more than 15 years of experience as
head teacher and is currently pursuing a Phd. She delegates tasks, and manages teachers and other
staff.
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The teachers, nearly all of whom have expertise in two subjects, act as consultants for various
subjects, didactic trainers, Comenius moderators, and counsellors. They participate in working
groups at ministry of education, the ThILLM (teacher training institute), and the local school
authority. There are also turtors/learning coaches, social workers, extracurricular workshop
leaders, and secretaries that provide a range of support functions.
The school recognizes individual differences and uses a special form of learning organization -
Individual Learning Time (ILZ). It is used once a week in math, German and English. Two
teachers guide each student in ILZ in which students pick appropriate materials to focus on as
well as "special tasks" that are more indepth. Time is allotted for relaxation in the learning process
so that there is time for processing in the brain.
There is high regard for the school model among the experts of the development project and
students, parents, teachers and alumni have given the most positive feedback
Name of the ILE Jenaplan-Schule
Location/Address Jena, Thuringia
Country Germany
Website http://www.jenaplan-schule-jena.de
Age range 3 - 20 years
Duration of ILE 1989 - present
Keywords individualized learning; project-based; mixed-age; inclusive pedagogy
Jenaplan-Schule attempts to tackle 21st century learning challenges through its specific features
and forms of organization. It makes use of a variety of instructional techniques: 1) mixed age
groups with all the consequences resulting from this fact such as learning in an atmosphere
without competition leading to higher motivation; 2) individualization of the learning and
evaluation process; 3) integration of students with minor physical challenges and/or learning
difficulties; 4) consistent concept of basic democracy; 5) a student-teacher relationship marked by
warmth, sympathy, empathy and confidence.
These practices are used to achieve a variety of learning goals - acquiring basic skills and working
methods, increasing skills in individual and independent research, installing ability to find ways to
collect and structure information, applying working methods to a new context, using new
technology and media for research and presentation, reflecting on achievements and learning,
applying working methods to a new context, social interaction, acquiring a sense of democracy
and responsibility, tolerance of diversity and mutual respect, integration and support of students
with physical and mental challenges, and active participation in school life.
The school is organized so that there is a smooth transition between the different levels. Lessons
are structured in open learning situations, which allows for individual study and work rhythms,
without constraints of traditional 45-minute blocks and homogeneous age groups. The pedagogy
combines project work and courses. The project involves several subjects connected by content
area, enabling students to think outside the box. Foreign languages and mathematics are among
the subjects that are taught and not project-based. The periodical schedule, each of which lasts 3-4
weeks, is organized so that students have 3 lessons per week in which they they choose to focus
on a sub-topic belonging to the broad areas of history, geography and natural science. The school
also has a morning assembly on Mondays to discuss current events, and an end of week ceremony
on Friday afternoon to present weekly work results or for special group activities.
Teachers are partners in the learning process and not mere transmitters of knowledge. At the
primary level they are supported by aides, and at the secondary level by a school counselor and a
social worker. Most teachers are trained in two subjects. There is no traditional hierarchy between
teachers - a co-operative management model is followed. Teachers also have much autonomy to
make decisions and to assume responsibilities. In addition to the regular team and departmental
meetings, there is a period of annual seclusion where teachers evaluate the school year, reflects on
projects, and sets new goals. The school also has regular exchanges with other schools, including
multilateral visits, to improve processes.
Assessments are mostly verbal and self (facilitated by the use of portfolios), except when grades
are demanded by school authorities, starting from grades 7. School reports are handed out twice a
year in thirty minute sessions in the presence of parents, who are involved in virtually
all decisions made at the school.
Name of the ILE Lobdeburgschule
Location/Address Jena, Thuringia
Country Germany
Website http://www.lobdeburgschule.de
Age range 6 - 17 years
Duration of ILE 1989 - present
Keywords holistic; cross-disciplinary; collaborative learning
Lobdeburgshcule attempts to provide holistic, sustainable education and training in preparation
for everyday life and work. The learning, which is cross-curricular and interdisciplinary, is
student-directed, differential and promotes teamwork. The elective work is based on the particular
tastes of students. The primary learning aim of the ILE is to have graduates that are generally
educated, soft-skilled, and self-dependent to solve problems.
The school is facilitated by a variety of stakeholders - Thuringian Ministry of Education,
Education Authority of the City of Jena, Friedrich-Schiller-University, Local Society of the City
of Jena, and teachers who assume responsibility for their own actions. Fixed teams of teachers are
dedicated to each grade. The school also make efforts to reach out to other innovative schools to
learn from successful practices.
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The school's pedagogy revolves around the curriculum of the Free State of Thuringia. The
schedule is organized so that there are no blocks of different classes. The week starts off with a
"Morning Circle" on Monday. On the other days, the first two hours consists of autonomous
completion of given tasks and free creative work on given topics. The second two hours consists
of a professional lesson. The 5th and 6th hours are dedicated to interdisciplinary lessons followed
by autonomous and free creative work on a given topic. The school day concludes with two hours
dedicated to specialized elective lessons.
The learning includes cooperation agreements with many local bodies and institutions. Learning is
not limited to classrooms; it extends to the library, computer rooms, open work areas, well-
equipped specialist rooms, as well as museums.
The school has received a number of awards for being an innovative school. Its achievements
have been made part of the school regulations for the free state of Thuringia and are thus a model
for other schools. Alumni as well as professional agencies and receiving facilities have provided
positive feedback for the school.
HUNGARY
Name of the ILE Gyermekek Haza Alternative Foundational Programme (Kuno
Klebelsberg Primary and Grammar School)
Location/Address Budapest
Country Hungary
Website http://www.gyermekekhaza.hu
Age range 6 - 14 years
Duration of ILE 1991 - present
Keywords Student-centred, inclusive education; differential learning, cooperative
learning
Gyermekek Haza school, whose name in English is "Children's House", is a primary school that is
based on the idea that every child can find his/her sense of security and a home in school. Its
beliefs include that all children should fully develop their abilities, play an active role in the
process of learning, be able to learn independently and assess their won work, be able to accept
themselves and their peers and be able to cooperate with them, and have access to a broad range
of differentiated learning possibilities.
