Learning in

the Spaces

Lauren Hermann 
University of Missouri
Spring 2018
LTC 8767
Harmony is between
the folds/liminal
space...the threshold;
where the chaos and
panic clear, and the
organic moments
where you are
connected to the
universe, allow you to
be the best version of
yourself.
TABLE OF

contents

01 Introduction 
02 Thinking with Theory
03 Teaching and Learning
04 Creative Endeavors
05 Summary

i
Because I am of the belief that there are no consequences in this life, it
was not by happenstance that this course...or maybe this project, came
at the end of my very first year as a doctoral student at Mizzou. Having
the opportunity to reflect on the past year and the learning and growing
that has taken place has been a welcome challenge, and honestly, not
one I might have undertaken had I not had the chance. 

I have the utmost gratitude for the teachers, mentors, and students that
have entered my journey in various ways, imparting wisdom, support,
love, and comic relief ...and maybe more grey hair(undergrads).  I also
need to mention my precious family, who has made sacrifices with my
class schedule, endless amounts of grading, reading, and projecting, 
and my absence at some of their important events.  I hope that this
temporary inconvenience models for them the importance of following
dreams, pursuing challenging things, the power of education, and the
idea that we are learners our entire lives.

I came across a quote which appears to be anonymous, but it summed

up my year, this course, and where I am in my journey. "Maybe the
journey isn't so much about becoming anything. Maybe its about un-
becoming everything that isn't really you so you can be who you were
meant to be in the first place."  I think this is what learning and living in
the spaces really means.

Lauren Hermann
Doctoral Student
Graduate Teaching Assistant
Art Education
ii
Introduction
to the 
work...
If I have learned anything over the course of the last two semesters, it has
been that in order for this all to make sense...I need to shift my gaze.
The work isn't work if what you
are working on fulfills you,
challenges you, and pushes you to
consider your knowing
differently.  Learning how to shift
your gaze and consider your onto-
epistomological self is definitely
not for the faint of heart. It is
challenging, and causes an
individual to spend serious time in
reflective thinking.  I cannot in
good conscience just speak of
reflective thinking. As an artist,
the doing and the making are just
as much a part of reflective
practice, and in the same ways as
thinking and writing,  can
produce powerful ways with
which we learn to see.
As I poured over all of the blog
entries, the artworks, and the
reflections from the course of this
semester, there seemed to be a
common thread popping up in
each one. There was a focus on
the uncomfortable nature of
learning; the tipping point where
something is either problematic
or becomes clear.  I was drawing
connections  to other ideas
learned previously,  and in some
ways, those  connections led to
more questions to be answered
and problems to be solved.  I
settled on the idea that what I
was doing...what I knew... was that
the intersections of my knowing,
learning, and being were being
developed, pushed, and shaped in
the spaces in between.
This led to my investigative
question. How does reflection
push arts educators into the
spaces where intersections
connect knowing/learning, and
being? 
The answer to this is obviously
different for every person. In my
case, the combination of the
reflective writing, reading theory,
and participating in creative
expression of these ideas caused
the shift in my gaze and pushed
me into the spaces between,
where I was able to separate my
identities and see the bigger
picture so to speak. This clarity,
the space where I figured it out,
belongs to no one or no thing..it
just is.
"Reflection
emancipates us from
the ideas or beliefs
that hold us hostage in
realizing our full
potential."
There is no linear way to discuss
this. As the theories would
suggest, the rhizomatic nature of
learning and the intersections are
not linear. They are web like with
no beginning and no end. The
next pages go into detail
regarding my findings and are in
no particular order, for there is no
order in this way of knowing.
01
 Patricia Detmerling
Thinking
The past two semesters, I have
been introduced to theories that
have challenged my very being
with
and at times caused me to
completely upend what I always
thought to be true. What I have
Theory
come to know, is that theories are
the lenses with which we look at
our world. Theory helps us explain
phenomena based on our
situatedness. I have even
Thinking reflected through the discovered that a single idea can
lenses of the threshold, liminal have several interpretations based
space and the rhizome. on the theory one is applying. John
Shotter's work addresses this idea
and he writes, "...we will use our
theories descriptively as aids to
noticing what might otherwise
pass us by" (Shotter, 2014, p. 321).
fTo this end, I am attempting to
use the theories of the threshold,
liminal space, and the rhizome to
more fully explore my noticing and
thinking; a way to find patterns and
similarities and connect what may
appear to be disparate thoughts.
Land, Rattray and Vivian describe
the theory of the threshold as a
"conceptual gateway...that is
transformative, integrative and
irreversible" (Land, Rattray, &
Vivian, 2014, p.200). My
understanding of this theory is the
idea of being pushed right to the
edge of the clearing. The space
between what you knew and what
you know or will know. Parker
Palmer describes this as an ability
to hold tension in life-giving ways.
In the space between those ways of
knowing, one experiences
discomfort, confusion and
ultimately clarity as they move
through the threshold into the new
state of knowing. The discomfort
in this space is often difficult for
learners who must relinquish their
previously held ideas which causes
a conceptual and ontological shift.
This idea aligns with the thinking
that we are what we know. Shotter
discusses this to an extent as he
writes, "the aim of our inquiries
will not be to solve problems, but to
overcome difficulties of
orientation" (Shotter, 2014. p.321).
Liminal Space is often discussed as
a part of the threshold, as a way to
characterize the actions of the
space. I find myself thinking about
the threshold in terms of what it is
and what it does. Liminal space, in
my opinion, addresses the doings
of the threshold. Liminal space is
fluid and unsettling. I can best
describe this by thinking that is
constantly coming in and out of
focus. There have been times for
all of us when we think we
understand something, only to
.move onto the next problem or the
next paragraph and be frustrated
that what we thought we
understood, we suddenly do not.
This is the feeling of the liminal
space. Other authors describe the
liminal space as a state of
enlightenment.
02

