Third Space...

I am working on understanding exactly what the THIRD SPACE refers to as studied by Dr. K Gutierez and defined in the Voice of Literacy podcast.

The podcast is short and I didn't feel as if I received enough information to clearly understand Third Space.  I found a published article on-line by Dr. Gutierez in Reading Research Quarterly from 2004 which explains the different "spaces."

According to this article, First, Second and Third spaces are defined as:

          First Space: (people's) home, community and peer network

         Second Space: formalized institutions such as work, school or church

         Third Space: space of knowledge and Discourse (with a capital D)

In order to wrap my brain around this, I need to understand the definition of Discourse versus discourse.

discourse: according to Merriam-Webster, is the use of words to exchange thoughts and ideas.

Discourse: according to James Paul Gee, a researcher in discourse analysis, and a nicely defining blog I found (this is a blog), is: "the combination of language with other social practices (behavior, values, ways of thinking, clothes, food, customs, perspectives) within a specific group"

I am understanding now why our class divided into groups and went out into non-formal settings to observe literacy that children are exposed to...my Rollerskating research last week. I am also understanding the connection/difference between teaching by using more authentic "life" experiences, to make more meaning for students, versus standardized cookie-cutter, read-from-the-book teaching.

Reading The Donut House article, by Powell and Davidson, made me want to say, "Of course you should (as a teacher) find ways to bring the community and real life experiences into your classroom!" The real key though, is how does a teacher balance her own teaching life...following the requirements of her school, of her grade (standards to be met), meet the needs of each individual student, help all to become the most they can be (receive passing tests scores), engage her students, connect with her parents, and remain true to herself?  I am hoping to gain many tips this semester to take with me into my classroom.

Don't worry, I'll share what I learn!

~ltk