Boundaryless practice? In search of space/s in higher education.

This work explores the significance of spaces for learning. Focussing on the higher education context, spatial theory and cultural historical activity theory (CHAT) are employed to address the following research questions: 1. What is the significance of space to professional identity and career development? 2. How can engagement in atypical learning spaces inform the relevance of spatial theory in education and professional development? 3. How can creative methods support researchers to understand the significance of space and materiality in learning? The collected works in this appraisal employ qualitative and mixed methodologies to explore participants’ perceptions of their experience in the context of the spaces they occupy. Recognising that the impact of space is often obscured or ignored by users, creative methodologies are applied in several of the submitted works to bring space and materiality to the forefront. The theories employed in analysis have been selected due to their relevance to the higher education context. CHAT is applied to both the experiences of staff transitioning to academia and students engaging with extracurricular activities to explore how collective cultural understandings within universities influence the practice of those within them. Spatiality theories are applied to staff and student experiences of teaching and learning during the pandemic to consider the multifaceted nature of encounters within spaces and acknowledge the embodied nature of learning and development. This work contributes to understanding of the significance of materiality in the higher education context and the ways in which human experience permeates physical spaces and influences practice in varied settings.