"To live inquiry in
the liminal space
is to be present
in a heightened
state of being, as
if immersed in
luminiferous
ether"  thresholds and liminal space.  directs us into our rhizomatic
To live inquiry in the liminal
space is to be present in a
heightened state of being, as if
immersed in luminiferous ether"  appreciation, action and re-
(Sameshima & Irwin, 2008, p. 4).    appreciation...during and/or after
In this way, when I situate myself
as a learner and thinker in the
liminal space, I can consider all of
the possibilities and connections
which create dynamic pathways
to learning and understanding.
The corresponding theory I will
investigate is the theory of the
rhizome. Philosophers Gilles
Deleuze  and Félix Guattari have
written extensively on this theory.
They write, "The rhizome is
reducible neither to the one nor
the multiple…it is comprised not of
units but of dimensions, or rather
directions in motion" (University of
Chicago, n.d.).  The rhizome is an
unbounded network with no
beginning, no end, and no center.
it is web like, multiplicitous,
offering infinite ways of knowing
and connecting.  The rhizome
explains the idea that the things
we value knowing are the things
that we can not easily point to.
They cause us to rely on multiple
connections and experiences to be
able to explain.  "Harmony is in between the
As I was trying to adequately
understand the connection
between the rhizome and the
threshold/liminal space, I came
upon the work of Foucault.  yourself". Harmony, in this context
Focault argues in his theory of
other spaces "that we are no
longer living in a world of time
that moves forward, but in
networks of places opening onto
one other" (Sudrajat, 2012).  I came
to the conclusion that my thinking
of the intersections of learning is a
rhizomatic approach with the
spaces in between those
intersections operating as
Reflection itself, one could argue,
is an exercise through which both
theories operate. Zeichner and
Liston, in Reflective Teaching,
articulate, "...the process of
reflection spirals through stages of
their actions, they reinterpret and
reframe their situation on the
basis of their experience trying to
change it...they look at experiences
from a new perspective" (Zeichner
& Liston, 2014, p. 17-18).
In one of  my blog posts, I write, "I
was forced to re-frame and re-
position my thinking to consider
alternate possibilities...reflecting
on what's important often times
require us to investigate our own
personal truths and beliefs". This
statement speaks to making that
cognitive and ontological shift;
evidence of discomfort in the
threshold, but the multiplicity in
"possibilities" speaks to the
rhizome. 
We watched a TED talk by Shekhar
Kapur who discussed the idea of a
story in terms of contradictions. 
He says that we are not looking for
resolutions to stories, rather, we
are looking for harmony. In my
reflection of that video, I write,
folds...the space where the chaos
and panic clear and the organic
moments where you are
connected to the universe allow
you to be the best version of
and out of this reflection, is
nothing more than the emergence
from the threshold into the new
state of knowing. Reflection, as I
write, "emancipates us from the
ideas or beliefs that hold us
hostage in realizing our full
potential as people and teachers".
Reflection as an exercise assists us
in moving through the liminal
space into the threshold which
network.
03
 Thoughts on
Teaching and
Learning

