The LTHEchat308 will take place in both X (formerly know as Twitter) and Bluesky
X: https://x.com/LTHEchat
BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/lthechat.bsky.social

Led by Malgorzata (Gosia) Drewniok (@Vampirelinguist, @vampirelinguist.bsky.social), Maeve O’Dwyer (@odwyermaeve, @drmaeve.bsky.social) and Wendy Taleo (@wentale, @wentale.bsky.social)

Introduction:

Higher Education as a sector, in every country, is facing a myriad of challenges at the moment, from the financial to the moral. To overcome this difficult environment, all staff working at HEIs must work together towards a shared vision for Higher Education. This #LTHE chat explores the concept of the ‘third space professional and/or practitioner’ (Whitchurch, 2008). In particular, we argue for the importance of the third space in articulating the value of all staff who teach and/or support learning across Higher Education institutions (HEIs). 

The concept of the ‘third space professional’, as researched and defined by the work of Celia Whitchurch (Whitchurch, 2008), has benefited from excellent research interrogating what it means to be a third space professional in contemporary Higher Education institutions (McIntosh & Nutt, 2022, Veles, 2023, et al). Much of this research has been collated as part of the Third Space Slowposium, taking place November 15th- 30th 2024. Three (of many!) organisers of the Slowposium, Wendy, Gosia and Maeve, have come together to celebrate that practice in this LTHE chat, in what we hope will be a highlight of the Slowposium calendar.

Reflecting on our own experience in different institutions and in different countries, we want to connect with others and critically discuss conundrums of people in these roles. Here, to align with the language being used in the upcoming Third Space Slowposium, we will use the term ‘third space practitioner’. However, we hope the chat (and accompanying Slowposium) will be engaging for all colleagues- those who identify as third space professionals, third space practitioners, those who research the third space, and those who are new to the concept, or approach it from different perspectives. 

What or who is a third space professional or practitioner?

Our first conundrum is that working in the third space and self-identifying as a third space professional/practitioner are not always commensurate, and role requirements, contract types and nomenclature vary widely, as do perceptions of value associated with the terms (Caldwell, 2024, Whitchurch, 2022). There is no one definition- here we focus on sharing practice across academic and non-academic contract binaries, reflecting on how self-identifying as a third space professional gave us the ability to better articulate our work, and to pursue our commitment to teaching and learning, regardless of activity or contract type. Indeed, it is very possible to engage in third space work on academic contracts, or to hold a passion for pedagogy which manifests in multiple contract types, whether that be over the course of a ‘concertina’ career (Whitchurch, Locke & Marini, 2021) or even to be both academic and non-academic (according to HEI structures) simultaneously. 

As Whitchurch (2022) notes: ‘’the concept of third space has helped to make activity that was invisible visible, and given an identity to a range of professionals who may or may not have academic contracts, even though they may have academic qualifications and be involved in aspects of teaching and research’’. For the authors, a shared interest in third space has led to connecting and collaborating across different time zones, from unknown strangers to co-organisers. We connect from different aspects of third space- english language support, academic development and educational technology- to find common ground.  

Why is the concept of third space important?

To put it in terms that we are all used to, third space professionals have significant impact on the teaching and learning experience at an institution, and thereby, influence many key metrics such as student results and retention, which are often used in attempts to quantify teaching excellence (in the UK, largely via the National Student Survey and HESA data). 

For many students, the majority of their face-to-face learning and/or support (when considered in terms of contact hours) may be provided by staff who do not hold academic contracts. Some may be based in Schools, for example, technicians in performing arts, educational technology support, or student success advisors. Most are likely based outside Schools or Faculties, in the form of ‘support services’. Many colleagues significantly impact the student experience through non-student-facing roles, such as setting academic policy, leadership of teaching and learning related initiatives or committees, and more. 

Without the concept of a third space, there is a risk of deepening a binary between academic staff, and support (or professional) staff, or in other words, of devaluing the work of professional services staff. This is not intended to undermine the important work of staff who are neither academic nor third space (Moreau & Wheeler, 2024), but to highlight the importance of fostering collaboration and connection at a time when student support, whether that be mental health awareness, english language support, academic integrity training, research methods support, library support, technical support, academic writing support etc. is more important than ever to help scaffold and sustain student learning. Students are not just faced with new questions around the use of generative AI or language support tools, they are likely to be caring for others, working and/or commuting long distances to study. The valuable work that third space practitioners do to support teaching and learning endeavours needs to be recognised and supported on a structural level. In this way, all HEI staff can work together towards ‘providing a contribution’ (Rosewell & Ashwin, 2019), to the development of students and an improved society. 

