Educational issues, Vol. 8 No. 1, 2025.
Review article
https://doi.org/10.53577/oot.8.1.2
Community-Engaged Teaching and Learning through the Lens of Liminality: Multiple Positive Outcomes and Hidden Potential
Bojana Ćulum Ilić
; University of Rijeka, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
Maša Magzan
; University of Rijeka, Academy of Applied Arts
Abstract
Community engaged teaching and learning has been increasingly studied and analysed within various conceptual and theoretical frameworks during the past four decades. In this paper, we present some of the most dominant approaches while proposing the introduction of an additional conceptual and theoretical framework into the research agenda - liminality. Drawing on Turner's concept of liminality (1969), we examine its analytical potential in the context of Community engaged teaching and learning in higher education. Analysing the available research studies and empirical findings from an interdisciplinary standpoint, we emphasise the multiple positive effects of community engaged teaching and learning. The focus is on four key categories of learning outcomes: academic, personal, social, and civic (Conway, Amel, & Gerwien, 2009).
Turner (1969) defines liminality as a transitional phase marked by unclear boundaries between previous and future personal or social positions, in which individuals or groups exhibit ambiguous characteristics. It is a kind of an "in-between space" in which individuals abandon their usual identities and find themselves on the threshold of personal or social transformation. Turner's interpretation of liminality further enriches the existing theoretical framework because it emphasizes freedom, equality, community and creativity, which strongly coincides with the characteristics of courses rooted in community-based learning. Given that some authors criticize the lack of a more coherent theoretical framework for this learning model, the concept of liminality provides new analytical insights and expands the understanding of the transformative potential community engaged teaching and learning.
Keywords
: 1. liminality; 2. liminal experiences; 3. community-engaged learning; 4. transformative learning
Hrčak ID:
333828
URI
Publication date:
16.7.2025.
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