By: Caleb Lu on January 25, 2023
Edwin Friedman’s A Failure of Nerve continues to pique my interest in how it presents good leadership as a journey of discovering one’s own identity as an exercise of self-differentiation. As I examined the book for a second time, the chapter on “the fallacies of self”[1] helped to clarify the balance that must be struck…
By: Denise Johnson on January 25, 2023
One of the apparently pressing issues within the privilege of Western culture today is that of gender identity. I have now been living in the US for more than a year and this topic and all the focus on it leaves me in unfamiliar territory grappling for handholds within an emotional hotbed of discussions. My…
By: Kayli Hillebrand on January 25, 2023
The Genesis of Gender: A Christian Theory by Dr. Abigail Favale dives into the topics of gender theory including feminism and gender dysphoria, offering a perspective on a biblical framework that has developed out of her personal experiences. She writes of her conversion to Catholicism and how profound an impact it had on her worldview…
By: Pam Lau on January 25, 2023
The key to learning new concepts in any discipline is the realization that communication consists of confident competency. It is the orientation of all effort of what we give our lives to that builds not only our knowledge, but our competency. As I listened to the TED Talk by Robert Devon as he asked the…
By: David Beavis on January 25, 2023
On the morning of December 5th, 2022, I received a text from a friend of mine introducing me to ChatGPT. His wife was preparing a sermon that week. She asked for my help in collecting research material for her message. She promised me a $5 Starbucks gift card. I would have done it for free.…
By: Eric Basye on January 25, 2023
Dr. Abigail Favale’s spiritual journey has undoubtedly been intriguing. Raised in an evangelical home and having attended George Fox University to study Philosophy, Favale began to question Scripture and the role of women. In time, she was lured away from the faith entirely by feminism, to which she would testify that she lost herself for…
By: Jenny Dooley on January 25, 2023
I’m not a trekkie! I’ve never been a Star Trek fan. I don’t particularly like science fiction. Back to the Future is as far as I go. To the trekkies out there, please don’t take offense. My family is full of Star Trek lovers. Believe me, I have viewed all iterations of Star Trek dating…
By: Cathy Glei on January 25, 2023
When I think about threshold concepts and the idea of moving through a threshold like a portal, I imagine teleportation, you know like in Doctor Who, Back to the Future . . . not sure why. When I think about portals, I think about a tardis maybe? When my three daughters were teenagers, they loved…
By: Greg McMullen on January 24, 2023
As we go through the doctoral program, we learn and apply from each book we read, blog, and discuss. I have personally found that I am learning a great deal through my colleagues. In Monday’s zoom class, I again realized what a gift it is to be in this program. How do I slow down…
By: Andy Hale on January 24, 2023
Where do we get our concept of most things within society? What determines whether or not something becomes a societal norm? What about all of these matters from a theological perspective? What about when you raise these questions for the subject of gender? Modern gender theory is complex as more platforms have been created…
By: Tim Clark on January 23, 2023
Recently I watched the 2016 film “The Arrival” in which 12 extraterrestrial spacecraft visit Earth. Mild spoiler alert: It turns out that how people engage with the aliens leads to a major threshold moment for humanity and alters the course of history. Last week I read the story of Jacob in Genesis. Jacob sent everything…
By: John Fehlen on January 23, 2023
I considered titling this blog post “Threshold Concepts for Dummies” because after reading these two extensive and comprehensive books I felt like, well…a dummy. I’m not being self-deprecating; I honestly felt dumb. I’ve been reading, thinking, studying, and pontificating large biblical/theological concepts for many, many years, and yet I have not been exposed to this…
By: Kim Sanford on January 23, 2023
The term threshold concepts inherently speaks of movement and flow from one place to another. Learners have a “transformative” experience where they understand previously “troublesome” knowledge, often by “integrating” concepts from multiple disciplines. The result of this experience is an “irreversible” clarity that is nonetheless “bounded”[i]. If that definition was a bit opaque at first,…
By: Mathieu Yuill on January 23, 2023
I wondered while watching the TEDx video if Dr. Coven has the gift of prophecy as he described the idea of a threshold concept as he used the example of a new driver learning to drive. My son is 17 and about to embark on in-car driving lessons. However, the journey to get him to…
By: Russell Chun on January 23, 2023
Бар’єри для навчання та момент «Ага», (Ukrainian) Barriers to Education and the Aha moment Part 1 – Barriers to Education (from an ESL perspective) I teach Ukrainian refugees on job training on Wednesdays. Mondays and Wednesdays I teach Central and South Americans in Intermediate Grammar. As an English as a Second Language teacher, I am…
By: Laura Fleetwood on January 21, 2023
“You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to PUT OFF YOUR OLD SELF, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be MADE NEW in the attitude of your minds and to PUT ON THE NEW SELF, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.” EPHESIANS 4:22-24 According to Forbes…
By: Kristy Newport on January 21, 2023
Doctor Seuss’ books were a favorite growing up. I remember a less popular Doctor Seuss book titled: “Are You My Mother?” As a young child I thought it was pretty silly to follow the main character, a little bird, on his journey to find who his mother was. Asking who my mother is could be…
By: Jonathan Lee on January 20, 2023
Mining for Gold is a book on developing Christian leaders through coaching written by Tom Camacho. Tom Camacho started his leadership experience first in the military as an officer and a pilot, then moved on to human resources and leadership development role in the GE corporate world. Then into answering the calling to the ministry…
By: Caleb Lu on January 20, 2023
What’s the difference between pastoring and coaching? I have to admit that I have held a negative view of coaching born from life-coaches who have taken advantage of and given horrible advice to my sister-in-law. Tom Camacho’s Mining for Gold gave me a new perspective on coaching. At its core, Camacho states that “mining for…
By: Chad McSwain on January 20, 2023
“We always look for the next person up.” This rang through my ears with enough pure elation that it would be an understate to say that it made my day. It was said to me by a women in her seventies as we debriefed interviewing candidates for an open staff position. She said it with…
