Living in multiple worlds: Utilizing third space theory to re-envision pedagogy in the field of teacher education

Like all fields of educational research, the area of teacher education shows evidence of a divide. That divide exists between two worlds—the world of research universities and the world of our nation's schools. Research and writing in the field of teacher education, specifically, and educational research, more generally, abound with examples of this divide. Teacher educators are positioned in a way that may help to address this issue. Regardless of how the worlds of research and practice are juxtaposed, in order to prepare thoughtful, reflective teachers who are equipped to deal with the realities of classroom life, teacher educators need to re-imagine the pedagogies they use to prepare those teachers. This entails re-evaluating the ways in which the worlds of the research university and the nation's schools are positioned.;Utilizing a practitioner inquiry methodology, this research examines the ways in which one university instructor attempted to improve his practice in his elementary mathematics methods course. By moving back-and-forth between the world of the elementary school and the world of the research university, the researcher was able to document shifts in his thinking about the preparation of future teachers. Third space theory was used as a lens through which the data were collected and analyzed. By positioning the elementary classroom as the first space and the university methods course as the second space, a third space of reflection, action, and change was created in order to re-imagine the pedagogies used in preparing future elementary teachers in the area of mathematics.;Data from each space included teacher and student journals, videotapes of classroom instruction and interactions, photographs, notes from critical colleagues, and classroom artifacts such as chart paper from daily class discussions, student created posters, and notes from group conversations. By analyzing practice in both spaces—the elementary classroom and the university methods course—as well as the reflective space between the two, this research presents one account of the ways in which the divide between educational research and classroom practice can be addressed.