Embracing the 'Third Space' in Higher Education: A Case for Embedded Students-as-Partners Teaching and Learning

McMaster University Library Press. McMaster University Library, 1280 Main Street West, Hamilton, ON L8S $L6 Canada. e-mail: scom@mcmaster.ca; Web site: https://mulpress.mcmaster.ca/ijsap

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Higher Education; College Curriculum; College Faculty; College Students; Teacher Student Relationship; Partnerships in Education; Foreign Countries; Educational Benefits; Student Empowerment; Nontraditional Students; Student Participation; Experiential Learning; Social Mobility; Transformative Learning; Social Justice; Learning Experience; Play; Cooperative Learning

Canada; United States

This paper presents a case for integrating students as partners (SaP) within the curriculum of higher education (HE), particularly through the lens of "third space" learning. Drawing on our experiences as a collaborative of educators in Canada and the United Kingdom, we explore the liberatory potential of play, partnership, and co-creation in HE. Through the "Becoming an Educationist" (Becoming) module, we demonstrate how SaP can empower students--especially non-traditional students in UK post-1992 universities, that is, UK institutions with a strong focus on widening participation, applied learning, and "social mobility" or transformative learning--to find their voice in academia. We argue for embedding SaP within the curriculum to foster a sustainable ecology of collaborative practice for social justice, challenging traditional divisive structures in education.

As Provided

2025

EJ1486666