Keynote Lecture 3: Aspirations for new learning spaces: Making the 'complex' possible

In a post-industrial world, how can we develop new learning spaces to meet the educational objectives and practices to which we aspire? How might concepts associated with ‘complexity’, ‘emergence’ and ‘self-organisation’ aid our interpretations of 'learning environments' that are concurrently physical, social and cultural? Employing theoretical frameworks derived from the literature on ‘complexity theory’ and ‘complex adaptive systems theory’, this keynote will explore the influences of new socio-spatial contexts for learning (i.e. innovative learning environments) on the participation of students and teachers in pedagogical activities. It will be argued that school learning environments, schools and school systems should be considered as ‘complex adaptive systems’: educational settings that can ‘learn’ in response to positive feedback loops, supporting dynamic socio-pedagogical cultures of practice that are aligned with the types of learning theories that are currently driving school change.