About the project
Aim
The “third space” - a concept borrowed from post-colonial theory - has been used in teacher education over the last decade to describe the arena where universities, schools, and dominant discourses converge in less hierarchical ways. The overarching aim of this PhD project was to investigate how and in what ways do school-university partnerships afford third spaces for professional practice in initial teacher education.
In doing so, the study first explored how scholarly literature has conceptualized the third space as a promising but challenging arena where epistemologies converge in professional practice. This initial scoping review unfolded the increasing attention that the concept “third space” has had during the last decade and established the foundation that this study aimed to further build upon.
The study then sought to develop an understanding of how pre-service teachers and teacher educators (from schools and at universities or colleges) perceived their roles in partnerships for professional practice.
Research design
The study examined pre-service teachers’ and teacher educators’ perspectives through a mixed methods design by integrating qualitative and quantitative data from the part-time practical and pedagogical education program (PPU deltid) at the University of Oslo. An online survey for pre-service teachers conducted before and after the professional practice period was the core of this research, including interviews with teacher educators and pre-service teachers.
Financing
The project was a four-year doctoral research project (2019–2023), financed by the Department of Teacher Education and School Research at the University of Oslo.