Creating Virtual Third Spaces that Foster Students’ Well-Being

Recognizing that a successful middle school is one where adult advocates foster and guide students’ academic and personal development (Bishop & Harrison, 2021), we explore how COVID-19 acted as a catalyst for one middle school to create novel spaces that supported students’ social and emotional well-being. Calling on Bhabha’s (1994) and Gutiérrez’s (2008) conceptualizations of Third Spaces, we analyze data from a case study in one middle school in the southeastern United States and their response to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020–2021. By analyzing interviews and focus groups, we identified instances, where the teachers in the school attempted to create virtual third spaces, ranging from nature walks to Kahoot competitions to cooking classes to open crafting spaces. In this paper, we explore the various types of third spaces the teachers at this middle school created in response to their students’ social needs and emotional well-being, as well as how those spaces allowed for exploration, broke down barriers between students, repositioned students who experienced behavior challenges, and allowed for student agency. We conclude by asserting that these virtual third spaces are vitally important for supporting young adolescents’ well-being in online and hybrid school settings.