Becoming Through The In-between: Rites Of Passage, Liminality And The Role of Reflection In Youth Character Development

“Transition always starts with an ending. To become something else, you have to stop being what you are now; to start doing things a new way, you have to end the way you are doing them now; and to develop a new attitude or outlook, you have to let go of the old” – William Bridges, Transitions: Making Sense of Life’s Changes

The In-Between: Why Navigating Adolescent Transitions Is The Foundation Of Character

Adolescence is not merely a period of biological change, it is a psychological, social, and cultural crucible. Across different fields of study, this phase of life is framed as a ‘rite of passage’, an archetypal journey into adulthood filled with ambiguity, challenge and growth. Yet in today’s fragmented and fast-paced world, the transitional spaces young people inhabit, what anthropologist Victor Turner termed “liminal periods”, can be both disorienting yet fertile.

Here, we explore why these moments matter, how they shape character and why documenting and reflecting on them is vital to transform uncertainty into strength.

Rites Of Passage: A Blueprint For Growth

The concept of a ‘rite of passage’ was first elaborated by anthropologist Arnold van Gennep and provides a universal blueprint for transformation. He described how individuals leave behind one identity, enter an ambiguous space and emerge transformed.

His model describes a three-part process:

• Separation: Leaving behind a familiar identity or context.
• Liminality: An ambiguous “in-between” stage where old rules no longer apply.
• Incorporation: Emerging with a new, transformed identity.

Across cultures rituals mark these significant transitions. From tribal initiations to graduation ceremonies, this pattern is universal. Adolescence itself is an extended rite of passage, marked by emotional turbulence, formation of identity and moral recalibration. In a modern era without fixed social scripts, this journey has become an internal process of reflection, making it far more nebulous and challenging to navigate alone.

Liminality Is The In-Between State Which Shapes Us

The liminal phase is the most critical. Victor Turner’s interpretation was that it is not a void. It is a generative, “betwixt and between” space where norms are suspended and new potentials can emerge. For young people, liminality manifests in school transitions, academic pressures, shifting friendships and profound uncertainty about their futures.

This experience is often marked by:

• Emotional Flux: Students often feel suspended between the familiarity of one stage (like primary school) and the unknowns of the next, leading to anxiety and identity renegotiation.
• Social Instability: Research shows that social anchors are often lost during these times. For example, one study found that only 28% of pupils retained their best friend by the end of their first year of secondary school, intensifying the liminal experience.
• Parental Influence: Parents also occupy a liminal role. This supports their children while navigating their own concerns. Their warmth and alignment with pupil concerns can buffer the emotional turbulence.
• Cognitive Bottlenecks: This period can mirror developmental challenges like the “fourth-grade slump,” where children must move from the concrete task of decoding words to the abstract one of grasping complex meaning. If unsupported, this liminal phase can disrupt identity formation.

This liminal space is double-edged. While it invites experimentation and growth, it can also lead to alienation or arrested development.

How Stories Reflect This Journey:  “Look on every exit as being an entrance somewhere else.” – Tom Stoppard, “Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead”

Literature has long highlighted the rite-of-passage arc, particularly in young adult fiction. Jack Kerouac’s On the Road mirrored the restlessness I felt as a young person: an emotional wandering marked by uncertainty and a longing for identity. Sal Paradise’s journey across a sprawling, ephemeral America echoed the liminal stages of adolescence: the dislocated relationships, existential reflection and hope that meaning in life might crystallise. It wasn’t about arriving; it was about embracing the journey to self-discovery. The road, winding with its unpredictability, feels like a rite of passage, and Kerouac’s vivid prose gave shape to that internal drifting without clear resolution.

Set closer to home and with more resonance, watching Kes as a young person was a gut-punch of recognition. Billy Casper’s isolation, his inability to thrive within rigid systems and his fragile sense of self-worth was framed by his care for a kestrel; it felt heartbreakingly familiar. The bird wasn’t just a pet; it was a metaphor for agency, dignity, and emotional growth in a world which offered him little hope. Yet the abrupt and tragic loss of Kes illustrated how delicate transformation can be when left unprotected. The film exposed the dangers of unrecognised liminal journeys and made clear that character development needs a sense of belonging and understanding.

A more recent cultural lens on liminality emerges in cringey teenage comedy The Inbetweeners, where the protagonists inhabit a suspended space between childhood innocence and adult responsibility. Their repeated attempts at maturity, often marked by failure and farce, highlight the emotional and cognitive bottlenecks of transition. Much like educational rites of passage, these moments reveal how growth is rarely graceful, but often forged in the in-between.

Character Developed Through Threshold Moments

Character, that matrix of virtues, values and habits, is not passively absorbed through osmosis. It is actively forged through experience, particularly under pressure, in the heat of the battle. These threshold moments catalyse self-reflection and formation of identity.

