Education as a Journey: Exploring the Third Space of Hongyu Wang's The Call from the Stranger on a Journey Home

Authors

  • Sean Buckreis

Abstract

In this essay I examine Hongyu Wang's 2004 book, The Call from the Stranger on a Journey Home: Curriculum in a Third Space. Wang draws on the work of numerous thinkers on topics ranging from psychoanalysis and philosophy to literature in order to articulate her understanding of the third space. She has been particularly influenced by the writings of Michel Foucault, Confucius, and Julia Kristeva. After examining the central tenets of Wang's book, I situate it within the larger picture of theory and philosophy and explore how other authors have described third space both in and outside of educational discourses. Lastly, I will point to what I see as the possibilities and challenges of dwelling in a third space and its implications for education.

Author Biography

Sean Buckreis

Sean Buckreis is an Assistant Professor in the Adrian Dominican School of Education at Barry University in Miami Shores, Florida. He has taught at the primary and secondary level in public schools in both Japan and the United States. In addition to his university teaching experience in the U.S., he also teaches graduate courses internationally. Sean's fields of inquiry include curriculum theory, teacher education, and mathematics education. His conceptual influences include philosophy (especially poststructuralism, postmodernism, and pragmatism), complexity science, and historiography.

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Published

2012-04-18

Issue

Section

Cultural Studies and Curriculum