| Description |
The study analyzed the question: How is third space impacted by critical interaction between students, their peers, and the teacher in the classroom? Participants were 18 Latin@ 11th grade students in various content classrooms, although research observations centered around English Language Arts, at a high school in a small, cosmopolitan mountain resort town near a larger capital city. The collected research data came from video recording, teacher journaling, student focus group interviews, and student-teacher reflection over a four-month period. The study found critical interaction existed in three formats: Student-to-student interaction; Student-to-teacher interaction; and Student-to-Student Teacher Facilitated interaction. Latin@ student's third space leaned negative or positive depending on whether they could navigate the space within classroom interactions. Primarily, the study analyzed small groups interactions with four or fewer students and one-on-one teacher to Latin@ student interaction. Other themes were racism within the interactive third space and feelings of isolation termed "The Only Mexican". The study showed links between Latin@ student's third space and their learning in the classroom that was consistent regardless of academic success, language proficiency, or socio-cultural standing. Future implications include exploring post-colonial flows and hybridity that may help Latin@ students usurp the Neocolonial education system on large and small scales to promote negative third space. |