"A person caught

within the frame of
dualism will be
confined in his
thinking to only two
alternatives"
-Uhl

04
As I was going through all of my
data, it became clear that a
central topic of this course was
teaching and learning, which
focused on practitioner reflection
as a catalyst for building more
effective, inquiry driven teachers.
It is fair to say that educators
cannot possibly be effectively
reflective, if they are unwilling to
deeply examine and interrogate
what their own belief systems
are.  There were very clear
noticings of my thinking through
theory in the blog posts regarding
teaching and learning.
As Zeichner and Liston write,
"...teachers practical theories, their
assumptions about students,
learning, schools, and the
communities that their schools
serve, are continually formulated
and reexamined when teachers
engage in a process of action and
reflection" (Zeichner and Liston,
2014, p. 26).   In my reflection I
write, " This idea of a teacher's
practical theory is not new to  me,
honestly though, I'm not sure I
have heard it referred in such a
way or realized that what I was
thinking and doing was related to
theory".  says.
In this one statement, there is
evidence of  the re-envisioning of
previous knowledge in a new way;
The realization of understanding  the creation and logging of my
that I was in fact working through
practical theories, was a threshold
moment.  strategies to help them better
We spent some time defining the
word teacher. What is it and what
does it mean. If I am thinking
within the rhizome, there is no
distinct meaning as the meaning
changes depending on context
and situatedness. My realization
of this idea came through as I
wrote, "a teacher is a relationship
which creates a place where
teacher and student can partner
on a journey of learning. Foucault
would call this the "other space".  stepping into the liminal space to
In the series of articles we read by
Olivia Gude, she mentioned one
of my favorite thinkers, Bourriaud,
and his theory of relational
aesthetics. Gude writes,
"...teachers create spaces within
which students and others in the
school community can interact
and create new knowledge..."
(Gude, 2013, p. 14).  My definition
of teacher aligns with what Gude
One way over the course of the
semester where this was seen and
challenged happened through
goal. My goal was to help
students find and implement
interrogate their reasoning
through reflection and group
context. This goal in itself is
rhizomatic through the use of
reflection and the ideas of the
network of classmates.   As I was
going through my reflection log
regarding the goal, I noticed that I
was surprised to have a view of
students as they were working.  
As I shifted my gaze to a new
perspective, it was like purposely
observe the bigger picture and try
to understand what was
happening.  I wrote, "I have come
to realize that they (students) are
in the tensions of learning new
ideas and grappling with
concepts they have never
considered before". I had to check
the idea that I had moved beyond
the threshold, but they weren't
there, creating yet a new tension,
as I had to walk back through the
space with them to understand.
05
creative
endeavors
Educational Lineage
Visual Metaphor
Post Modern Portrait

06
Educational
Lineage
Create a visual representation of your educational lineage
My journey back to focusing on my
creative practice has been a lesson on
liminal space and the threshold in
and of itself.  The first study we read
by Henriksen and  Mishra discussed
the practice of creativity. They write,
"creativity is as much a decision about
an attitude toward life as it is a matter
of ability" (Henriksen & Mishra, 2013,
p. 6).  As I was thinking through this , I
considered that the challenge in my
own practice is to get out of my own
head.  Shekhar Kapur also talks about  teacher, and also how I see the
getting out of your mind to stimulate
creativity. He puts himself in
moments of panic on purpose.  The
panic and discomfort that he speaks
of ...the same one that  pushes me out
of my head is the liminal space.
My lineage artwork centers around
those that inspired me on my journey;
the ones that opened my eyes to new
possibilities.  I write,  "we carry these
experiences with us and they surface
at various times throughout our life",
much like the idea of the rhizome. As
our experiences layer over each other,
the web like structure of the rhizome
takes over pulling from it the
experiences we need as we need
them.  become really important for me as a
Bees are both leaders and followers at
the same time and work in
harmonious ways. The nature of bees
and the hive is  a rhizomatic system
which speaks to the network of
educators in my life.  spaces/threshold in my network
I write about this hive mentality in
my blog in that it represents, the 
"series of people in my collective".  I
may have  originally thought about
them in chronological fashion, but the
experiences I draw from their
inspiration are not.
As I thought about the piece in total,
the evidence of my theoretical shift
kept growing. I write, "the spaces have
connections. The rhizomatic path of
all of the connections made, leave me
finding meaning in the intersections;
the spaces between the hive". The idea
of the pulling in and out of the liminal
allows me to continue making new
connections.
07

