Third Space as a Place of Possibility: Learning and Becoming Through Cultural Immersion Experiences

• In Event: Permeable and Dynamic Contexts and Ecologies of Learning and Development

Abstract

This work aims to advance theory and methods for designing research and learning spaces that center students’ cultural backgrounds and everyday knowledge and integrate methods for boundary crossings (Gutiérrez, 2008). I bridge sociocultural theories of learning and development with literature on third space to examine the potential for cultural immersion experiences to generate places of possibility wherein students constructed new knowledge and identities. This paper draws upon on a critical qualitative study that explored the learning experiences of a diverse group of undergraduate students on a Global Program trip. Findings highlight cultural immersion experiences as a particular place of learning – a space between – where students negotiated their multiple dynamic hybrid identities as they emerged within a new sociocultural context.

Author

• Kristen P. Goessling, The Pennsylvania State University - Brandywine