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In this article, we address one of the most critical challenges facing the schools today: designing of learning environments that can provide learning opportunities for all students. The article first provides a brief introduction to content of this challenge. Then we focus on theoretical tools to understand the learning environment. Based on the concepts of classification and framing, as found in the later work of Basil Bernstein, we view that learning is fundamentally linked to the social and the cultural context of the school. To scales are presented for understanding and analysing the learning environment: the praxis scale and the student positioning scale. The scales are tools for analysing three different learning environments in upper secondary schools in Denmark, Switzerland and the USA. The article provides theoretical and empirical explanations of how the design of the learning environment is connected to the challenges and opportunities faced by different kinds of students. Based on these analyses, a model of four ideal types of learning environment will be presented. It is concluded that the specific design of the learning environment always comes down to the conscious, reflected and common sharing of the teaching responsibilities as the crucial factor in the development of learning opportunities for all students, regardless of the intention of the teaching and the desired learning outcome.

This article explores the concept of Inquiry-Based Education (IBE) at the classroom level in secondary schools. We use case studies to describe and analyze two different learning environments, and give both a theoretical approach and an empirical approach to understanding students’ learning opportunities. In the article IBE is perceived as an academic way of thinking and learning, and not just a pedagogical method. Taking this broad understanding, we use the concept of IBE as an educational approach and a theoretical framework. The article points to how different educational aims bring about different teacher-student relations, and offer students different kinds of learning possibilities and positions. It is further shown how different learning environments can facilitate democratic praxis and experience, and be understood as creating inclusivity. The argument in this article is that central elements of IBE can contribute to more equality in education, by creating inclusive learning environments that take into account various levels of the students’ learning processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, we address one of the most critical challenges facing the schools today: designing of learning environments that can provide learning opportunities for all students. The article first provides a brief introduction to content of this challenge. Then we focus on theoretical tools to understand the learning environment. Based on the concepts of classification and framing, as found in the later work of Basil Bernstein, we view that learning is fundamentally linked to the social and the cultural context of the school. To scales are presented for understanding and analysing the learning environment: the praxis scale and the student positioning scale. The scales are tools for analysing three different learning environments in upper secondary schools in Denmark, Switzerland and the USA. The article provides theoretical and empirical explanations of how the design of the learning environment is connected to the challenges and opportunities faced by different kinds of students. Based on these analyses, a model of four ideal types of learning environment will be presented. It is concluded that the specific design of the learning environment always comes down to the conscious, reflected and common sharing of the teaching responsibilities as the crucial factor in the development of learning opportunities for all students, regardless of the intention of the teaching and the desired learning outcome. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]