Nayla had started 6th grade with some academic and social struggles. But during her middle school years, she got involved in numerous groups and clubs. She stayed after school for extracurricular activities four days per week, and these groups and her relationships at school became part of her identity. The principal and teachers became her mentors, sponsors, and guides. After getting off to a shaky start, Nayla found her place at school and thrived. At her 8th grade graduation, Nayla found her principal and asked, “Can I come back to talk to you after I go to high school? I love you! I love this school.”
She had found her place at school. She belonged.
Sociologist Ray Oldenburg (2023) describes the importance of having what he calls a “third place.” The first place is the home. The second place is the workplace or, for children, the school. However, the third place is an environment where people experience connection, acceptance, and a sense of common identity in the absence of rigid structures. People choose their third place. They are involved in creating and maintaining the culture and standards of it. As a result, they feel a sense of ownership and pride in their third place.
For adults, a third place might be a community or rec center, gym, pub, barber shop, coffee shop, library, or meeting space. It is a place where you are a “regular,” where you order your “usual,” and where you feel known. A third place may be the location where you meet your running group, Bible study group, or book club. It’s a place you repeatedly go to find community and belonging.
For students like Nayla, a third place is often found within school—a hobby or interest group, a sports team, an afterschool club. One of the most powerful things educators can do to help children develop a sense of belonging in schools is to build environments that can serve as third places.
Three Is a Magic Number
At one high school, students on the speech team gathered in the “speech office” during lunch and after school every day. They coached each other, practiced for tournaments, and planned team activities. They also laughed about high school drama, shared their struggles, and celebrated their individual and group accomplishments. Speech team (and the speech office) was their third place.
A similar phenomenon can happen with sports teams, mentoring groups, interest-based clubs, affinity groups, and other formal and informal groups at the elementary, middle, and high school levels. To serve as third places, school groups must be available and accessible to the students involved, connect with students’ interests, and allow for and be shaped by student voice. Students must be able to choose their third place and be embraced as part of the group.
The third place is an environment where people experience connection, acceptance, and a sense of common identity in the absence of rigid structures.
When schools provide third places, they offer an opportunity for children to interact with caring adults, connect with like-minded peers, engage with their interests, and build community in a safe environment. Their school experiences improve, as does their motivation for good grades, academic growth, and appropriate school behavior. Students engaged in a third place at school develop a heightened sense of ownership and pride in their school.
Creating third places in schools improves:
- Attendance: Students with a third place at school have better attendance and avoid being late to school (Oberle et al., 2019; Shaffer, 2019). The connection and belonging they feel in their third place carries over into the rest of their day.
- Student and family engagement: The more involved students are in their school outside the classroom, the more willingly they engage inside the classroom (Brown & Evans, 2002). Families of highly involved students have more opportunities and feel more comfortable engaging with the school.
- Student behavior and relationships: In their third place, children develop different relationships with school staff and peers. Teachers become coaches or mentors. Peers become teammates or friends.
Making Space for the Place
The prevalence of third places is declining in many communities. This decline started years ago, but it accelerated during the pandemic when many businesses, restaurants, and other places closed. Social media has filled the time that was once devoted to accessing third places. And while interactions online can mimic the feeling of a third place, they often lack the camaraderie, sense of belonging, and personal care that characterize physical, in-person third places. Social media also lacks the guardrails necessary to avoid bullying, abuse, and social media addiction.
This is why it’s so critical for schools to create opportunities for students to be part of a caring group—to give them a sense of purpose and belonging. To create third spaces in schools, educators and leaders should:
- Provide as many options as possible for all interests: Children must be able to choose their third place. So, it is critical that schools offer groups, clubs, and programs that pique the diverse interests of all their students.
- Take inventory to determine what’s missing and for whom: Educators should look carefully at the groups and programs their schools offer and who is taking part in them. Which students are not engaged? Allow those students a voice to help shape what is offered at your school. And make sure that financial barriers don’t block students from finding their third place.
- Review the third places your school provides and make sure they promote connection, acceptance, and positivity: Simply offering a club or activity is not the same as creating a third place. Eliminate, redesign, or replace groups that do not create positive, welcoming environments for students.
Children need third places now more than ever to develop a positive sense of identity and belonging that they can carry to graduation and beyond. Together, we can achieve a place for every child, and every child in their (third) place.
The Instructional Leader's Guide to Closing Achievement Gaps
All the tools that educators need to improve student outcomes and close achievement gaps.
