Christchurch's first post-quake merger school, Waitakiri Primary. A ministry-funded study says the lack of research into ILEs means it has been difficult to justify their use to date.

A new Government-sponsored study into innovative learning environments says it has been "difficult to justify" their use to date.

The research from Melbourne University, sponsored by the Ministry of Education, found a stronger correlation between "positive teacher mind frames" and better student learning in open plan classrooms than traditional ones, though its lead author cautioned it was hard to draw clear causal links in a "deeply complicated" area like education.

Chris Bradbeer said the study, the first publication from a four-year project that started in August last year, was designed to challenge assumptions that innovative learning environments (ILEs) – also called modern or flexible learning environments in their less radical forms – would change the way teachers teach and students learn.

SIMON DEVITT/STUFF Looking into the reception building of Hobsonville Point Primary School, one of the first ILE schools built by the Ministry of Education.

Ministry head of infrastructure Kim Shannon said it was "the first study of its scale", surveying 6000 schools, including all 2529 schools in New Zealand.

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Workshops with Auckland and Christchurch teachers indicated "participants' beliefs seemed to be aligned with their practices": Those who worked in traditional single-cell classrooms tended to employ more stand-and-deliver style tactics.

DAVID WALKER/STUFF Christchurch's Haeata Community Campus was one of four schools with innovative learning environments built under a $298m contract.

However, many schools predominantly used collaborative, or "team teaching", methods regardless of the style of their classrooms, prompting the observation that "the type of space does not really matter in terms of promoting desirable 21st Century learning habits".

ILEs were also "far from being the dominant alternative" to single-cell classrooms, the study noted, with two-thirds of learning taking place in traditional settings.

Shannon said many schools were moving towards ILEs as "a stronger emphasis is now being placed on how we design learning spaces to motivate students to engage and learn".

JOHN KIRK-ANDERSON/STUFF Sophie McIntosh, left, Isabelle Clyne, Samuel Burgess, Jak Sawley, Scarlett Austin, and Caitlin Moore, in the Orongomai block at Halswell School. The school's build cost $23m.

She rejected the suggestion the ministry had invested in ILEs without evidence of their impact on teaching and learning, and said a "good evidence base on what constitutes good quality teaching" underpinning the New Zealand curriculum "should be reflected in the practice within ILEs".

The ministry requires new school buildings to have good acoustics, heating, ventilation and lighting, and non load-bearing internal walls to ensure future flexibility but other property modifications are determined by individual schools' boards of trustees.

Because of this, Shannon said the ministry was not able to quantify how much had been spent on ILEs. However, ministry figures show it has spent $747.7 million on contracts to build, and in some cases maintain, 19 new ILE schools since 2013.

The study's conclusion that "while significant investments are being made to deliver alternative learning spaces such as ILEs, the evidence has been absent to support the assumption that such spaces are better suited to accommodate the learning needs of 21st Century learners" paralleled a report released by the Post-Primary Teachers' Association (PPTA) earlier this month that expressed concern there was not enough research into how ILEs affected students' learning.

PPTA president Jack Boyle said teachers understood "how important it is to use evidence to inform change", and plans to build ILEs felt like "change for its own sake".

"What is also absent from this early research is the voice and experience of our Māori and Pasifika young people as well as those with learning differences.

IAIN MCGREGOR/STUFF The rebuild of Lyttelton Primary School as an innovative learning environment cost $14.9m.

"It's good that the ministry is doing this research, but this paper seems to be missing a lot, and as a result it's not going to allay the fears of sceptics."

Bradbeer said it was too early in the project to start drawing strong links between ILEs and quality learning. Though this first paper was "limited to reporting on [emerging] trends", it was "a significant advancement of existing knowledge" about the relationship between teachers, students and ILEs.

He said the study found "a pattern that suggests, based on the perceptions of principals", that teachers in flexible spaces were more likely to rise to challenges, want to model different ways of learning, and believe it was their role to develop positive relationships.

RICKY WILSON/STUFF A classroom at Whitney Street School in Blenheim. Many schools are funding modern learning environments with their general property allowance.

"If you have got teachers that have got these mind frames around teaching and learning they are going to be better positioned to deepen student outcomes."