With Their Help: How community members construct a congruent Third Space in an urban kindergarten classroom

Abstract

Through the use of narrative enquiry, this paper tells the story of how a kindergarten teacher in an all-girls' school incorporates family and community members' involvement to the construction of the congruent Third Space present in the classroom, and the ways the girls respond to this involvement, thereby providing a successful model for other schools in marginalized communities. In this study, the author sought to understand how this teacher and the community members' in this classroom create a congruent Third Space. This research enquiry includes the systematic use of the methodology portraiture with analysis of critical events. The portraits are titled: Mutual Desire for the Girls to Succeed and Community Members' Involvement. This paper moves Third Space theory towards praxis through concrete examples in an urban, kindergarten classroom.

Keywords:

• Discourse
• Gender related
• Qualitative research
• Diversity
• Portraiture

Notes

Pseudonyms are used for the students and the community members. However at the request of Ms. Escibito, the teacher, and Mrs. Prince, the principal, their given names are used.

I am using the name Talia's grandma to follow the lead of this school and to demonstrate the importance of family in this school. Additionally, she introduced herself as ‘Talia's grandma’ and told me she prefers this name. She offered the explanation, ‘In this room, that is who I am.’

Adequate Yearly Progress, or AYP, is the measurement defined by the United States federal No Child Left Behind Act that allows the Department of Education to determine the performance of every school and district in the United States.

District regulations prohibit Ms. E from administering the shot even though she volunteered.

Questions are adapted from Yazzie (2002).

Questions 1–12 are adapted from Yazzie (2002); questions 13–17 are adapted from Webster (1998).