2017: Open Plan Classrooms

July 17, 2025

By AHNZ

In the race for the 2017 General Election the Labour Party promised what they called ‘modern open-plan learning environments.’ Party Leader Andrew Little was just days away from being rolled by Jacinda Ardern and the party won, becoming Labour 6.0 in coalition with New Zealand First.

Chris Hipkins, now as Education Minister, proceeded to replace more individuated school classrooms with the barn-like structures of the open plan. And, at great expense.

National 5.0 Minister of Education, Hekia Parata, had also advocated for the ‘Open Plan’ or ‘Modern Learning Environment’. This is in line with her larger aspiration to Collectivise our schools into larger units. Collectivist societies such as the Soviet Union (kolkhoz) and Maoist China (People’s Communes) did the same thing- amalgamating many farms or schools or kitchens etc. into a single homogenised unit. As Star Trek put it: “We are the Borg. Existence, as you know it, is over. We will add your biological and technological distinctiveness to our own. Resistance is futile.” Ref. 2015: Kāhui Ako: A Cluster Schmuck, AHNZ

This era is now over, for now, as National 6.0 reverses the policy. Again, at great expense. However, you can be fairly sure that architectural consultants and builders who align with one or the other political party are happy with their work and pay!

“Mount Maunganui Primary School (Mount Primary) has turned several spaces into modern open-plan learning environments.” – Modern classrooms in all schools by 2030: Labour’s election pledge, NZ Herald (2017)

“The Government has drawn a line under open-plan classrooms, with Education Minister Erica Stanford declaring they “aren’t meeting the needs of students” and often create challenges for schools.” – Government scraps open-plan classrooms, Stuff (2025)

“So too are the efforts to break up individual classrooms into Open-Plan Classrooms. The basic theme, as always, is to break down individual institutions and distinctiveness into homogenised (r-selected) mush.” – Cluster Schmuck, AHNZ

““Who is your teacher?”.  Far from being an easy question, the boy was visibly confused and unsure how to answer. The reality is he didn’t know who his teacher was, as he came from an environment at his primary school where there were several teachers in the room.” – Kings School (2018)

“Rangiora High School finished the process of changing an open plan building, built in 2018, to single-cell classes. Rangiora High School principal Bruce Kearney said the feedback has been amazing. “The results have been a huge shift in engagement, in attendance, in achievement. It is not what I was expecting. I was expecting a small shift, but its gone through the roof, its made a massive difference in everything in the school.”” – Shirley Boys High school brings back traditional single-cell rooms, RNZ (2025)

““I don’t know if things went wrong [with modern learning environments per se], they just weren’t fit for purpose,” he said…Rangiora High School is spending $1.5 million to convert the classrooms back to “single cell” rooms with walls in between them.” – Rangiora High School ditches modern learning environment: Principal Bruce Kearney says open classroom not fit for purpose, NZ Herald (2023)

“Our schools have also been transformed to lower quality education facilities by such means as open plan classrooms in place of single units. These are excellent growing conditions for r-selected children to thrive while utterly toxic to K-children.” – The r/K Selection Model, AHNZ

“…you hear that talk of “You’re a self governing school so you can do whatever you want.” But you can’t do what you want because you can’t afford to spend 800,000 dollars to reinstate the single cell environment. So, you know, some schools have been sold down the river with that property approach that’s now changed.” – John [school teacher and principle (retired?,)] Newstalk ZB (2025)

A Collectivist mindset tries to change our environment to be toxic to individuals and therapeutic to Group Think. Likewise, Individualists try to make all learning environments into the sort they can flourish in at the expense of kids who prefer running with the hurd. This is normal and functional in a hybrid society like ours made up of r and K-selected members of society. What Anarchists could wish for is that this dynamic back-and-forth would play out in the Free Market of ideas rather than be imposed by The State dictating from above.

Our society needs to organically find its level between socialising young people into, say, extroverts and introverts. Or, group-thinkers or individualists. This should not be commanded by the dictates of a Minister in Wellington for the entire country. He, with a huge budget to fund or defund and even policemen to ultimately enforce what kind of learning is permitted or obstructed.

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Image ref Mark Mitchell, NZ Herald (2017)

Ref. Modern Learning Environments have exit doors after all, NZ Initiative (2023)

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