Clarifying third space roles for more effective collaboration

Abstract

A growing number of third space practitioners work in academic developer (AD), educational technologist (ET) and learning designer (LD) roles in higher education to help academics navigate increasingly complex teaching practices. These specialist roles are referred to here as Educator Advisors (EdAdvisors). Inconsistent use of terminology and inaccurate role definitions for EdAdvisors can hinder the formation of sustainable collaborative relationships between EdAdvisors and academics by reducing understanding of their knowledge and skills. This mixed-methods study is comprised of a survey of EdAdvisors in 41 Australian higher education institutions and semi-structured interviews. It advances understanding of EdAdvisor roles by proposing descriptions which accommodate contextual differences within roles. Informed by a practice theory lens, it uses a combination of purposes, “practice bundles”, and capability types to support a new framework for describing EdAdvisor roles that addresses existing issues with role clarity which have largely not been resolved by more competency-oriented approaches. These descriptions for the three EdAdvisor roles are intended to stimulate discussion about practical steps to build understanding of people working in these roles in order to facilitate more effective collaborative working relationships between EdAdvisors and academics as they work to co-create innovative educational experiences.