Chapter 7: Disrupting Hierarchies and Shifting Identities in the Undergraduate Environment: Space as an Agent of Change

This chapter will consider the spatial implications in disrupting hierarchies and shifting identities in the undergraduate environment and explore the extent to which space can act as an agent of change in this process. Drawing on research and empirical evidence, the chapter explores the link between the re-design of learning and the design of the physical space. As this chapter will illustrate, when the active learner is centrally positioned in the learning spaces of the future, space can support relational and dialogic learning experiences and promote learner agency and reflexive learner engagement in a way that has the potential to become a platform for transformative educational change. As educational spaces are re-conceptualised, recognising a fundamental shift has taken place in how, when and where we learn, it can be argued that space is acting as an ‘agent of change’ facilitating change in pedagogic practice, relationships and methods.