Non-traditional open-plan schools and classrooms are currently enjoying a resurgence in Australia, with proponents arguing for the necessity of educational spaces that more readily accommodate the needs of 21 st century learners. However, these learning environments can pose considerable pedagogic challenges for teachers who must balance the ethos of spaces designed to facilitate autonomous and flexible student learning, while simultaneously managing the complexities of shared space and resources, decreased staff-student ratios, and highly variable student responses to learning in open-plan settings. This paper draws on observational and interview data from an Australian study of three primary schools operating in open-plan spaces. Informed by cultural theories of spatial practice, we argue that the ways in which teachers conceptualise and operationalize notions of 'structure' is pivotal to the responsiveness of pedagogic approaches within openplan spaces.

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We identify four principles that can promote the prospects of health outcomes for desert Aboriginal people from livelihoods engaged with land management. The principles were derived inductively using a grounded theory approach, drawing on primary research that used qualitative and participatory methods, and from relevant literature and theoretical frameworks. International and Australian literature offers evidence that supports desert Aboriginal people’s view that their health depends on their relationship with their land. Engagement with land management can lead desert Aboriginal people to feel that their own actions are consistent with their own sense of the right and proper way for them to behave towards land, family and community. This increased ‘sense of control’ impacts positively on health by moderating the impact of sustained stress from health risk factors in the environment and lifestyle. The four principles focus on underlying characteristics of Aboriginal land management that are important to promoting this increased ‘sense of control’: (1) Aboriginal land management governance recognises and respects Aboriginal custom and tradition, and is adaptive; (2) learning is embraced as a life-long process; (3) relationships are recognised as very important; and (4) partnerships give priority to doing things that all parties agree are important. These principles are presented as hypotheses that warrant further development and testing. While they do not account specifically for the impact of lifestyle and environmental factors on health, we expect that the increased sense of control that desert Aboriginal people are likely to develop when involved in Aboriginal land management that applies these principles will moderate the impact of such factors on their health. The principles offer a starting point for further development of criteria and standards for good practice in Aboriginal land management, potentially including an environmental certification scheme that integrates social and environmental outcomes.

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In response to the demands of the '21st century learner' classroom environments are increasingly moving away from traditional models of a single-teacher isolated in their classroom. There is an advent of 'nontraditional' environments that challenge long-held practices in teaching. To support these changes there is a pressing need to create opportunities for professional learning. This paper reports on a study undertaken within three primary schools that had recently adopted 'non-traditional' classroom environments. The study aimed to identify how these new spaces were shaping teaching practices and the challenges that they presented for professional learning. This paper presents findings from this study with recommendations for how systems and schools can better manage the opportunities presented by these 'non-traditional' environments.

Purpose -The purpose of this paper is to provide a case study of a newcomer to the practice of policing to explore conceptualisations of learning through practice. It aims to position learning as the intersections of trajectories of being and becoming within a community of practice. The paper seeks to argue that learners need to be understood with respect to their personal histories and how these interact with the social and cultural dimensions of the workplace. Design/methodology/approach -This paper is a case study of a new police officer with data collected through a series of interviews and observations over a two-year period. Findings -The case study presented demonstrates the relationship between prior experience, personal histories, participation and a sense of belonging in shaping the learning of early-career police officers. It suggests that in considering newcomers to the workplace it is important to view the process of learning as being influence by these interconnected factors. Research limitations/implications -This study concludes that the position of the individual in the social learning of a community of practice is an important aspect that needs further exploration. Although the significance of learner identity with communities of practice is acknowledged by Lave and Wenger it remains underdeveloped, and continues to present as an area for further research. Practical implications -Trajectories of learning for newcomers to the workplace are affected by their previous social and cultural experiences and expertise, the association that they bring from these to the new community and participation in practices of the community. There exists, therefore, a role for managers in shaping the organisation to be supportive of these informal learning experience and, thus, the selection and training of managers should be aligned to these goals. Originality/value -This paper extends current understandings of learning and development in the policing context as well as contributing to the broader discussion of informal learning in the workplace and understanding of experts and novices within communities of practice.

The discourse of the non-traditional classroom has found itself fundamentally intertwined with the rationalities of creating learning relevant for the future-orientated twenty-first century. In such an imaginary the idea of the conventional classroom -with its four walls, blackboard, 'closed' door, teacher-centred pedagogy and student learning conceptualised through the logics of the industrial erais being renegotiated. This article focuses on an empirical examination of some of the changes to student classroom practice enabled by the material conditions of non-traditional learning spaces. In particular, it highlights the ways in which non-traditional learning spaces have become complex settings through which students negotiate increased learner autonomy, co-operative learning, acceptable classroom behaviour and fluid relations with teachers and peers. The article presents a discussion of the discourse of 'twenty-first-century learning' and focuses on non-traditional classrooms as an example of a localised expression of this discourse, supported by ethnographic data generated from field visits to three primary schools in Sydney, Australia to explore student practices enabled by such spaces. Non-traditional Classroom SpacesThe discourse of the non-traditional classroom has found itself fundamentally intertwined with the rationalities of creating learning relevant for the future-orientated twenty-first century. In such an imaginary the idea of the conventional classroom -with its four walls, blackboard, 'closed' door, teacher-centred pedagogy and student learning conceptualised through the logics of the industrial era -is being radically renegotiated. For example, a recent Australian state government initiative, 'Smart Classrooms', which funds the integration of information and communications technologies (ICT) into state schools, bases its policy directives on 'the demand for seamless movement between school, work, home and play' and a strategic need for education to serve as 'the launch pad for shifting from traditional to transformational ways of working and learning' (State of Queensland, Department of Education, Training and Employment, n.d., p. 2). This discourse of twenty-firstcentury learning, focused on global economic competitiveness and education as an ongoing economic resource, is reflected in a number of policy documents, including the Melbourne