What the heck are threshold concepts and why do they matter???
Howdy! Y’all ever hear about threshold concepts?? no?? that’s okay, let’s learn!
First, what even are they and why do they matter? The book Naming What We Know: Threshold Concepts of Writing Studies, edited by Linda Adler-Kassner and Elizabeth Wardle, is where I first really learned about this jazz. You should read it too if you want more info after this post.
Now let's talk about them! There are five of 'em and they’re pretty neat. To begin, we’ve got Transformative! This concept is about how writing changes the way you think and view the world. Which is true. We read to learn and write to share, communicating all sorts of rad stuff. We write for people to read, meaning we create our audiences as well as our text. You can’t have readers if you don’t share! SHARE! (concept 1.2 for those interested) Your voice is important and interesting! Your words change the world! Isn’t that cool!?
Next is Irreversible. Nothing you say or write publically can be unsaid. Which means you need to think about what impact your words will have. Some of us are better at this than others. (personally, i recommend being kind and accepting of people and writing for everyone to enjoy. I'm only intolerant of intolerance) What we write is a representation of ourselves and the world we live in, from thoughts to emotions and events(concept 2.1, friendos). You gotta make sure you’ re sharing what you want to share and how you want it to come across.
Integrative is number 3, and it’s all about how writing is a way to understand and learn. Everything you write will be informed by your prior experience(3.3) and it’s linked to your identity. Every writer is different because we’ve all lived different lives. Writing is deeply personal and dependant on the individual writer’s experiences.
Concept 4 is that writing is Bounded. This kinda ties into the last one. There is always more to learn(4.0). Authors are limited in their knowledge and ability and are often told to write what they know for this reason. To get better, they practice, revise, edit, and are constantly learning. This also means that you can increase what you know through reading/speaking/doing and the like, therefore giving you more to write about! Also, good encouragement to get out there and try new things! Travel, try cooking something new, study a new topic, read a new book series, work on what you’ve been writing, etc.
The last one is... Troublesome. No, really!!! People resist learning if the ideas shared with them are not compatible with their own. Writing is a social and cognitive act(5.0), so it makes sense that in a social situation with many people, not all will agree with each other fully. It’s unfortunate, especially when it comes to big topics, like global warming or misogyny or homophobia. Instead of trying to understand, people trap themselves in incorrectness by thinking about what they think about, but that is not real cognition, real learning (5.2). That’s a person convincing themselves that they are correct, even when they’re not by having mental conversations with themselves.
Anyway, these are the writing threshold concepts! I hope you learned something. I know I did! If there is anything you don’t understand or think is incorrect, let me know! Let’s learn together! Let’s hope tumblr doesn’t completely end, right? haha. oh well.
