On the whitewashing of third space in teacher education, or Don't cite this article

Abstract

Since the 1980s, there has been a push in teacher education to increase clinical experiences and build closer relationships between school districts and colleges of education. In 2010, Zeichner introduced the theory of Third Space to school-university partnership research. This was followed by a number of other articles in which the researchers applied the same theory—including in much of the work on teacher residencies. In this theoretical critique and brief systematic literature review, I connect Third Space theory back to its postcolonial roots and attribute the Scholars of Color who created the theory. I unpack the theory's original intent and critique research written by white teacher educators who whitewashed the theory. To accomplish this goal, I compiled the ten most cited articles on Third Space in teacher education research in a brief, focused review of the literature. I convey how this whitewashing has also occurred in work on teacher residency programs. I then present potential ways for addressing this whitewashing including means of addressing racism, power, oppression, and politics and highlight recent work on Third Space that has moved this goal forward.