“If the school community is an ecosystem, the learning environment is the key part to check its health. “
The International Baccalaureate’s (IB) Programme standards and practices define two types of environments.
School environments indirectly support learning. School environments include physical and virtual facilities, human and fiscal resources, and the organizational structure and operations of the school.
Learning environments directly support learning. Learning environments should include safe spaces that foster well-being and intellectual development, thoughtful learning support, and a school environment that supports the learning that takes place.
If the school community is an ecosystem, the learning environment is the key part to check its health. The learner, the learning environment, and the school environment are interdependent, but the learning environment is the most obvious expression of how the school environment is utilized and transformed to facilitate learning and teaching.
As learning is at the heart of every school in the wider IB ecosystem, learning environments are expected to be considered first in strategic planning and resourcing.
Learning environments consist of:
people, that is learners and teachers
spaces, both physical and digital
resources, that is the content, supplies, and infrastructure needed to keep the environment healthy
policies, that is the rules and agreements of the school community that support learning and teaching
