Do you remember a moment being in school, staring at a blank page, unsure where to begin or how to organize your thoughts? Then, as you look around the classroom, something shifts. An idea forms, and a connection is made. Slowly, your blank page begins to fill with your thoughts.
Many of us have experienced that very moment.
We’ve also seen it take place in our classrooms. A student wrestles with the math problem or doesn’t understand the science concept, or is working through the fourth draft of their writing, before suddenly everything clicks.
That is liminality: the place between what we understand today and what we are learning to understand tomorrow.
In classrooms throughout the United States and the world, liminality extends beyond what we consider traditional academic tasks. Think about a group of students working together in collaboration to answer the driving question in a project-based learning challenge (PBL). They might be designing a solution to a food desert in their community, improving soil health, or creating a renewable energy awareness campaign. The suggested answers used to appear at the back of the textbook, but today, many of the questions our students face don’t come with an answer key. Students must learn to inquire, research and gather information, design, test, and ideate, and then share their ideas with others.
This can feel uncomfortable to both the students and the educator. Students may wonder, “Am I going in the right direction, or will my idea work?” This is where meaningful learning happens. As students collaborate, reflect, iterate, and refine their ideas, they begin to move toward understanding. They take the journey from learning about a problem to becoming problem solvers.
As Dr. Joyce Van Tassel-Baska reminds us, “If we encourage students to reflect on their own learning as a routine part of the process, they will develop habits of mind that advance their thinking and motivate them to clarify their understanding about different issues and topics.” The very art of reflection helps students to make sense of these liminal moments. They recognize that their thinking has changed, and new thinking and even new questions begin to emerge.
So why does this matter? As educators, our role isn’t to eliminate that uncertainty. It’s an important part of the learning process. Our role is to create an environment where students are safe and able to take risks as they wrestle in that state of liminality to challenge ideas, ask questions, test theories, and learn from their mistakes through reflection. When we create that safe place, we help students develop the confidence they need in both the academic world and in those sites of uncertainty throughout their lives.
Want to apply these strategies in the classroom? Consider creating questions using the 4 Question Strategy by Dr. VanTassel-Baska (VanTassel-Baska, J. (2014)) based on the work of J.P. Guildford (1967):
- Cognition (Who? What? When? Where?): What is the name of the nuclear plant in Japan that was compromised by the tsunami?
- Convergence (Why? How?): What factors accounted for the series of explosions that rocked the plant?
- Divergence (What if? Pretend?): If you were a worker assigned to the plant, how would you react to the crisis?
- Evaluative (Which is better or best?): In your opinion, should nuclear energy be promoted as an energy source, given its demonstrated dangers? Why or why not?
References
Center for Engaged Learning. (2019, June 14). Threshold concepts and liminality [Video]. Center for Engaged Learning. Center for Engaged Learning: Threshold Concepts and Liminality
Dweck, C. S. (2006). Mindset: The new psychology of success. Random House.
Flanagan, M. (n.d.). Threshold concepts: Liminality. University College London. UCL Threshold Concepts: Liminality
Meyer, J. H. F., & Land, R. (2005). Threshold concepts and troublesome knowledge (2): Epistemological considerations and a conceptual framework for teaching and learning. Higher Education, 49(3), 373–388. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-004-6779-5
Harvard Project Zero. (n.d.). Visible Thinking. Harvard Graduate School of Education.
VanTassel-Baska, J. (2014). Artful inquiry: The use of questions in working with the gifted. Gifted Child Today, 37(1), 26–38.
