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