The school integrates disabled children into its classrooms, all of which have 2-3 special needs
students (30 out of 185 children in the school are considered those that have special needs). The
school attempts to offer each child the same learning opportunities according to his/her abilities.
Students are considered the center of the school and not the curriculum.
Every school day starts with a "talking circle", in which children have informal conversations in
small groups. Students take on different roles such as spokesman, writer, "chief of silence", etc. in
these circles. Teaching methods are not standardized to ensure diverse ways of learning are
preserved. Teachers apply differential teaching methods and cooperative learning.
Assessment is different from practices in the traditional Hungarian system. In the first six years,
students get a written evaluation, i.e. a school report, and only in the 7th and 8th years do students
receive marks assessing their performance. Learning outcomes are balanced, i.e. nobody drops out
and nobody is forced to stay down for a year.
The staff includes 16 full time teachers, 3 remedial teachers, and one speech therapist. Every
member of the staff is considered an "owner", who is part of every decision made, that is
responsible for the successful functioning of the school. There is much collaboration between the
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teachers and newer teachers have mentors who help in the preparation of lessons. There are
regular teacher meeting to assess the school's progress.
The results of the National Measurement of Students' Competencies from 2006 and 2007 show
that 8th grade students in the school performing higher than the Hungarian average in
mathematical and reading competence. The school has a close association with Eotovos Lorand
University Faculty of Special Education and the Budapest Teacher-Training College. Moreover,
the Soros foundation chose the school as a Model school, which fosters open relationships with
parents and other visitors.
Name of the ILE Bela Korzeti Altalanos Iskola en Napkozi Otthonos Ovoda (Bela
District Primary School and Day-care Kindergarten)
Location/Address Hejokeresztur
Country Hungary
Website http://ivbela.ning.com
Age range 6 - 15 years
Duration of ILE
Keywords Personality development, cooperative learning, socio-emotional
learning
This ILE varies consciously from conventional approaches of Hungarian education for providing
more attention to the learning needs of pupils. It seeks to avoid the selection and discrimination of
certain strata that is peculiar to the regular model. The school targets below and above average
pupils and underprivileged pupils. It seeks to achieve thinking that is bright and bold, but
deliberate, clear and accurate, organized and integrated, within the time constraints.
The school activities are organized around three programs - Complex Instruction program, which
is based on group work, Logic Table-game Program, which develops strategic thinking, and
Dialogue between Generations Program, which is based on cooperation of students, parents, and
grandparents. These programs, which are oriented to the national curriculum and takes place in
45-minute sections, seek to implement a varied curriculum that is conducive to the development
of various abilities as well as cognitive and meta-cognitive skills, develop interdependence among
pupils and harmonized cooperation, and have a heterogeneous classroom that promotes group
work.
In addition to the focus on knowledge development, the school pays close attention to personality
development, and reinforcement of good behaviour and self-esteem. In addition
to developing competencies in key subject areas, the school aims to provide a personalized
education through differentiation, individual work, cooperation, and project centered education.
All staff members are part of the program implementation under the guidance of the
headmistress, deputy headmaster, and study group leaders. All teachers have participated in the
Complex Instruction Program - an intercultural teaching-learning method based on cooperation
which enhances the principle of equal opportunity in heterogeneous classrooms (Stanford
University), MindLab, which develops thinking by interactive games (Yale University), and a
Hungarian didactic workshop in Differential Learning.
Students from the school have performed better than the Hungarian average in National level
mathematical and reading competencies. Students from the school also captured the top 5 spots in
the national Table-games competition. Teachers' work during the lessons is measured to evaluate
their competencies and evaluate classroom activities. The evaluation of students’ activities
includes measurement of cooperation during group lessons and measurement of achievements and
class-room activities.
Name of the ILE Deák Diák Általános Iskola (Deák Diák Primary School)
Location/Address Budapest
Country Hungary
Website http://www.deakdiak.hu
Age range 6 - 14 years
Duration of ILE
Keywords Self-assessment, peer assessment, project-based learning
Heterogeneity forms the basis of organization for this ILE. In the continuously segregating
Hungarian school system, Deák Diák attempts to offer a safe and helping learning environment
for children coming from every layer of society. The learning is organized so that pupils become
more tolerant while taking part in various school programs. The school focuses on social skills
and metacognitive abilities and makes use of self- and peer-assessment to do so.
Lower primary grades have two class masters who share teaching tasks and take turns in
organizing afternoon activities. All lower primary students stay in school the whole day, learning
and playing together. More than 2/3rds of the upper primary students spend the afternoon in
school, preparing together for the next school day.
Once a year, all students, except first graders, go to a campsite not too far from the school. This
exercise is intended to reinforce a sense of belonging. Special one-day school programmes, as
well as Christmas parties, class concerts, and others are organized so that children can get to know
their peers' talents. Every year, all classes also have one-week forest school an event organized to
develop social skills, environmental awareness, and health education.
Currently, the school is designing a learning atmosphere that makes use of modern IT equipment.
These technologies allow cooperation and peer teaching, and quite a few teachers have
participated in designing competence based programmes, and their testing and adaptation were
performed at the school. Digital information sharing platforms such as SMS, websites, and email
are used during the teaching/learning period as well as afternoon activities.
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The school also has had a music school for 10 years which assists in the development of the
students with a special music programme. Students become members of various bands and the
school choir plays a vital role in the education of special needs children.
