Third Space Writing: A Potentially Liberatory Pedagogical Practice

Abstract

This paper is a medley of many things: memoir, reflecting on my own personal experiences in the classroom as a student and teacher; research paper, pulling in historical underpinnings and scholarly theories to provide a framework by which to understand and consider third place writing; qualitative analysis, reporting on a survey with my students in MSU's Lit-110; and questions about pedagogical practice, many posed and some answered. This paper taps into many different boxes, pulling together disparate threads to weave a coherent picture of a current moment in writing pedagogy in the United States. This paper asks complex questions about whether the removal of constraints such as walls, desks, or traditional classroom dichotomies and dynamics also remove constraints around creativity and interest. Throughout this paper, the research suggests that third space writing instruction can engender greater engagement and agency in students. And, given the potential of the natural world and third spaces to decrease students' stress and increase their personal connection, I conclude that third space writing instruction can be a liberatory educational practice, both for students and for teachers, especially when we are willing to go through the process of discomfort in order to transform.