{"id":35160,"date":"2024-01-23T10:31:28","date_gmt":"2024-01-23T18:31:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/?p=35160"},"modified":"2024-01-23T18:10:18","modified_gmt":"2024-01-24T02:10:18","slug":"co-constructing-understanding-the-power-of-relational-learning-in-growing-faith-and-identity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/co-constructing-understanding-the-power-of-relational-learning-in-growing-faith-and-identity\/","title":{"rendered":"Co-constructing Understanding: The Power of Relational Learning in Growing Faith and Identity"},"content":{"rendered":"

I vaguely remember being in the choir room at the church where I grew up in northern NJ. The folding chairs were on risers where the choir members sat and rehearsed on Sunday mornings, including my parents. I remember peering cautiously beneath the risers, wondering if I could hide underneath them.<\/span><\/p>\n

I must have been about three or four years old.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

That\u2019s how many years I\u2019ve been going to church at least 48 Sundays – or more – every year of my life.<\/span><\/p>\n

When I was old enough to go to school, my parents sent me (and later, my younger sisters) to a private Christian school through fourth grade. That\u2019s where I learned all the books of the Old Testament by heart, and the stories of the key figures like Daniel, David, Noah, Jesus, Moses, and my namesake, Deborah.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I also remember sneaking the big children\u2019s Bible into my bedroom at night and reading the stories by the sliver of the hall light that shined into my room\u2026 until my parents would catch me and send me to sleep.<\/span><\/p>\n

So I have always known a lot ABOUT the Bible. The stories. The people. The facts.<\/span><\/p>\n

But I didn\u2019t know how to read the Bible for understanding. For new perspectives. For transformation.<\/span><\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t until I reached my 50s that someone showed me how to read the Bible\u2026 and explained about God\u2019s love.<\/span><\/p>\n

Sure, I\u2019d read a few books before then that explained God\u2019s love. But without a relationship with a human being who was willing to demonstrate that love in person, it was all just words.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

That\u2019s the key: transformation is based on relationships. <\/span>Joyful<\/span><\/i> relationships.<\/span><\/p>\n

In <\/span>Overcoming Barriers to Student Understanding<\/span><\/i>, contributing author David Perkins explains about someone who is a social learner: \u201c<\/span>Constructivists often emphasise that knowledge and understanding are highly social. We do not construct\u00a0 them\u00a0 individually; we co-construct them in dialogue with others.\u201d<\/span> \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I have found this to be true. Learning that is transformational – that changes your heart and mind – is often co-constructed through relational interactions. In my case, when one person made an intentional investment in building a relationship with me based on studying scripture together, praying with and for each other, engaging in mission\/ministry together, and sharing regular table fellowship between us and with our families, my heart and mind were completely transformed. Those transformations led to transformed relationships with God and others, and that led to a very different trajectory in my life (even just eight years ago I never would have guessed I\u2019d be attending Portland Seminary!).<\/span><\/p>\n

Perkins continues, \u201cConsiderable research shows that active engagement in learning typically leads to better retention, understanding, and active use of knowledge. A social dimension to learning, what is sometimes called collaborative or co-operative learning often, although not always, fosters learning. Sometimes, engaging students in discovery or rediscovery processes energises them and yields deeper understanding.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

Perkins explains that social interaction and active engagement are factors that contribute to the retention of \u201cthreshold concepts.\u201d A threshold concepts framework is a theoretical framework that, once understood, transforms a learner\u2019s knowledge and understanding of a subject. These concepts are like a gateway or portal to deeper understanding. Once exposed to a threshold concept, the learner can never \u201cun-see\u201d it. The learner may also need to wrestle with this new knowledge as a \u201ctroublesome concept\u201d until it \u201cfits\u201d them. In that case, it\u2019s like taking off the old clothes and putting on a new set of clothes.<\/span><\/p>\n

What was this threshold concept with which I still sometimes wrestle? It can be found in Ephesians 4:<\/span><\/p>\n

20 <\/b>That, however, is not the way of life you learned <\/span>21 <\/b>when you heard about Christ and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. <\/span>22 <\/b>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; <\/span>23 <\/b>to be made new in the attitude of your minds; <\/span>24 <\/b>and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. (NIV)<\/span><\/p>\n

