Planting an idea…

I have recently had the chance to reflect on my career, and try to quantify the value of the learning and teaching projects I have been involved in. But more than that, quantify the value of “me” to those projects. It’s a challenge I recognise from supporting colleagues pursuing HEA Fellowship. The task of communicating the impact of your practice to others, against a criterion that doesn’t automatically resonate with you, in a voice you don’t feel comfortable in and all within a word count! This is tough when you’re a self-proclaimed 3rd spacer!

Through my reflections and with the support of conversations within the Third Space Perspectives book I have begun to realise my strengths as a 3rd spacer, started to own these strengths and talk more about the value of these 3rd space characteristics without the usual apology or deficit approach. It is more that skills and capabilities but includes outlook, mindset and personalities. And what conclusion have I arrived at?

I am a bit like moss!

So let me take you through some of the characteristics of moss from Ellen McHale ww.Kew.org – I bet you recognise yourself!

·        Moss has no true roots but rather rhizoids to anchor it to a base  

When I was working to enhance interprofessional learning in a School of Health and Social care I hadn’t the clinical registration or professional practice experience to fall back onto. I had to establish my learning and teaching rhizoids through networking, building allies and purposely emphasising my professional neutrality as a means to prevent perceived loyalty to one professional group. In this context, no professional root meant that my decisions were pedagogically driven, and I felt able to push back on professional stereotypes by airing the naïve questions such as “why not?” So, like moss, the lack of roots is a strength within educational transformation.  

·        Moss is a first plant coloniser- helping new plants grow

This is perhaps my favourite characteristic, it is the space I love to work in; where there isn’t a clear response to a situation, where the solutions haven’t yet been dreamed up but by connecting up other innovators and agitators you begin to prepare the way for others to join in. When working in this new frontier climate it can be hard to see how things can grow, it can be lonely and there have been many times when I have felt a bit too “out there”- like the time I introduced a creative model-making activity in a non-medical prescribing course (yes way ahead of the SeriousLego crowd!). Or when I championed the inclusion of public involvement within learning programmes- not ahead of the sector but innovating within my institution. However, in this innovating space you must develop patience and skills to explain the new ideas persistently and for many different audiences. I have become more disciplined in the way in which I measure and communicate the benefits and value of my “out there” ideas. This personal learning is ongoing as, like moss my intention is to support others to adapt to a new space.

·        Moss is a climate controller- helping cool or warm the soil according to the environmental requirements

When I recently facilitated a session with a group of educational developers about their professional identity and how they worked across disciplines and roles, the characteristic of climate controller was especially strong. There was a drive to establish an equilibrium thus enabling the parts of the ecosystem to function at an optimum, with respect to discipline, individual and institutional requirements. Getting to this state though entailed a fine-tuned understanding of change, a gift of analysing need and ingenuity to find and broker solutions to perceived challenges. It is fair to say the notion of culture is never far away when discussing educational change. However, the concept of climate and individuals who influence the climate is just as important as it encompasses intrinsic, psychological, political and external forces and readiness for change. The educational developers valued their work as mediators who worked with the diversity within an ecosystem and endeavoured to provide balance without a cost to different groups.

I developed these provocations cards (Academic Stories - Provocations (edgehill.ac.uk) to help reflect and have better discussions about our professional identity and the contribution to educational development. The cards aim to demonstrate the variations in practice, the climates in which 3rd space colleagues exist and the heritage and expertise that represents the people as professionals. To see climate control as a professional strength we must become more aware of the small yet significant steps we perform when working within an ecosystem.

Where has this analogy taken me? Having the opportunity to work through an analogy as a means of discovering more about your professional identity is fun. It has however made me pause and return to the times when I felt out of place and not confident in my convictions about the direction I was heading (or indeed guiding others to). Being able to place these moments, not as a deficit but rather as a strength has been rewarding. Whilst, like moss, 3rd spacers are biodiverse with often hidden professional stories from disparate professional journeys, without a receptive arena there is a chance that their value remains unnoticed and non-flowering. 

Header Image by @Paul_Driver - used with permission