The school was a pioneer in the use of a variety of techniques - projects, scientific work,
formative assessment, etc. - which have gone on to become parts of the national practice. Project
based learning and scientific work is utilized to assist students in becoming lifelong learners.
Children work in groups of four on projects and parents have access to their work via the school
website. Each year, teachers choose a central topic and the majority of the learning is organized
around it.
The two teacher leaders have been part of various educational projects and development teams,
which designed modern pedagogy based methods, and have different experiences as teacher-
trainers. All teachers have relatively high education for primary school teachers, and they are open
to innovative methods and have participated in many training programmes.
Students perform above average in national competencies, and more than 90% of them go on to
institutions providing GCSE and A-levels. The school assessments are both summative and
formative. Self assessment is closely linked with group assessment, and a satisfaction evaluation
section is a part of the school evaluation system. There is forum where parents express their
opinions.
MEXICO-NUEVO LEON
Name of the ILE Centro de Atención (CAM) Múltiple Profr. Rubén Reyes Rodríguez
Location/Address Nuevo-León
Country Mexico
Website
Age range Nursery - 6
Duration of ILE
Keywords Art-based learning; non-verbal communication; collaboration;
individualized; self-esteem development
CAM attempts to support the schooling of students with physical or learning disabilities, which
prevent them from attending regular school, through a program that promotes the development of
artistic skills. The program targets non-verbal communication and expression, personal autonomy,
self-identify and interpersonal relationships, collaboration and team-work, social integration, and
reconciliation of the individual with the society.
The impetus for this program was an evaluation conducted by CAM, which showed that 86.57%
of early childhood population showed low achievement in language and communication skills,
and the fact that 44.23% of students show multiple disabilities. Specifically the program aims to
increase students’ attention span by participating in art classes, develop their motor skills,
improve their self esteem, self-realization, independence, and sense of safety, develop their
leadership skills, and increase parent participation. Groups of students participate in two 30-
minute sessions per week, each of which can be either Music, Drama, Dance, Events, Festivals, or
Clown Club. There has been increasing parental involvement in the various artistic activities.
The facilitators are certified teachers and specialists in different areas. Most are project leaders
with more than 10 years of experience as well as members of multidisciplinary teams. The
program implementation has been the result of collaboration among the staff. The teachers
participate in planning session to exchange experiences and promote better learning outcomes
according to students' capabilities.
The program has had a positive impact on the personality development of disabled children. The
program has met all its short term goals. There has been a decrease in the percentage of students
with low learning profiles from 86.57% to 58.43%. Students have shown improvements in
mathematics, life skills, and physical education well beyond expectations.
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Name of the ILE CENDI DEL FPTYL
Location/Address Monterrey, Nuevo Leon
Country Mexico
Website http://www.cendi.org
Age range 45 days - 6 years
Duration of ILE 1990 - present
Keywords student-student learning, community interactions, extracurricular
programs, social equity, holistic, inquiry-based learning
CENDI aims to achieve social equity by guaranteeing access to services that would help integrate
children under 6 years of age to society. The school attempts to provide holistic development
through a system based on five key processes - pedagogy, health, nutrition, psychology, and social
work. CENDI provides supplemental learning processes based on a scientifically designed
curriculum.
The early childhood program, which targets 0-3 year olds, includes infant massage, bits of
intelligence, music, English, and gymnastics to support neuromotor affective, and social
development. The K-K program, targeting 3 to 6 year olds focuses on six content areas - arts, life
skills, mathematics, physical education and health, language arts and science. These areas are
enriched by the presence of technology, karate, drawing, molding, dancing, physical education
and yoga. For both tracks, there exists ongoing evaluation that allows detection of children's
developmental needs in a multidisciplinary fashion. There an institutional version of the program
that serves approximately 3150 individuals, and a house-schooled version that serves about 1150.
CENDI has strong links to the parents and the community, who are strongly linked to the
children's learning. It uses effective use of play as a learning tool. The program's evidence base is
very strong and spans 18 years. Alumni activities have been tracked to assess the impact of the
program for 12 years. There have also been systemic studies conducted by the Canadian Institute
for Advanced Research in collaboration with McMaster University and with the support of World
Bank.
Name of the ILE CEDIM
Location/Address Santa Catarina, Nuevo Leon
Country Mexico
Website http://www.cedim.edu.mx
Age range 17-19 years
Duration of ILE 2003 - present
Keywords project-based, private partnership, professional education, student-
centric, collaborative, formative assessment
CEDIM was founded to develop a 21st century educational model that brings together students,
professors, and external organizations. It aims to become a center of opportunity, development,
community, interaction, personal projection, and expansion where students can put their creativity
to use in solving real-life problems. The impetus for its creation was the concern that students
were graduating without enough skills or experience to immerse in professional life.
The curriculum is focused on Innovation, Humanity, Technology and business. Students develop
solutions to complex problems, while interacting with their environment through technological
and social cultural tools, and coexisting with people from different cultures and profiles. The
learning is organized in a digital RoadMap tool, which keeps track of student progress, serves as a
location for interchange of ideas, and manages study sessions. Students are responsible for their
own learning, and periodic goals are set and their progress is assessed. Students take one class at a
time for 2-4 weeks and about 6 classes in a semester. Professors assume facilitative roles, and
creative analysis and problem solving is used to stimulate both sides of the brain.
The ILE includes multiple kind of facilitators: Teachers, with much teaching experience and
expertise in redesigning educational programs; Specialists, who offer courses in focused areas;
and Guests, who are designers, artists and professionals, that teach classes as well as provide
tutoring to help students with talent and global vision of the tendencies in innovation, design and
business.
Parents are involved in the learning process and learning takes place at many of the public places
and cultural facilities that Monterrey has to offer. Student work is tracked through portfolios and
their work is presented frequently to the larger community.
There is an inter student evaluation - Design Innovation Awards, which is a competition of all
student projects judged by external organizations and professionals. This process is integrated into
the academic process.
