Creating opportunities – benefits of a third space

More musings from the special edition of JLDHE – Third Space in HE It is easy to assume that the third space is beset by disadvantage, and lack of power, the very concept, from Bhabha’s work (1994) is drawn from colonization, and imposition of power. However, the special issue, and launch, demonstrated that the hybrid space between academic and professional services can be rich with potentiality. There is space here to embody an uncharted role. Perhaps it is up to those of us who believe ourselves to be in this third space, to map it out in a positive way.

Naseem et al (Naseem et al., 2025) discuss the benefits to them in creating the third space professional identity, they describe themselves as trailblazers

That there are benefits is not in doubt, in fact our chief guest editor Kelly talked of one of those benefits in a LinkedIn post, when she celebrated the freedom her role offers, to publish what she wants, where she wants. She does not have publication targets, so can disseminate in the ways that best suit her preferences. There is undoubtedly some benefit here, although this is tinged with concerns, as the launch chat reminded us, time for scholarly endeavour is not always available. In an academic role scholarly output is expected, for research colleagues this is a compulsory element of their role. Therefore, time for research and dissemination is available, either as a given element of weekly time, or something to be negotiated with line management. In many third space roles there is no expectation of scholarly activity, so time is not allocated, and support for new practitioners can be hard to find.

Third spaces are liminal in nature, offering a transformational area, that is neither academic nor strictly ‘professional’, it is in-between. Soja’s (1996) definition gives a flavour of the possibilities in such a space:

everything comes together . . . subjectivity and objectivity, the abstract and the concrete, the real and the imagined, the knowable and the unimaginable, the repetitive and the differential, structure and agency, mind and body, consciousness and the unconscious, the disciplined and the transdisciplinary, everyday life and unending history (Soja, 1996, p.56-7).

The amorphous conditions which this definition suggests can signify discomfort, discrimination, reduced status, but equally there is possibility here, and possibility thinking of the sort that Craft (2010) discusses, moving away from questions of performativity, and focusing instead on creativity, asking ‘What if…?’. Liminal spaces, because of their transience, offer the chance to experiment with identity, to innovate, and to be creative. Interestingly Whitchurch  (Whitchurch, 2013) does not discuss these benefits, focusing more on the inherent drawbacks associated with the agency that an undefined space can offer.

White (White, 2025) discusses a pragmatic use of third spaces to promote social justice. Applying Whitchurch’s (2013) ‘four dimensions of blended professional activity’, and three ‘phases of third space processes’ as a practical framework for learning development initiatives.

This third space has potential to offer safety for students, Toogood and Hale (2025) found that by working together academic and Professional services teams can create a third space which offers safety for their students. This was not only beneficial for students though, as the authors discuss how they too benefitted from third space collaboration. White offers practical examples, which could serve as a useful foundation for other learning developers to consider in their practice.

Collaborative possibilities in third space environments are also frequently noted in this special issue, and indeed form one of the themes of the issue. Ther is value to be gained from collaborative potential for senior leadership (Edgerley & Crawford, 2025), as well as more complex matrix reporting structures (Gagne, 2025), which are notorious for poor communication, and difficult working environments. . I mentioned in a previous post As well as facilitating partnerships across the academic/professional services divide, there is also much discussion of play (Abegglen et al., 2025; Arm, 2025; Edgerley & Crawford, 2025).

In an autoethnographic article by Naseem et al (2025), we read about the establishment of third space professionals in low and middle income countries on the global south. They are trail blazers, creating a space to build identity for female practitioners, the third space offers facility for this work. This links rather well with Baldwin et al (2025) who discuss how third space practitioners challenge hegemonies, in the post pandemic university environment. They use their very in-betweenness, described as quasi-academic, to deliver academic support in a way that academics cannot. I wonder how many other learning developers feel that they too are proficient in many skills, not expert in any. Personally, I prefer the amended adage: Jack of all trades, master of some.

As this post demonstrates, alongside the disadvantages of the third space in HE, there is potential here, opportunity for personal and professional growth. We just need to seek it out.

Abegglen, S., Burns, T., & Sinfield, S. (2025). Play space – head space – third space: playful pedagogy and research – ways of building collaborative and creative communities of learners. Journal of Learning Development in Higher Education(33). https://doi.org/10.47408/jldhe.vi33.1171

Arm, K. (2025). Partnership at play: empowering Student Partners to navigate third space. Journal of Learning Development in Higher Education(33). https://doi.org/10.47408/jldhe.vi33.1212

Baldwin, J., Charles, B., Davenport, E., Keefe, J., & Minà, D. (2025). Academic support as a ‘third space’: a team’s reflection on post-pandemic practice. Journal of Learning Development in Higher Education(33). https://doi.org/10.47408/jldhe.vi33.1192

Bhabha, H. K. (1994). The Location of Culture. Routledge Classics.

Craft, A. (2010). Possibility Thinking and Wise Creativity: Educational Futures in England? In R. A. Beghetto & J. C. Kaufman (Eds.), Nurturing Creativity in the Classroom (pp. 289-312). Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/DOI: 10.1017/CBO9780511781629.015

Edgerley, R., & Crawford, R. (2025). LEGO, fishbowls, and collaboration. Journal of Learning Development in Higher Education(33). https://doi.org/10.47408/jldhe.vi33.1219

Gagne, A. (2025). Existing in hyperliminality: supporting educational developers with complex cross-disciplinary portfolios. Journal of Learning Development in Higher Education(33). https://doi.org/10.47408/jldhe.vi33.1225

Naseem, A., Karim Khan, J., Khamis, T., & Rarieya, J. (2025). Being and becoming third-space professionals: a case study from low-and-middle income countries. Journal of Learning Development in Higher Education(33). https://doi.org/10.47408/jldhe.vi33.1233

Soja, E. W. (1996). Thirdspace. Wiley Blackwell.

Toogood, C., & Hale, K. (2025). Empowering professional identity and positive outcomes through Third Space collaboration: A subject lecturer and EAP practitioner case study. Journal of Learning Development in Higher Education(33). https://doi.org/10.47408/jldhe.vi33.1196

Whitchurch, C. (2013). Reconstructing Identities in Higher Education: The Rise of Third Space Professionals. Routledge.

White, S. (2025). On third space and critical paralysis: The case for a pragmatic conception of third space to advance Learning Development in higher education. Journal of Learning Development in Higher Education(33). https://doi.org/10.47408/jldhe.vi33.1260