The visual metaphor project was
an interesting project to think
about. What does my classroom
look and feel like. At first sight, I
wasn't sure how much theory I
might be able to investigate this
artwork through. As I dug into the
literature, I became overwhelmed
by my discovery.
In my blog post I write,
"dreamcatchers are positioned to
allow the dreams to be caught as
they drift by...this idea of
drifting...big dreams take time;
they drift, allowing you the time
to prepare yourself to learn/grow."
I continue writing about the
layers of paint in the background
as they "speak to the layers of .
learning and transforming." it
wasn't until investigation of
Sameshima and irwin that the
significance became clear.
"A/R/tographers are not
straddling between two or three
roles, but are constructing the
liminal space by articulating and
traveling the borderlands in
James Corners three
contemporary thematic mapping
practices...drift, layering
and rhizome" (Sameshima &
Irwin, 2008, p. 7). Even as I write
this, I am still trying to process
this theoretical underpinning of
my work I didn't know existed
(threshold moment).  Corner's
work also addresses the layers, "or
a living grid of layered planes
made up of contextual points
which one can ricochet up, down,
across and between so that
liminality becomes
multidimensional across space
and time" (Sameshima & Irwin,
2008, p. 6).  This was surprising to
me as I had not considered the
layering to be considered both
rhizomatic and liminal, yet my
network now grows with new
connections.  bearers of light", justify the idea of
The abstract nest built inside of
the dream catcher was meant
originally to be a foundation, one
role that I embody for students.
The nest itself, rhizomatic in
nature, creates multiple entry
points for students depending on
how they need to be supported.  prompt of what the classroom
If I think to the idea of the
A/R/tographer,
Visual
Metaphor
Imagine and create a
metaphor which might
represent the idea that your
classroom is a living, breathing
organism
I can see the rhizome. In my blog I
wrote, my role as the teacher
could be embodied by the
characteristics of the light, the
bird or the nest depending on the
perspective. This thinking is
similar to  the A/R/Tographer in
which we are traveling between
and through these roles
simultaneously. I can't help but
also see the students in my
classroom as A/R/tographers,
traversing through their own
liminal spaces as they begin to
create their mappings of learning
and experiencing. 
The words on the top of the
dreamcatcher, "wise shall be the
being able to hold tension in life
giving ways.  The illuminated
experiences in the threshold 
create new thinking and learning
(wise).  After looking at this art
piece through a new lens, I find it
increasingly more meaningful
and more appropriate to the
embodies.
08
Post Modern
portrait
Create a portrait that embodies your creative process, parallels between art making and teaching, what
keeps you coming back each day to teach and post modern ideas