Name of the ILE Colegio Guadalupe
Location/Address
Country Mexico
Website http://viaeducation.org
Age range 6 - 15 years old
Duration of ILE
Keywords student-led; individualized; holistic; equity; civic education; research-
based projects
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The Education for Democratic Citizenship Program aims to foster democratic ideals among
Mexican youth at a time when democracy is weak and the population is willing to accept an
authoritarian regime in Latin America. The program targets lower-middle and lower class urban
population. The impetus for the program came from the founders' studies and research, experience
working with marginalized indigenous communities, and research that had been done at the MIT
Media Lab. In addition to developing democratic tendencies that help them identify themselves as
individuals with rights, the program attempts to foster an inclusive society that supports socially
sustainable development. The focus on democratic citizenship is combined with diverse content
areas such as language arts, civics, and economics.
Learning is oriented towards content as well as attitudes, values, and life skills. Students initiate
and lead the learning and teachers act as facilitators. The pedagogy focuses on real life problems
and attempts to incorporate the ideas of Vygotsky, Freinet, and Piaget. The school also puts into
practice what it teaches through its democratically elected student council that is responsible for
many important school decisions.
The program has followed a systematic roll out process with a design, implementation, evaluation,
adjustment, systematization, end-of-pilot, and transference phase. The training of the facilitators
as well as the experience of the participants have been evaluated periodically. The qualitative and
quantitative analyses have shown that program is well aligned to its objectives and that it is
serving its purpose.
Name of the ILE Nuevo Colegio Israelita De Monterrey, A.C.
Location/Address Monterrey, Nuevo Leon
Country Mexico
Website http://www.cimac.edu.mx
Age range 2 - 15 years
Duration of ILE
Keywords multicultural learning; pluralism; collaborative learning;
constructivist; student-contributes
The overall objective of this ILE, as a Jewish community day school, is to share its culture and
traditions with the society that it is a part. It is founded on the belief that an innovative school
demands that the outside world be brought into its educational realm in order to promote
multicultural dialogue within the community, thus allowing the school's members to live
harmoniously within it and share its array of fruits. It also aims to move away from the traditional
school model which restricts learners to pre-defined and solely academically sound parameters.
Specifically, the school aims to contribute to the successful deployment of children and
adolescents for a highly competitive world, enable students to base their characters upon human
values, namely integrity, honesty, humility, respect, and tolerance, provide children with an
atmosphere conducive to continuous education, promote and practice respect towards a diversity
of abilities, beliefs, and cultures, as well as the environment, and provide the required elements
for the formation of each student's Jewish identity based on a commitment to Israel, the Jewish
people, their traditions, and institutions.
The educational model is based on constructivist theory of learning. The work carried out in the
classroom is centered on teaching that is adaptable to the students' individual learning needs. It
promotes collaboration and teamwork. Specific projects, activities, and concepts for learning new
items are derived from the curriculum are developed and coordinated by the teachers over the
course of the year. It is common practice for students to actively participate in the planning and
evaluation of their own learning.
The teaching staff create dynamic and enjoyable learning environments, full of vitality, that
stimulate the students into developing responsibilities for their own particular style of learning.
The staff consists of 2 directors, 3 academic coordinators, 13 homeroom teachers, 5 Judaic studies
teachers, 14 specialized (phys. ed, Arts, IT, etc.) teachers, and 1 on-site psychologist. All teachers
are required to have at least a Bachelor's degree, with many having a Master's level education.
They lease with students parents, and the community in all the activities and provide a cooperative
working environment.
Evaluation is a fundamental took in the process of teaching and learning and students play a vital
role. Both summative and formative evaluation is practiced. These evaluations are used to
incorporate three major threads into the school model - National syllabus, Judaic studies
programme, and the English language thread. The tools for evaluations include oral interviews,
written appraisals, through hands-on, group wide activities in and outside the classroom, and via
student portfolios.
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NORWAY
Name of the ILE Ruseløkka school
Location/Address Oslo
Country Norway
Website http://www.ruselokka.gs.oslo.no
Age range Primary & lower secondary school years
Duration of ILE 2000 - present
Keywords hands-on technological learning; small group learning;
The school model attempts to tackle 21st century learning challenges through the provision of
state-of-the-art general education to a broad range of pupils. The backbone of the project is
developing, testing, assessing, and documenting a number of multi-subject teaching programmes.
The programmes continue for one to two weeks and are implemented once or twice a year. The
common factor for all the programs is a practical approach. Students have made simple
technological products such as a crane, and electronic warning circuit, a new and modern design
for an old lamp, etc. Parents, professionals and representatives of working life and educational
institutions are regularly invited to participate in teaching programmes.
Dual emphasis is placed on theory and practice. There is an emphasis on pupil work and follow-
up work. Practical work takes place in small teacher-led groups of 4-5 people. All teachers
participate in designing the program before it begins and evaluating it after it is completed. The
equipment and tools used are inexpensive and robust and can be used in a variety of teaching
programmes in technology and design.
The students design, and redesign products with social relevance. In this process, they are
confronted with decisions that concern resources, the environment and ethics. Students use formal
mathematics and central subject matter from natural science and arts and crafts to resolve practical
tasks. The practical approach gives students the joy of mastering and keeps them motivated.
The arts and crafts teachers in close collaboration with natural science teachers played a decisive
role in the development of the school's learning arena. The project manager at the school has an
engineering background and maintains close contacts with leading experts in technology and
education. She and two other teachers have authored a book in the field, Teknologi og designboka,
and have taught many courses across the country in the topic. The ILE has skilled arts and crafts
teachers.
There are a number of documents that cover the school's activities quite comprehensively. These
include planning documents from teacher teams, information letters to pupils and guardians, week
plans/work plans, pupil journals that contain pupil assessments of learning profits and overview
features, etc. These documents form the basis for a qualitative assessment of the project. There
has been a scientific follow-up research of the autumn semester of 2008 by the University College
of Oslo. Student performance and responses to survey indicate positive effects from the ILE.
