Teacher Candidates Navigate Third Space to Develop as Culturally Responsive Teachers in a Community-Based Clinical Experience

The purpose of this study was to explore teacher candidates’ (TCs’) learning when provided with an opportunity to a gain deeper understanding of their identity as teachers in a diverse community-based clinical experience at a local Boys and Girls Club. The analysis of two course assignments pointed to the community-based clinical experience as a context that served to uncover or highlight an explicit binary between the TCs’ understanding of themselves as teachers and their elementary students as learners. Within the data, the TCs described how certain key features of the experience (conversations with students, carefully selected readings, and opportunities to put ideas into practice) supported the development of a third space for reflection and renewal. Reflecting on self and students prompted most TCs to question their previous assumptions about children and to develop as culturally responsive teachers. The findings have implications for teacher preparation program and curriculum design.