I am fascinated by this approach. I wish it had been taught to me when I was young, as I always struggled to learn. I had a brother who got straight A’s in every class he took. He never seemed to do homework, he never opened books, he wrote his own algebraic equations and came up with the right answers. Me? I was the exact opposite. I couldn’t memorize, I was in math for dummies, tutors tried to help, but not too much avail. The methods that I was taught were not working for a guy like me. It wasn’t until I went to Seminary and did online learning that things changed. I was able to learn in a different way altogether. One that made sense to me, and I thrived. It was contrary to how I was taught so many years ago.<\/p>\n
My analogy to what this book represents is the two ways to learn a language. Memorize words and phrases while adapting to different tenses, or total immersion, where you must jump in and learn. Neither method is for everyone. Some prefer one over another. Give me immersion!! Get me out of the box!!<\/p>\n
“The transformative character of threshold concepts reflects the way in which they can change an individual\u2019s perception of themselves as well as their perception of a subject\u201d [1] <\/a>Living in my brother’s shadow, I thought I was dumb. With the threshold concept, to make sense of a subject and view it through a different lens to where I understood it and can even ask questions and challenge my understanding of it would have changed my view of myself and probably created a very different future for me.<\/p>\n I loved Coven\u2019s statement in the video of our need “to understand that questions are more important than answers”[2]<\/a>.\u00a0 I believe I learned that when I was working with AI a couple weeks ago, looking for books on my project. I could ask one question and get plenty of books and articles to read, but then I would ask a deeper question and get better choices, then do it again. I have never done that – I always just take the easy road and what is placed in front of me. Asking questions allows me to “move towards the confusion”[3], as Covet says in his video.\u00a0 I stay awake at night, worried about the unknowns and confusion. Learning how to move towards it to understand it better will only help me.<\/p>\n In his Ted talk, Robert Coven says, “threshold concept – what is missing is more important than what is known”[4]<\/a>. I want to apply\u00a0that to my project. The 12-step program of Alcoholics Anonymous is known.\u00a0 When someone enters the program, they are inundated with people telling them that the only way to be sober is to work the steps. That they will “work if you work it.” But at the same time, the elephant in the room is the success rate of AA, which is only 5-10%, and no one asks why. What is the unknown reason for this? As someone wanting to go deep with this, how can I push people towards asking why? If they were to quit being force-fed what has been practiced for almost 100 years (with terrible success rates, but is the best option out there) and learn to start asking deeper questions, my hope is that they would discover, as one of the founders Bill W, so clearly states, spiritual transformation is the ONLY way to become sober. That is not discussed in meetings.<\/p>\n Even Celebrate Recovery, which is a scriptural-based program, does not talk about spiritual transformation. They are all about community, which is also very important. What would teaching centering prayer or meditation look like or giving them spiritual tools to deal with stress? That, to me, would be the threshold concept. To see that prayer, meditation, and seeking the Lord can and will take away the desire to drink or use. Learning that by doing and not white-knuckling the desires away. It is that \u201cAha!!\u201d moment that I don\u2019t know how many people in recovery ever feel. I always found meetings to be a lot of people feeling sorry for themselves (certainly not all). They call everyone that is not an alcoholic, a \u201cnormie\u201d, which in my mind, makes them think they are \u201cless than\u201d. They are not. They are God\u2019s creation. They need that \u201caha\u201d moment to know who they are in Christ.<\/p>\n [1] Jan H.F. Meyer and Ray Land,\u00a0Overcoming Barriers to Student Understanding: Threshold Concepts and Troublesome Knowledge<\/em>. New York: Routledge, 2006.<\/p>\n 2 Breaking Through: Threshold Concepts as a Key to Understanding | Robert Coven | TEDx Cary Academy<\/em>, 2018, https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=GCPYSKSFky4..<\/p>\n 3 Ibid<\/p>\n 4 Ibid<\/p>\n