Graduates of the program have also been observed to consider a broader range of education
choices.
Name of the ILE Breidablikk Lower Secondary School
Location/Address Sandefjord
Country Norway
Website http://www.sandefjordskolen.no/breidablikk
Age range 12 - 16
Duration of ILE 2006 - present
Keywords Student-led; Experiential learning
During the structural renovation of the school, teachers, seconded by administrators, felt the need
to introduce content and pedagogy that motivated students to acquire tools for lifelong learning
early. Students are encouraged to exploit their interests in one of three paths: FROY - traditional
Norwegian curriculum with a focus on experiential learning; FRIGG - offers students four
choices: nature, environment, and outdoor school; sports, health, and lifestyle; media and
communication; and, Music; ODIN - an elite section for alternative learning the places equal
emphasis on theory and practice.
The learning, which utilizes Microsoft's Learning Gateway for planning and organization, takes
place in groups of flexible sizes in periods lasting six weeks, within each of which a student
chooses an area of interest to focus on. The six-week period is organized through teacher-student
collaboration and the pedagogy used is inspired by Piaget, Dewey, and Vygotsky to provide
cognitive and socio-cultural learning. Following each six week period, students are assessed and
suggestions are given for improvement. Pupils have been observed to have increased self esteem
and alumni of the school have some of the lowest dropout rates in the nation at higher levels of
education.
Teachers have varied academic backgrounds from college and university. Administrators possess
domestic and foreign business organizational experiences.
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Name of the ILE Prestehia School - Age Mixture/LP Model
Location/Address Kristiansand
Country Norway
Website http://www.minskole.no/presteheia
Age range Grades 1-7
Duration of ILE at least since 2005
Keywords Mixed-age learning; student-student teaching, learning plans
The Presteheia school makes use of a mixed-age learning model and a Learning Environment and
Pedagogical Analysis (LP) model. In the mixed-age learning model, students from years 1-4 are
grouped together to participate in activities that last an hour a week for 22 weeks, and students
from years 5-7 are grouped together for 36 weeks, where three hours per week for four weeks
feature the same activities.
The former group has a choice of 11 activities - literature, games, physical exercise, construction,
ICT, Arts and crafts, textiles, woodworking, dancing/playing, food/health, and English - and the
latter group has a choice of 9 activities - technology & design, mathematics, sport, ICT, arts and
crafts, textiles and woodworking and pottery, music, outdoors school focusing on natural science,
and food and health. There is a "dialogue and socialization" section that focuses on relationship
building and reduces bullying, and a "learning pyramid" section, which is self-organized, that
gives students the opportunity to teach other pupils.
In the LP portion, the school closely follows the original model of Thomas Nordahl providing the
widest perspective possible for the students. The school has been placed above the national level
in pupil, parent, and teacher surveys and students have performed better than their peers in most
schools in the national tests.
Most teachers have general teacher education (4-5 years). 20 percent are preschool teachers with
additional training.
PORTUGAL
Name of the ILE Escola Movel
Location/Address Online
Country Portugal
Website http://escolamovel.dgidc.min-edu.pt
Age range 10 - 17 years
Duration of ILE 2005 - present.
Keywords distance learning, interdisciplinary, multiple literacies, interactive,
equity, inclusive, portfolios, individualized, student-centered
Escola Móvel is a distance learning project that was started with the goal of providing permanent
access to a virtual, national-curriculum oriented learning environment for the students from
families of showmen, and circus artists and workers, who would otherwise have to change schools
frequently. Specifically, it attempts to reduce the high dropout rate among this population, which
has resulted from the families' constantly changing environments. Today, the program has
expanded to include teenage mothers as well as students over 15 who have repeatedly failed to
complete compulsory education. The ILE has formed partnerships with public schools and
welfare institutions to expand its target population beyond the travelling families.
The project, while adhering to the Portuguese national curriculum, makes use of interdisciplinary
subject areas, and mandatory tutoring periods. Curriculum design, instruction, and assessment are
adjusted to the students' specific interests and learning needs. The program aims to create subject-
based core competencies as well as cross-curricular and interpersonal skills.
Student schedules are organized so that they interact online (on a Moodle platform) with teachers
and their peers at regular times. These interactions happen via chats and forums, which are
student-centered and provide individualized learning with continuous feedback. There are also
face-to-face meetings with teachers that happen four weeks in a year, which includes tutoring
sessions.
The program has resulted in the reduction of the dropout rate, as 91.5% of the student population
received passing marks, including positive results in national exams. An external evaluation by an
expert in e-/b-learning has also showed that having regular and undisrupted access to a learning
environment has a positive relationship with students' success and development of teaming,
collaboration, and interpersonal skills.
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The 24 subject teachers are organized into 3- or 4- person groups in each subject area. Senior
teachers make pedagogical and organizational decisions. All teachers come from public schools
and have undergone training in b-/e-learning and other innovative practices. They prepare
multimedia virtual resources and teach classes online by moderating chats/forums. Each teacher
conducts tutoring sessions with 3-5 students to build close relationships with students and their
families. In these sessions, the portfolios are organized and updated, and cognitive, social, and/or
interpersonal difficulties are identified and attempted to be rectified.
SLOVENIA
Name of the ILE Internet Classroom
Location/Address Skofja Loka
Country Slovenia
Website
Age range 8 - 15 years
Duration of ILE
Keywords e-classroom; virtual environments; cooperative learning; cross-subject
connections
The PS Skofja Loka-Mesto e-classroom (based on Moodle) offers pupils diverse activities and
actions for a more in-depth learning and opportunities to use different learning paths to
knowledge. Virtual environment, where established, enables optimisation of learning for both
gifted pupils as well as for those with learning difficulties. The use of ICT gives pupils support in
their creativity and capacity of innovation. It raises the level of motivation for all pupils. The
acquisition, consolidation, and deepening of knowledge on the internet classroom is an excellent
supplement to teaching and an excellent tool for evaluation.