This project was probably one of my In my blog reflection about this piece, I After I had affixed the flowers to the
favorites to do for a number of write, "discomfort comes from the face, my youngest son
reasons. I  enjoy using mixed media anxiety of the what ifs-the process of was perplexed. "I like it, it's just
but challenged myself to use paper in figuring things out is uncomfortable". unexpected".  Even in others, the
a new way, of which I was previously With the finished portrait, the process  process causes discomfort as they are
unfamiliar. Additionally, because of photos of the work in progress are trying to discern new ways of looking. 
the sheer time that it took to together, a visual representation of
complete, I was able to draw my someone moving through the layers The rhizome became apparent in the
children into the process of watching of liminal spaces, crossing thresholds summary on my blog. "In my portrait,
the idea take shape which proved to when the solutions become  visible gaze has become important-How am I
cement some of the ideas I have been and considering the many layers of looking out to the world? How is the
discussing.  process, allow one to see the world looking at me?  Being open to
rhizomatic nature of  creative work. conceptual and ontological shifts
Choosing to use materials in a new The intersections of knowing and allows us to operate in these spaces,
way forced me into the space of doing  lead to  thinking and connecting intersections and networks and to be
tension, the process of pushing and perceiving in new and dynamic considering both answers to that
creativity...the foggy liminal space.  ways.   question concurrently.  09
A Summary
What does this all mean and why should I care?
The past two semesters in both
artistic research and the art of teacher
reflection have shifted my thinking
and produced significant growth in
ways I could have never imagined.  ends."  Entering the assemblage-the
The emphasis on the reflective  rhizome- is supposed to be like this.
practices of educators  in this course
has opened up the SPACE for me to be
able to  investigate and celebrate new
thinking and ways of seeing in a way
which would never have been
possible had I not taken this on.  As I
was re-reading all of my blog posts, it
became apparent in several ways that
even at the time I was writing
reflections to individual projects, I
was connected to the thread of ideas
that was the bigger picture.  space alters in every
I write, "The readings and artworks
have forced an introspective look  at
myself and my beliefs about being in
the world which has no other benefit
than to change me and how I see
myself and others-so the question I
now ask myself when I encounter a
reading, a difficult situation, etc...is
what it this trying to teach me"?  I was
focused on the word forced in this
reflection. Not seeing it in a negative
light, but an intention on my part and
your part too, I assume, to  deliver
myself to the liminal spaces.  Hazy,
struggling, hand out trying to find my
way  through the layers and
pathways...the connections and
intersections to the threshold...so that
I now have the ability to answer the
question, what is this trying to teach
me?
I continued on in a separate post, "It
has become almost impossible for me
to consider where my knowledge in
one area of my education begins and
The letting go and getting out of your
head is the same as resisting the
duality that something has to be
either/or...why not both?  Even the
format with which I am reflecting;
the magazine is an assemblage,
rhizomatic in nature with many
entry points.
"Each persons liminal
moment of changing
light, stance and
context." (Sameshima &
Irwin, 2008. p. 11) 
Our connections are created at the
intersections, strengthened and
become part of us. Pauline Sameshima
puts this beautifully,"I know at once,
the imaginary edges are side by side
and yet there is infinite depth
between myself...and the possible
passages of pedagogy...the task for us
all is to develop spaces...to find,
articulate and render congruencies-
the edges where we touch"
(Sameshima & Irwin, 2008, p. 11). 
  
10
Discovering
Thinking with theory allows us to wonder, explore and encounter new
noticings in our work. Even re-examining the pieces in my artworks
from the semester allowed me to go through the cycle of re-flection
and deepen my understanding.

11
 References

Gude, O. (2013, January). New school Henriksen, D., & Mishra, P. (2013).
art styles: The project of art education. We teach who we are: Creativity in
Art Education, 6-15. the lives and practices of
Accomplished teachers. Teachers
Land, R., Rattray, J., & Vivian, P. (2014). College Record, 117, 1-46.
Learning in the liminal space: A
semiotic approach to threshold
concepts. High Education, 67, 199-217. Sameshima, P., & Irwin, R. (2008).
doi:10.1007/s10734-013-9705-x Rendering dimensions of a liminal
currere. Transnational Curriculum
Inquiry, 5(2), 1-15. Retrieved from
Shotter, J. (2014). Agential realism,
http://nitinat.library.ubc.ca/ojs/index.
social constructionism, and our
php/tci
living relations to our surroundings:
Sensing similarities rather than
Sudrajat, I. (2012). Foucalt, the other
seeing patterns. Theory &
spaces, and human behavior.
Psychology, 24(3), 305-325. doi:10.1
Procedia Social and Behavior
177/0959354313514144
Sciences, 36, 28-34.
Uhl, C., & Stuchul, D. L. (2011).
University of Chicago. (n.d.). Rhizome:
Teaching as if life matters: The
The chicago school of media theory.
promise of a new education culture.
Retrieved from
Baltimore, MD: John Hopkins
https://lucian.uchicago.edu/blogs/me
University Press.
diatheory/keywords/rhizome/

Zeichner, K. M., & Liston, D. P. (2014).

Reflective teaching: An introduction
(2nd ed.). New York, NY: Taylor &
Francis.

12
"Artful Inquiry
enables research to
latch onto the heart
and to transpire
transformation"
-Sameshima & Irwin

13
 Lauren A. Hermann
University of Missouri
Spring 2018
LTC 8767