The definition of developmentally appropriate practice includes culturally appropriate practice. Intisar Shareef, a colleague of mine who understands non-Western thinking explains how to communicate across cultures, You have to listen to people as though they were wise. The point is to broaden your perspective so you can take in someone else s perspective, so you can, in fact, be influenced by it. That doesn t negate what you think is true because truth is not something rigidly bound it s not like a box but an amoeba fluid, oozing. She sees third space as a place large enough to encompass many perspectives.
Nobody has to give in.
Third space allows for our two points of view and many more. We go to third space to find the whole picture. Barerra says that in third space you can see multiple truths. You can also see that differing perspectives may both have validity. Further you can see beyond perspectives to a bigger, unifying picture.