The internet classroom encourages children to develop key competencies, including
communicating in mother tongue and foreign language, mathematics, science and technology,
teaching to learn, self-initiative cultural awareness, and social competencies. Pupils are directed to
search independently on the internet for information, which makes them accustomed to a safe and
critical use of ICT in their work, in their spare time, and in their communications which
contributes to the development of their critical and independent thinking.
Mutual communications and those with teachers are enabled via forums and chat rooms as well as
individual reports contribute to a deeper student-teacher relationship and positively contribute to
the social development of children. The fact that the classroom is virtual allows the students to
learn outside regular class times, whenever and wherever.
A qualitative assessment is provided through messages and feedback is immediately provided
after the final examination, which takes place online. Computer analysis of results makes it
possible for teachers to detect those areas of knowledge where pupils have difficulties and need to
be consolidated.
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More than 20 teachers are part of the project. They have expertise in a wide variety of subjects -
mathematics, physics, chemistry, music education, techniques and technology, history, English,
geography, citizen education and ethics, and computer science.
Name of the ILE Enrichment Programmes
Location/Address Domzale
Country Slovenia
Website
Age range Primary school age
Duration of ILE
Keywords Self-development, constructivist learning, motivation, use of ICT
This ILE attempts to tackle 21st century challenges and follows the realization of key
competencies for the global society, society of knowledge, and the development of individual
potentials for an active lifestyle in the community and for lifelong learning.
Enrichments programmes have been derived from the contents of the regular curriculum and they
enable the students to: choose programmes based on their interests; create their own process of
learning; researching, creating, and publically performing; acquire knowledge and exchange
experiences in heterogeneous connection among their contemporaries; recognize their own
potential and discover inner motives for learning; and develop social skills, learning strategies,
independence and working responsibility.
Evaluation at the school goes beyond the limits of regular school assessment. Regular up to date
information is gathered and provided on separate phases of learning and achievements. Teachers
and pupils assess processes with the help of different evaluation approaches - questionnaires,
scales, reports, interviews, etc., and the two groups engage in enriched pedagogical conversations.
Students' work is presented at the school level and in the wider community through presentations,
exhibitions and through promotions and via modern technical solutions, which include films,
animated films, etc.
The programmes are usually implemented as activities that are counterparts to the regular
curriculum. They include free interest activities, additional lessons, and hours of individual and
group assistance. Learning takes place in a variety of ways. Field- and research-work is conducted
in nature and diverse social interactions are created through which social skills are developed.
Active methods of learning such as observing, comparing, analyzing, using knowledge in new
situations, cooperative learning, and project work is practiced. Active multilingualism and
multicultural learning is encouraged.
At the moment there are 15 teachers involved in the enrichment programmes. They often
collaborate with outside experts - artists, researchers, scientists, etc. - when implementing the
programmes.
There is self-evaluation that is being developed. Students respond positively year after year to the
additional programmes that are added. A variety of documentary sources (reports, films, etc.),
which detail the work done so far, exists.
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SWITZERLAND-BERN
Name of the ILE Institut Beatenberg
Location/Address Beaternberg
Country Switzerland
Website http://www.institut-beatenberg.ch
Age range 12 - 17 years
Duration of ILE 1985 - present
Keywords teacher-facilitated; individualized; collaborative; mixed-age
Institut Beatenberg aims to: 1) consistently focus on the sustainable success of the individual
learner on the basis of personal preferences and social involvement; 2) provide and elaborate
system of setting as and tools that foster the learners' competence in subjects like mathematics,
foreign language, as well as methodical/metacognitive and social competencies; 3) develop a
learning culture with variable structures that is oriented towards pupils' strengths and needs; 4)
train teachers/facilitators to become "LernCoaches" (Learning Coaches). Specifically, the ILE
attempts to form self-forming competence, which includes knowledge which is applicable if
requested by situations and needs, skills that are multifaceted, methodical, and becomes part of a
strategic repertoire, and attitudes that include relating to others, self-responsibility, pleasure in
constructive handling/mastering of resistance.
The Institute has created learning environments that integrally combine individual support and
collective learning. In mixed-age and mixed-achievement learning-teams the learners work
individually and/or in groups on individual projects/intentions/enterprises and personally relevant
goals. Intensive training and subject-oriented workshops/ateliers (in small groups) provide the
opportunity to systematically construct domain specific competence, particularly in areas of
mathematics and language. There are daily arrangements called "Aktivs", which consider creative,
manual, and sportive interests. "Special Learning Days", "Service Learning", and "Units"
(projects), which takes place periodically, lay focus on certain content/domain-specific and
methodical/metacognitive aspects.
Learning takes place in a large open space and each student has a designated personal workspace
called "home base". Pupils act as pedagogues as they are expected to teach to and learn from
others.
Teachers have classical teacher education and there are people with professional experience and
background on the staff who serve as instructors. In addition, all undergo intensive internal
training to become "LernCoaches". Each coach has a group of 12 adolescents under his/her
supervision and two or three such groups form a learning team. Much collaboration is demanded
and observed between coaches.
The school is periodically evaluated by the learners. Diploma and master thesis have been
produced evaluating the learning environment. There have been many national and international
publications that have praised the model used at the Institute. The school has also been using the
"2Q" quality control and development system.