The woman who discipled me taught me through words, actions, and the study of God\u2019s word togher that I had a new identity: <\/span>beloved child of God.<\/span><\/i>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

That shift in identity is dependent on social learning to co-construct and co-create the new concept. That’s why discipleship is so powerful. It’s learning and doing life with another human being to co-learn and co-create a vague facsimile of the love that God has for us. <\/span><\/p>\n

I like the way Tom Camacho describes it. He begins by quoting Genesis 1:27-28:<\/span><\/p>\n

27 So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. 28 Then God blessed them, and God said to them, \u2018Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.\u2019 (Genesis 1:27\u201328, NKJV)<\/span><\/p>\n

Then Camacho explains the three \u201ckey components of our identity revealed in these verses:<\/span><\/p>\n

We are created in God\u2019s image (verse 27). We reflect him and who he is. We are made with intentional design to reflect our Creator God. We are created to thrive (verse 28). God wants us to be fruitful and multiply. His great desire for each of us is to come alive and live fruitfully. This is a critical truth. Thriving is not just for some people; it is for every person created in his image. We are created with a purpose (verse 28). Our purpose is to multiply and fill the earth with God\u2019s life and goodness. We are born to reveal him on the earth. We carry his image, we reflect him and we are his treasured possession. As we live in dynamic, loving relationship with God, the world will come to know him.\u00a0 Our identity in Christ gives us the confidence and freedom to discover what God has created us to do. To thrive, we must begin with who we are, then move towards what we are to do. Being always precedes doing. The discovery of our identity is the key that unlocks the door to our future.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

If that\u2019s not a threshold concept – that our identity as belonging to Christ helps us become who God created us to be – I don\u2019t know what is! And that\u2019s the power of this new identity.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

But it does require continuous nurturing through active engagement (doing ministry or mission work) and co-creating (doing it together).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In <\/span>Joy Starts Here; The Transformation Zone<\/span><\/i>, the authors state, \u201clife-changing, maturity-enhancing, joy-spreading changes in character and community happen when three conditions are present at the same time:<\/span><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. The weak and strong are together and interacting<\/span><\/li>\n
  2. Tender responses to weakness are the rule<\/span><\/li>\n
  3. The interactive presence of God (Immanuel) maintains shalom\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Joy is the feeling you get when someone is clearly delighted to see you and be with you. It is through this joyful togetherness – co-creating a new identity – that we can most effectively disciple others so they, too, can recognize that they are beloved children of God.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    Who co-created or co-creates this threshold concept in your life?<\/span><\/p>\n

    ========<\/p>\n

    1 David Perkins, “Constructivism and troublesome knowledge,” in J. Meyer and R. Land, <\/span>Overcoming Barriers to Student Understanding: Threshold Concepts and Troublesome Knowledge<\/span><\/i> (1st ed.; Routledge, 2006), 34, https:\/\/doi-org.georgefox.idm.oclc.org\/10.4324\/9780203966273.<\/span><\/p>\n

    2 \u00a0Perkins, <\/span>Overcoming Barriers to Student Understanding: Threshold Concepts and Troublesome Knowledge<\/span><\/i>, 35.<\/span><\/p>\n

    3 Tom Camacho. <\/span>Mining for Gold: Developing Kingdom Leaders through Coaching<\/span><\/i> (pp. 110-111). IVP. Kindle Edition.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    4 \u00a0E. James Wilder, Edward M. Khouri, Chris M. Coursey, Shelia D. Sutton. <\/span>Joy Starts Here; The Transformation Zone<\/span><\/i> (p. 65). Life Model Works. 2021.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    I vaguely remember being in the choir room at the church where I grew up in northern NJ. The folding chairs were on risers where the choir members sat and rehearsed on Sunday mornings, including my parents. I remember peering cautiously beneath the risers, wondering if I could hide underneath them. I must have been […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":197,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[2967,1429],"class_list":["post-35160","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-dlgp03","tag-meyer","cohort-dlgp03"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35160","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/197"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35160"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35160\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":35169,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35160\/revisions\/35169"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35160"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35160"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35160"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}