Logging And Reflection Matter

Yet, the liminal space alone does not teach. As educational theorists like Jack Meizirow argue, transformative learning requires the capacity to critically examine our assumptions and integrate change. The journey itself builds character, but only through active navigation and narration. This is why documentation and reflection should not be chores but essential tools for growth. To record an experience is to acknowledge and validate it, give shape to the associated feelings and extract meaning from flux. This reflective practice is the foundation of what’s called metacognition (the awareness of one’s own learning) and turns implicit development into explicit strength.

Logging is a mirror.

For young people in liminal phases, journaling or portfolio-building helps scaffold internal growth. It externalises the invisible: the learning from failure, the courage in uncertainty, the grit behind persistence. Without doing this, development risks remaining implicit and unacknowledged.

This is where digital platforms offering reflections can be a powerful tool. A digital platform used in this way is not about ticking boxes, it’s a space for narrative construction, character signalling, ethical reflection….joining the dots.

Clear Solutions: Scaffolding The Transition From Uncertainty To Agency

Recognising that transition is not a moment or a single event but a developmental arc allows us to transform liminality from a period of discomfort into a window for growth and resilience-building. The goal is to manage this space actively, turning liminality into belonging. This requires a multi-layered approach:

1. Systemic and Environmental Support in Schools

Schools and universities are the primary arena where these transitions play out and there are a number of ways in which  educational organisations can move from simply acknowledging the challenge to actively supporting and help managing it:

• Build Bridges, Not Walls: Implement bridging projects and extended induction periods that create continuity between educational stages, helping students feel secure.
• Adopt a Whole-School Approach: Recognise that vulnerability is widespread and employ universal strategies for all, while using diagnostic tools (like questionnaires which predict transition success) to offer tailored support for those in deeper liminal states.
• Foster Supportive Environments: Actively monitor friendship dynamics, strengthen home-school partnerships, and recognise the crucial role parental warmth and alignment play in buffering emotional turbulence for students.

2. Empowering the Individual Through Structured Reflection

While systemic support is vital, young people must also be given the tools to navigate their internal journey themselves. A digital portfolio or reflective platform can provide the essential scaffolding for this process:

• A Framework for Narrative: Such a tool can align with the classic rite-of-passage model. Students can separate by logging a new challenge, document their experiences in the liminal messy middle and incorporate their growth by articulating what they learned about themselves.
• Validating All Learning: A digital platform used in this way provides a space to document and value formative experiences which happen beyond the classroom, such as volunteering, group projects and overcoming setbacks. This gives narrative power back to the individual.
• Making Growth Visible: By providing a dedicated space for externalising the invisible, that is learning from failure, the courage shown in uncertainty, the grit behind persistence, a digital tool transforms abstract growth into a concrete story of development. It is not another CV builder, but a mirror and catalyst for incorporation and so transformation.

3. A Cultural Shift in Perspective

Finally, the most profound solution would be a shift in mindset for educators, parents and mentors. We must learn to see liminality not as a problem to be fixed, but as a natural phase which is a pedagogically significant opportunity. When we recognise these rites of passage, we can design systems which support growth rather than suppress it.

In an age of rapid change, young people will cross more thresholds than ever. Providing both systemic support and personal tools to narrate their journeys is essential work in preparing them to build resilient, reflective and meaningful lives.

Why It Resonates

For educators and parents committed to youth development, this framework of separation, liminality and incorporation, leading to transformation, offers a compelling lens through which to understand growth. Rites of passage and liminal phases are not just symbolic but acknowledged as pedagogically significant. Recognising them allows systems to support rather than suppress growth.

The role of digital platform acting as a reflective support tool is not ornamental; it is structural. It provides the architecture for young people to narrate their rites of passage, examine their liminal tensions, and showcase character development with nuance. It should not be viewed as another CV tool; it is a mirror, a journal and a scaffold and enabler for transformation.

In a world increasingly driven by metrics, we’re reminded that human development is qualitative before it is quantifiable. And in an age of rapid change, where young people will encounter more thresholds than ever before, this scaffolding should not be optional.

By Neil Wolstenholme, Chairman, Kloodle

References

• Van Gennep, A. (1909). The Rites of Passage.
• Turner, V. (1969). The Ritual Process: Structure and Anti-Structure.
• Arthur, J. (2005). Citizenship and Character Education.
• Mezirow, J. (1991). Transformative Dimensions of Adult Learning.
• Johnson-Hanks, J. (2002). “On the Limits of Life Stages in Ethnography: Toward a Theory of Vital Conjunctures.” American Anthropologist.
• Horne, E. M. (2020). Liminal Lives: Rites of Passage and the Development of Character in Young Adult Literature [Dissertation].