Expanded Fields of Educational Practice in Austria: Third Spaces As Life-Wide Realms for Social Reform

Schools, as the central educational organizations, exist against the backdrop of current cultural and social changes and must respond to new challenges such as migration and greater mobility and new expectations for life-wide and life-long learning.  As part of a comprehensive reform of teacher training in Austria, internships in a newly expanded “field of practice” will soon become mandatory for all degree candidates, (e.g. including options in social work settings, after-school and tutoring programs, cultural centers) or in schools as part of educational settings outside the traditional classroom (e.g. tutoring individuals or providing educational assistance). This relates to the larger democratic goal of expanding the concept of education, and the very concept of school itself, to include extra-curricular and wrap-around fields of practice as a “third space” of teacher training. This paper presents key learning experiences and challenges (both individual and organizational) from ethnographic study of those involved in the introduction of this expanded field of practice, namely students, mentors, and internship providers.  Interviews, photographic records, ethnographic field notes, and reflections provide rich data from the early implementation stages of this reform.  Breaking down the walls of formal schools to include wider social realms and expanding educational fields of practice are a response to the changing face of civil society, a design task that can bring about broader social reform and a new educational mission of schools in our mobile world.