Name of the ILE Primarschule Lindenfeld
Location/Address Burgdorf
Country Switzerland
Website http://www.lindenfeld.kibs.ch/schulentwiklung.html
Age range 5 - 12 years
Duration of ILE 2006 - present
Keywords mixed-age learning; cooperative; individualized; socio-emotional
Primarschule Lindenfeld aims to create a learning environment which is based around mixed-age
learning as a pedagogical principle. It aims to create a cooperative/collegial developmental arena
for pupils. In trying to make the most use of mixed-age learning, it uses the heterogeneity of the
children for their learning, starting from their individual levels of learning. It views individuality
as an enrichment for the community. Subject-matter, social, and self competence are given equal
importance.
The learning primarily occurs in class communities. Instruction is organized in the plenum, in
differently composed groups, in partner work and in individual work. Subject specific lessons are
variably endowed for different grades giving the school and opportunity to work individually with
each grade group, allowing quicker detection of the learning status and the assistance needs, and
enables fostering of small groups. Age-group-spanning forms are used to introduce themes and
common activities, and deepening of content occurs in mixed-age groups or performance-
homogeneous learning groups. Students have daily as well as weekly schedules ("schedules
work"), which are composed tasks they choose and elect to work at their own pace.
In both schedules work and project work teachers act as learning companions (counselors). The
teaching team is composed of young professionals and experienced staff. Some of them have
further training in various areas. There are remedial teachers who support the regular teaching
staff. The school is headed by Anna Müller, primary school teacher, graduate teacher for adult
education, and graduate headmaster.
Despite the use of mixed-age groups, pupil evaluations are conducted by age. Students' progress is
tracked all year long and parents are notified of assessments results 4 times a year.
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The University of Teacher Education in Bern has launched a project analyzing and documenting
the mixed age-teaching at the school. Currently, it is also conducting an evaluation of the school.
Name of the ILE REOSCH, Ressoourcenorientierte Schule
Location/Address Bern
Country Switzerland
Website http://www.resosch.ch
Age range Grades 7 - 11
Duration of ILE 1997 - present
Keywords individual/independent learning; emotional learning;
REOSCH attempts to instill domain- and subject-specific knowledge by fostering
attentiveness/mindfulness, personal learning techniques, and consciousness of resources. It is the
school's belief these are essential preconditions for lifelong learning. Mental training and martial
arts are used as means for reaching these goals. More specifically, REOSCH aims to enable
students to: plan and analyze tasks independently, under their own initiative; overcome resistance;
develop the ability to concentrate, resist stress, and cope with pressure; self-motivate; acquire
flexibility, patience, sense of responsibility, and competency in relationships and ability to deal
with conflicts.
The school's pedagogy is based on the official curriculum for public schools. Each student
develops a weekly schedule on his/her own and organized tasks that would be completed in a
given week. At the beginning of each day, the teacher declares which of the content can be trained
orally and when the teaching will be interrupted by mental trainings or exercises in martial arts
(Kung-Fu, Aikido), allowing the students to plan their time. Before the end of each day, the
students reflect on their day in the "energy diary". The cognitive learning aims are assessed in a
report; however, it is only used to track the progress of individual students - there is no
comparison with the peer group. The emotional learning, as observed by the teachers, is reported
in a diploma. Once a week each student has a confidential coaching conversation with the
facilitator.
All teachers have a diploma or a certificate. Additionally, teachers undergo "Intervision" (peer
consulting) every Friday afternoon. The learning aims of the students apply to teachers as well
and they receive undergo regular exercises in meditation. There have been no studies/analyses
conducted about the ILE so far.
Name of the ILE Gesamtschule Lindetal
Location/Address Boll
Country Switzerland
Website
Age range 6-15 years
Duration of ILE
Keywords individualized progression through grades; autonomous; problem-
solving
Gesamtschule Lindental is a "comprehensive school" that includes grades 1 to 9 in a single
classroom (the school only has 19 students). The mixing of ages is intended to mimic everyday
life. Such grouping results in a healthy and natural mixture in a community aiming for discovering
new topics and for keeping the joy of learning alive. Each child is perceived and fostered in
his/her developmental process. There is no grade retention and each child passes through the nine
years of school at a pace that corresponds to his/her cognitive and intellectual development. Such
an approach ensures that low achieving students are not confronted with their weaknesses again
and again, but find ways and solutions on their own leading to increased self-confidence. This
also means that gifted students encounter additional material corresponding to their interests and
abilities. Furthermore, since students are seldom over/under challenged, there are nearly no
disciplinary problems in class.
The fact that children take over changing roles in a structure constant over many years leads to a
naturalistic and socially stable situation which enables creative and individual forms of learning.
In his/her social and emotional development each child passes through the nine school years in a
natural role distribution like among siblings.
The learning is organized so that each quarter is dedicated to a theme. The themes alternatively
focus on scientific, social, historical, and environmental topics. The lower grades approach the
themes quite emotionally, the middle grades systematically, and the upper grades theoretically.
Students are free to use learning materials, instruments, sport equipment, and more after lessons in
developing the theme. The regular school timetable is not organized by subject but by student
preference for learning. The learning content is not presented by lessons, but treated by each
student individually in his/her time needed for the work (week plan work).
Grades are seldom used. At the end of each task or a project feedback and recognition of work is
given. The grades in the school report correspond to the abilities expected at the developmental
state of a certain age.
The school/class is maintained by persons with combined 150% full time equivalents. For half of
the lessons per week, two teachers are present. During this time there is much cooperation
between the teachers. The headmaster works 100% of the time and lives in the school building.
Three lessons in textile handicraft are given by a specialized teacher.
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SWITZERLAND-TICINO
Name of the ILE Chiamale Emozioni
Location/Address Locarno
Country Switzerland
Website
Age range 4 - 9 years
Duration of ILE 2007 - present
Keywords socio-emotional learning; collaborative;
Chiamale Emozioni attempts to promote life skills and socio-emotional competencies by
supporting cognitive and emotional maturation in children. The school model is based on the
"Life Skills education is school" guidelines published by the WHO/OMS in 1993. The school also
gives strong consideration to CASEL's (Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional
Learning) social and emotional developments standards, as there is growing evidence that
improve such competencies can have a positive outcomes in education.
