‘Dissolving Boundaries’ – An Analysis of Threshold Concepts Within Disability Theology

Abstract

This article focuses on an analysis of threshold concepts (TCs) within disability theology. It explores a range of ideas linked to TCs and the experience of people living with a disability (people LWD). The world in which Christian parishioners encounter people LWD (the focus of this article), could be described as a ‘liquid world’ which is fuzzy, uncertain, unstable and marked by ‘dissolving boundaries’ (Barnett, R. 2012. “The Coming of the Ecological Learner.” In Transitions and Transformations in Learning and Education, edited by P. Tynjälä, M.-L. Stenström and M. Saarnivaara, 9–20. Dordrecht, NL: Springer) The authors argue that, despite such boundaries, or perhaps because of them, certain thresholds need to be crossed by members of faith communities in order for a person LWD to feel as if he/she genuinely belongs to a community. Nevertheless it is acknowledged that some people involved might be both people LWD and parishioners. The three interrelated thresholds examined within this article are — empowerment, hospitality and neighbourliness. The article links these thresholds with TC theory, and also addresses two related topics — a definition of disability within the discipline of theology, and Jesus as the model for threshold crossing within the Christian tradition. Reflections on TCs in this article are deliberately grounded in the most recent collection of TC theory from Land, R., J. H. F. Meyer and M. T. Flanagan, editors. (2016. Threshold Concepts in Practice. Rotterdam, NL: Sense). Finally, the article considers some relevant, practical responses which, it is argued, members of Christian faith communities ought to consider, so that people LWD feel that they genuinely belong to that particular community. It concludes with a summary of key insights and some possible future research directions.

KEYWORDS:

• Australian Catholic Church
• belonging
• disability
• people living with a disability
• empowerment
• faith community
• hospitality
• neighbourliness
• other
• spirituality
• stranger
• theology
• threshold concepts (TCs)

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Zachariah Duke

Zachariah Duke recently completed his PhD at The University of Newcastle under the supervision of Dr Alex Beveridge and Emeritus Professor Terry Lovat. His thesis was entitled: ‘A critical analysis of a theology of disability in the Australian Catholic Church: a qualitative inquiry of contemporary inclusionary practices’. Zachariah's main areas of research are: practical theology, disability theology and ecclesiology and ethnography. Zachariah lectures in Theology at The Broken Bay Institute and is an active member of a number of different academic and professional associations, including the Association for Practical Theology in Oceania, the Australian Catholic Theological Association and the European Society for the Study of Theology and Disability.

Peter Mudge

Peter Mudge is Senior Lecturer in Religious Education and Spirituality at The Broken Bay Institute, Diocese of Broken Bay, and Conjoint Lecturer, School of Humanities and Social Science, The University of Newcastle, both in NSW, Australia. He has published over 50 academic articles and co-authored two series of religious education textbooks, Living Religion (5th edition 2017) and Out of the Desert. His areas of interest and research include: religious education, spirituality, TCs, connected knowing, transformative, critical and subversive pedagogies, studies of religion, interfaith/interbelief dialogue, philosophy in the classroom and the role of the arts and spirituality in religious education.