Enacting a Third Space Pedagogy in an Art Museum Setting: Strategies, Intersections, and Values

Abstract

This ethnographic case study investigates the theory and practice of third spaces in relation to a professional development program for K-12 teachers in an art museum setting, with emphasis on arts-based programming, lived curriculum, contemporary art, and critical teaching strategies. I investigate how museums negotiate the transition from a pedagogy of place towards a pedagogy of third spaces. The questions guiding my study were: how a third space is valued by educators and museum staff? What are the components, strategies, and methodologies that allow for the emergence of third spaces in professional development programs? What does a third space pedagogy offer to a place-based museum environment? I integrate my understandings of third spaces with those of the study participants, privileging their voices while interweaving my story with the collected data. Four overarching themes guide the analysis: Lived curriculum, decentering the museum, negotiating knowledge, and intertwining of space, artworks, and pedagogy. The study draws upon content analysis as a methodology to understand the emerging insights, patterns, and stories that point at the enactment of third spaces in the museum’s professional development programming. Data was collected over the course of a year from field notes, semi-structured interviews with IEI teachers and LSG staff, and photo documentation.