INDIRE, the Italian Ministry of Education National Institute for Documentation, Innovation and Educational Research has published a special edition on Innovative Learning Environments – on rethinking school spaces between pedagogy, architecture, and design. Hayball Principal, Fiona Young has co-written a paper with Meredith Ash (Former Director Public Schools NSW) and Stephanie McConnell, Principal of Lindfield Learning Village (LLV), about the making and enabling of LLV school. The paper discusses the process of creating the school’s vision and educational model, and key steps in implementing a process of pedagogical transformation to enable the school as it is today.
It takes a Village to Educate a Child: LLV’s Evolving Story of Building Innovation in a Context of Constraint
Authors: Dr Fiona Young (Hayball), Meredith Ash (Former Director Public Schools NSW) and Stephanie McConnell (Principal of Lindfield Learning Village)
Abstract: Lindfield Learning Village in Sydney, Australia, is an innovative K-12 public school challenging traditional educational approaches and demonstrating excellence in practice and outcomes. Its unique educational model, based on stage-not-age, student-centred and authentic real-world transdisciplinary learning has attracted widespread interest with waitlists of up to 2500 students. Characterised by its innovative learning environments and diverse suite of shared spaces, the school is configured as a cross-stage hub model to optimise opportunities for all students and staff to develop meaningful relationships in smaller cohorts as-well-as enable stage-based learning. Since opening in 2019, the school has continually piloted and evolved its pedagogical practices and learning spaces. This paper discusses the process of creating the school’s vision and educational model, and key steps in implementing a process of pedagogical transformation to enable the school as it is today.