Third Space

Historically, there has been frustration voiced by many Academic Language and Learning Development (ALLD) practitioners that their roles are often poorly understood even whit in their own institution. This could be attributed to the fact that ALLD job roles can vary significantly in terms of responsibilities and job titles across higher education institutions. This variation has potentially been exacerbated previously by the absence of a formal classification of ALLD practitioner job roles. Research was therefore undertaken to develop an international taxonomy of ALLD practitioner roles, encompassing principal job responsibilities and specialisms. This booklet is an interactive PDF to allow you to annotate it directly. The research project findings are published in the December 2025 edition of the Journal of Learning Development in Higher Education (https://doi.org/10.47408/jldhe.vi38.1546) This project was funded by the Association for Learning Development in Higher Education (ALDinHE)

This paper provides an ethnographically rich and highly relatable account of the ‘third space’ as it is inhabited and navigated by a group of geographically and institutionally dispersed learning developers, working together to develop and reflect on their identities as scholar-practitioners. In the process, readers are introduced to the virtual Community of Practice (vCoP) as a powerful means of nurturing and sustaining scholarly activity and identity formation – especially for those who, like Learning Developers, often work in contexts which militate against this. The paper also provides a fascinating, and practically useful, insight into collaborative autoethnography (CAE) as a vehicle for collaborative reflection.

Webster explores the complexities of establishing the praxis of learning development, noting for example how outside of the profession learning development is generally misunderstood. Webster also highlights the challenges of establishing CPD opportunities for those working in the third space, drawing on their own personal experiences of trying to develop such opportunities. The article finishes by emphasising the potential benefits of more formalised CPD opportunities for enhancing the practice of learning development.

Whilst not specifically focused on learning development, this article by Whitchurch is a ‘must read’ for any learning developer interested in the third space. This is the foundational text that underpins the growing interest taken in understanding the role of third space professionals within HE. Readers will gain a clear understanding as to why learning development is strongly associated with the third space.

This special edition focuses on a range of third space considerations within and in some cases outside of learning development. It provides a wealth of ideas about the value or role of thinking in terms of third space, focused on the themes of: collaboration and partnerships; identity and positioning; leadership, influence and credibility; and careers and professional development.

This paper explores the role of writing as a grounding, stabilising and identity-fixing practice in the fluidity and ambiguity of third space. While third space might imply that we may not feel we belong neither ‘here’ nor ‘there’, writing gives us the means and the freedom to negotiate who we are outside of traditional academic conventions and pressures. In the third space, we can choose what kind of writers we want to be and the type of writing we want to do. In the process, we can start to redraw the boundaries of what academic writing can be or even should be.