A third space for inclusion: multilingual teaching assistants reporting on the use of their marginal position, translation and translanguaging to construct inclusive environments

The discussion in this paper is based on an analysis of interviews with eight Multilingual Teaching Assistants (MTAs) employed in English schools to support students with English as an Additional Language (EAL) to access the curriculum and pursue language learning. It focuses on descriptions of their roles and reflects on the pedagogies they apply and their interactions with students. The findings corroborate those from other studies, which demonstrate that MTAs assume multiple roles in schools while simultaneously maintaining a peripheral position. From this position, MTAs develop creative, individualised, and culturally relevant pedagogies (Ernst-Slavit and Wenger [2006]. “Teaching in the Margins: The Multifaceted Work and Struggles of Bilingual Paraeducators.” Anthropology and Education Quarterly 37 (1): 62–82, 77). Using translanguaging in their communications with students, they describe how they develop positive personal interactions based on care, bridging home and school, and constructing pedagogical third spaces that challenge the power relations that force certain groups to marginalisation. The discussion concerns how such third spaces allow students to exercise a level of control and power, to collaborate with staff, and to co-construct hybrid cultures.The recognition and expansion of such places could be a project for inclusive education based on recognition and trust.