Nieuwe Leren Wos3

onderzoeksvragen which choices do teachers make with regard to the arrangement of learning environments in general? which choices do teachers make with regard to the arrangement of learning environments in order to stimulate new learning in particular?

while category (a) teacher steers learning process�learner executes learning process is more typical of traditional learning environments, the finding that teachers also connect this category to new learning environments can be understood as it is very difficult to change the traditional role patterns which are so deeply rooted in the school culture. >>>> moeite om het traditioneel rollenpatroon te doorbreken. teachers have very little experience with the expected new division of roles, which may lead to a preoccupation with the possibility of students misusing their freedom to organize the learning process as they see fit. for this reason, teachers may often fall back into the role of directing learners� learning even after the introduction of the study house reform. in addition, teachers may have little or no time to reflect upon their instructional practices and simply think that their behaviour is largely in line with the ideas behind new learning. >>>> leraren zijn zich niet altijd bewust dat ze vervallen in ouderollenpatronen. category (a) knowledge of learning content was partly connected to new learning environments and partly connected to traditional learning environments, which again reflects a variation observed across and within teachers. although it is often stressed within the context of the study house reform that the aim of education is to move from pure knowledge acquisition to the development of the cognitive, affective and metacognitive skills needed to continuously learn, the interview data show the teachers to still connect content acquisition to new learning environments. one possible explanation for this finding may be that education always concerns some particular subjects, themes and content. another explanation may lie in the fact that teachers still consider content to be important but approach its acquisition in a much more flexible manner within the context of the study house reform. knowledge acquisition remains important, but students can approach it much more in terms of their own individual interests and preferences than in terms of predefined themes. >>>> het nieuwe leren focust op het leerproces, terwijl het traditionele leren haar focus legt op het leerproduct (nl kennis). leraren zijn zich soms/vaak onvoldoende bewust hiervan en vervallen aldus in een gerichtheid op kennisverwerving. the interviews also showed teachers to only talk about the products of learning and not the process of learning as a goal of learning. that is, the distinction between cognitive and affective learning skills, on the one hand, and cognitive, affective and metacognitive learning functions, on the other hand (see fig. 1), was not found in the interview data. the execution of learning

functions is typical of new learning environments. but it may be possible that the teachers studied here are still preoccupied with the realization of more traditional goals even after the introduction of the study house reform. this conclusion is in line with the arguments of land and hannafin (2000) who found the learning goals pursued by teachers to not be as constructivist as the distribution of teacher and learner roles they adopt. similarly, van velzen (2002) concludes that teachers� attention to the learning process is very low for vocational education. teachers� behaviour appears to be first and foremost aimed at the content of student learning, which is in line with the findings of a recent study of teachers� conceptions of �learning to learn� by waeytens et al. (2002). >>>> idem in the words of simons (2000), the process of learning involves the execution of such learning functions as the finding of prior knowledge, maintenance of motivation and diagnosis of the causes of failure and/or problems. these are processes, not directly observable and spread out over a longer period of time. teachers could be more concentrated on the organization of their lessons around specific learning products (e.g. with regard to exit qualifications), the roles they play in that organization and the learning materials to be included. >>>> idem furthermore, it has to be stressed that the interview data give rise to the idea that teachers are not aware of or do not consider cooperative learner roles as really importantfor the arrangement of learning environments (this category is mentioned in only four utterances from two teachers). more generally, the teachers� practical knowledge only rarely addressed the aspect of the learning environment concerned with learner roles towards each other (7% in general). the results of the present study provide insight into the arrangement of secondary school learning environments to promote new learning. clear discrepancies between, on the one hand, design choices that should be made from new learning theory, and on the other hand, design choices teachers actually make with regard to such were encountered. therefore, more support should be recommended for teachers transforming education in the direction of new learning. obviously, greater congruence between theory and practice seems to be important, and the results of the present interview study show that greater congruence can be reached.

voor advies: change efforts should sufficiently fit the concrete choices of teachers with regard to the arrangement of learning environments: foremost choices about the learning goals, the distribution of teacher and learner roles and the learning materials. the qualitative data of this study give information about the particular �words� teachers use in this respect (see waeytens et al., 2002). change efforts should also take the diversity of teacher conceptions with regard to just what constitutes a new learning environment more into consideration.and finally, change efforts should focus on the knowledge and beliefs that teachers need to

acquire for arranging learning environments that stimulate new learning. the results of the present interview study showed, at least, two aspects of the learning environment to be of particular importance: increased knowledge of the learning process as a learning goal and greater attention to cooperative learner roles.