Many New Zealand schools reflect a British colonial heritage, and classroom design favours an ‘industrial style model’ of teaching, with students as passive receivers of information transmitted by the teacher. Schools and schooling systems in the 21st century are, however, under pressure to ensure that children and school-leavers acquire appropriate life-long skills. Teachers and school leaders are therefore required to approach their work in radically new ways, especially as new ‘modern learning environments’ (MLE) become the default option for the building of new schools and educational facilities. This paper reports on one inquiry within a larger, on-going qualitative study into the concept of 21st-century learning and its influence on a selection of New Zealand schools. The research establishes the nature and characteristics of transition in the practices of two Auckland primary schools. One is a recently-established school built by modern learning environment (MLE) design, the other, approximately five years old, was built initially as a traditional single-cell school, but has since extended its building by adding MLE spaces. ‘Transition’ is analysed from the macro to the micro perspective. At the macro level, the historical shift from colonial and industrial model schools to modern, purpose-built schools means certain transitions have to be anticipated, planned for and executed at a strategic and organisational level. At the meso level, teachers, students and the community must prepare to transition from traditional schools into MLE or schools that blend traditional and MLE. At the micro level, the research will reflect on transitions made in the context of teaching and learning in a MLE space. Drawing on Lefebvre’s notion of built space as social space, this research develops a critical understanding of the strategic practices of schools, school leaders, and communities, teacher pedagogical practices, and the activities of students in MLE spaces, in the context of 21st-century learning.

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