Critical thinking and active involvement are primary characteristics of this ILE. Children are
given different ways to show personal learning, such as paintings, role playing, oral
communication, and handcraft. Formative feedback is provided through discussions with children
and analysis of life experiences.
The learning is organized such that project assistants work once every week for one hour in every
class involved. Teachers enforce activities and educational messages during the week. They have
weekly meetings and other occasions where they organize opportunities of learning. Project
assistants act as teachers and the pedagogical relationship between the teachers and students is
very traditional. The school structures its own curriculum based on techniques developed at ASP,
the only college of teacher education in the area. Furthermore, the school takes advantage of Mark
Greenberg's PATHS (Promoting Alternative Thinking Strategies) curriculum and several
scientific publications on English and Italian language.
The teaching staff consists of two coordinators, who act as leaders of the group, three assistants,
and twelve kindergarten and elementary school teachers. The coordinators have advanced degrees
in education, and experiences in the social field in different countries. The assistants and teachers
have bachelors degrees and a few also have further qualifications. The organization is kept "light"
to ensure that the model is easily replicable.
Teacher self-reports and questionnaires are used to assess the impact of the intervention. From
these it is clear that the program has improved children's ability to name and recognize emotions,
reflecting skills, and increased the ability to think before they act. The effect of these
improvements on academic achievement has not been assessed yet.
Name of the ILE Obiettivo: comprensione
Location/Address Bellinzona
Country Switzerland
Website http://www.ti.ch/decs/ds/usr/default.asp
Age range 15 - 19 years
Duration of ILE
Keywords social learning; critical reasoning abilities; collaborative
The aim of this ILE is to lead an extended number of students of some Swiss vocational schools to
develop forms of authentic understanding, interacting with their teachers in a framework inspired
to the methodology "Understanding by design (UBD)" by Wiggins and McTighe. The process
takes place in a collaborative environment and is based on a systemic view where a School
Improvement Advisor-researcher (SIA) helps and gives advice to the school and to its teachers in
a non-invasive, but scientifically sound way.
The program is founded on the belief that in a fast changing environment, where access to
information and communication skills are of primary importance, the ability to reason correctly
and to interact with others is essential. Socialization and interpersonal relations are of great
importance at the school and cooperative and collaborative learning is practiced at the school.
The learning is organized on the basis of "backward planning", where the foreseen understandings
are stated in the first instance, followed by the determination of the acceptable evidence, and at
the end, by the real planning of the learning experiences. Each unit starts with a presentation to
the students; then their motivation is aroused through interesting and stimulating questions to be
debated; thereafter the students will be equipped and scaffold in order to conduct a rigorous
enquiry on the theme; these stages are followed by a deep reflections and the process ends with
the "product". Formative evaluation, where possible, is conducted with the help of rubrics. Of
particular importance is the authentic performance, a kind of concrete situation that ends the cycle
of lessons.
The teachers participating in the project are working in the Swiss vocational school domain,
mainly teaching cultural subjects. There is a plan in the works to include vocational and technical
subject teachers. The SIA, a new kind of figure in the school domain, who brings together the
roles of consultant, critical friend, and academic researcher, is present on a part-time basis at the
individual schools with which he/she cooperates.
There are a variety of assessments - authentic performance for whole understandings; convincing
explanations for individual understandings; use of a checklist for formal knowledge; and
realization of a task for skills.
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The first results from the experience, on the basis of data stemming from a questionnaire assessing
teaching by the students were positive. There are plans to conduct interviews and other
evaluations.
Name of the ILE Differenziare per un apprendimento migliore per tutti
Location/Address Stabio, Ticino
Country Switzerland
Website http://www.scuoladic.ti.ch/riforma3/pratiche-
pedagogiche/implementrazione07-08/index.htm
Age range 11 - 14 years
Duration of ILE since 1970s
Keywords Teacher-teacher collaboration; socio-cognitive; organizational
This ILE makes use of pedagogical differentiation by capitalizing on the experiences of a few
teachers who possessed the experiential knowledge. It was implemented in heterogeneous groups.
Pupils, through differentiation (non-structural), are expected to learn better all the curricular aims
in the disciplines they are taught. The new curriculum includes academic knowledge, attitudes,
and social skills. Teachers often collaborate with one another and build consensus on general
goals that should be taught.
The learning organization is very flexible. Teaching activities include group-merging, co-
teaching, project days, and activity displays during presentations to other learners, teachers, and
parents. Through formative assessment strategies, the teaching is fine-tuned to closely follow how
the pupil's learning evolves. The learning progress is thus clearly visible, which allows teachers to
collaborate in setting up targeted activities together with SEN teachers when dealing with children
facing greater challenges in their learning and adjustment to class/school.
The learning environments include classrooms, laboratories, open and free spaces, and virtual
learning environments. Interactive and peer learning is used, besides materials and strategies that
are geared more towards the individual.
Teachers in the project volunteered their services based on a desire to change, having realized the
ineffectiveness of traditional methods ignoring the differences in their classes. They noticed that
the traditional systems were nurturing in students feelings of intolerance, apathy and in some
cases violence. The teachers did not undergo any specific training on pedagogical differentiation.
Most of their personal and professional development took place via on the job training. It includes
theoretical inputs, preparation of teaching activities, classroom visits by coordinator, formative
interviews, and shared moments of reflection and discussion of the experiences carried out.
There have not yet been any systemic evaluations. The "experimental" classes have not scored
significantly better or worse than the other schools. However, students have been noticed to have
improved motivation, better self-assessment skills, and competence development related to
responsibility taking for learning at school. These experiences counteract the negative effects of
disillusionment and stigmatization that often accompany structural differentiation.