'Third spaces' are interesting places: Applying 'third space theory' to nursery-aged children's constructions of themselves as readers

TLDR

Third‑space theory is applied to show how five nursery‑aged children create a hybrid space between home and school to reconcile their reading practices. The study examines how children draw on popular culture, television, technology, and play at home to merge their home‑based reading experiences with the primary school curriculum. The findings warn that the primary school curriculum can threaten children’s sophisticated home‑based reading constructions, urging educators to support and leverage these constructions to build confidence and success.

Abstract

Based on Moje et al.'s (2004) conceptions of `third space theory', this article describes how five nursery-aged children created a `third space' between home and school, in order to find continuity between home and school constructions of reading. This article describes how the children used various aspects of their home experiences, such as popular culture, television texts, computer technology and play to integrate the reading experiences of the home with that of the primary school curriculum. Yet this article also warns that many of these children's own sophisticated and valuable constructions could be at risk of disruption by the demands of the primary school curriculum, even from the time of entry into the Nursery year. It is therefore argued that educators within the Foundation Stage must find ways to accommodate and utilize children's own constructions of reading in order to build confidence and initiate success in a modern generation of young readers.