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Published VersionCC BY V4.0, Open Access
Journal article
Exploring the identities of pathways educators through the lens of Third Space Theory
Pedagogy, Culture and Society, Vol.32(5), pp.1549-1571
2024
Abstract
Pathways educators, who teach into university-based tertiary preparation programmes, contribute to a unique space within widening participation. Conceptualisations of pathways educators' identities would benefit from further theorisation to understand the challenges and possibilities of this role, so this was the focus of the current study. Ten pathways educators on academic contracts at a regional Australian university co-constructed concept maps and wrote reflections about what it means to be a pathways educator. These maps and reflections were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis to identify patterns, which were then examined through a Third Space Theory lens. The findings highlighted a strong sense of pathways educators dwelling at the margins of academia, in liminal or in-between locations that are complex, nuanced, hard to define and often perceived as lower in status when compared to 'traditional' academic spaces. However, the analysis also suggested that finding a home in these fluid, unbounded, spaces might present opportunities for authentic and self-fulfilling work in the ambiguity. While institutional constraints and power imbalances are acknowledged, we also highlight potential implications for pathways educators, and other individuals in academic roles that occupy the margins, through a strength-based lens where agency is not lost but may thrive in unexpected ways.
Details
- Title
- Exploring the identities of pathways educators through the lens of Third Space Theory
- Authors
- Kieran Balloo (Corresponding Author) - University of Southern QueenslandFabiane Ramos - University of Southern QueenslandRussell Crank - University of Southern QueenslandDaniel Crane - University of Southern QueenslandSusan Hopkins - University of Southern QueenslandMary McGovern - University of Southern QueenslandFrey Parkes - University of Southern QueenslandJulie Penno - University of Southern QueenslandNiharika Singh - University of Southern QueenslandNicholas Todd - University of Southern QueenslandVictoria Wilson - University of Southern QueenslandAngela Windsor - University of Southern QueenslandSue Worsley - University of Southern Queensland
- Publication details
- Pedagogy, Culture and Society, Vol.32(5), pp.1549-1571
- Publisher
- Routledge
- Date published
- 2024
- DOI
- 10.1080/14681366.2023.2230986
- ISSN
- 1747-5104; 1468-1366
- Copyright note
- © 2023 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. The terms on which this article has been published allow the posting of the Accepted Manuscript in a repository by the author(s) or with their consent.
- Organisation Unit
- School of Education and Tertiary Access
- Language
- English
- Record Identifier
- 991135205302621
- Output Type
- Journal article
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