References

Caldwell, J. (2024). ‘Nomenclature in higher education: “non-academic” as a construct.’ Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management. 46:5, 507-522. https://doi.org/10.1080/1360080X.2024.2306569  

McIntosh, E. and D. Nutt (2022). The Impact of the Integrated Practitioner in Higher Education: Studies in Third Space Professionalism. London: Routledge.

Moreau, M, and Wheeler, L. (2024). Doing the Dirty Work of Academia? Ancillary Staff in Higher Education. Research Report. Society for Research into Higher Education. https://srhe.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/MOREAUwheelerReport.pdf 

Rosewell, K., and Ashwin, P. (2019). ‘Academics’ perceptions of what it means to be an academic’. Studies in Higher Education. 44:12, 2374-2384.  https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2018.1499717 

Whitchurch, C. (2008). Shifting identities and blurring boundaries: The emergence of Third Space Professionals in UK Higher Education. Higher Education Quarterly. 62(4), 377–396. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2273.2008.00387.x

Whitchurch, C. (2013). Reconstructing Identities in Higher Education: The Rise of Third Space Professionals. New York: Routledge.

Whitchurch, C. (2022).  From ‘working in third space’ to ‘third space professionals’. Third Space Perspectives – Exploring Integrated Practice. Published 22^nd September 2022. https://www.thirdspaceperspectives.com/blog/tothirdspaceprofessionals

Whitchurch, C., Locke, W., and Marini, G., (2021). “Challenging Career Models in Higher Education: The Influence of Internal Career Scripts and the Rise of the ‘Concertina’ Career”. Higher Education 82(3): 635-650.

Veles, N. (2023). Optimising the Third Space in Higher Education: Case Studies of Intercultural and Cross-Boundary Collaboration. New York: Taylor and Francis.

Author Biographies

Wendy Taleo: I am an enthusiastic and creative Education Designer and Technologist. After completing a degree at Deakin University, a career started working for a large corporation in the Information Technology (IT) field. This included over 10 years working in desktop support (>3,000 clients), network management (nationwide) and team leadership. My career was extended through IT volunteer and agency work in the South Pacific. Back in Australia, the formal Education sector provided a move into Education Technology. Completing a Masters of Arts in Online and Distance Education (MAODE) in 2019 through the Open University, UK, I continue my passion in the field of Technology Enhanced Learning (TEL) across diverse sectors and disciplines. My current role at Monash University is as an Education Designer working with academics from a variety of disciplines to improve teaching and learning. My role includes project management, LMS design and publishing on the teaching and learning hub.

Dr Maeve O’Dwyer, SFHEA, is an Academic Developer working at the Teaching Enhancement Unit at Dublin City University (DCU), and an Educational Contributor to Portal, Trinity College Dublin’s centre for innovation and entrepreneurship. As someone who has held a variety of academic and non-academic contracts post-Phd, often simultaneously, Maeve is passionate about the importance of third space in identity formation, and towards the pursuit of best practice through critical reflection. Maeve teaches history of art, pedagogy, and entrepreneurship, and is External Examiner at Buckinghamshire New University for routes to Fellowship of Advance HE. Maeve is co-founder of a research group on third space professionals called HETS. She is happy to be contacted about potential research and/or collaborations in pedagogy, educational development, art history, entrepreneurship education, or third space.

Dr Malgorzata (Gosia) Drewniok is the Assistant Director for International Student Success at University of Bristol. She started her career in UK HE teaching English for Academic Purposes (EAP), study and research skills, and linguistics, before moving on to leadership roles. Before joining Bristol, she was the Head of International College at University of Lincoln. Having started in teaching-focused academic roles and then moving to support roles in Professional Services, Gosia felt she needed to rethink her professional identity and thus stumbled upon the idea of  third space. Since then, she has been passionate about advocating for third space professionals, sharing her experience, and highlighting the benefits of operating in the third space. She has a PhD in Linguistics and does her best to remain research-active. She is co-founder of a research group on third space professionals called HETS, and is particularly interested in the intersectionality between HE leadership and third space.