Gabriel Di Mauro, Secondary Principal
17 January 2025
There is little doubt that the term liminal enjoys far less popularity in modern discourse than its affix-adorned cousin subliminal. Many readers will have never heard these three syllables uttered together outside of Anthropology 101 or a toddler’s attempts at words like animal. And yet, this term conveys a concept we experience all the time – those moments in our lives that stand in between being and becoming. Borrowed from the Latin limen, meaning, ‘threshold,’ the liminal state is one in which a person has already left behind a former status but they have not yet acquired a new one. That person is said to be crossing a threshold of sorts. No longer outside, not yet inside.
Simple examples include a half-baked cake, the break of dawn, or waiting for a traffic light to turn from yellow to green. Complex examples include rites of passage (Anthropology 101), exchange of wedding vows, and, more broadly, adolescence as a developmental phase. These experiences are often filled with a range of emotions, including excitement, trepidation, anxiety, wonder, fear, joy, awe. With such a variety of strong emotions, it is no wonder that we seek to avoid or limit the time spent in liminal moments. And yet, under the right circumstances, these experiences present a great deal of opportunity for growth. The longer we can suspend judgement and embrace curiosity, for example, the more we gain in perspective and clarity.
But what are the right circumstances for learning and growth? This is, of course, the essential question that educators are forever posing. I could point to the IB Approaches to Teaching & Learning, or to the American Psychological Association’s top 20 Principles for the same, but I believe successful passage through liminal states requires something more: character. When I first visited ICS in August 2024, I was immediately struck by the four values that characterise the ICS kind of education: Welcoming, Humble, Resilient, Committed. I was drawn to these values because I believe they are imperative for successfully traversing liminal states.
To begin with, we are more successful when we are welcomed and when we welcome others to our community. We are one another’s greatest resources for knowledge, support, and perspective. A warm welcome encourages trust, risk-taking, vulnerability. In turn, this fosters humility, which is needed for questioning long-held beliefs and exploring new perspectives. Finally, in a welcoming environment characterised by humility, we can more readily develop the resilience and commitment needed to follow through to the other side of a liminal state. In other words, together, these values form the very substance of character that is required to not only survive, but thrive, in liminal spaces.
As a newcomer to ICS, I see a strong, vibrant community living out these values in big and small ways. I also see a community that has very much entered into a liminal phase as we pursue our strategic direction. I am especially excited to see the ways in which we continue to embody these values through periods of change. As many readers are aware, my family and I have also now entered several liminal phases of our lives; new job, new community, new home, new country. It is a source of great comfort to know that we do not cross these thresholds alone. Nor do we traverse them without direction or purpose. For my part, I am honoured and grateful to navigate my present moments of personal liminality along with a community of individuals who are welcoming, humble, resilient, and committed.
In partnership,
Gabriel Di Mauro
Secondary Principal