Metaphors in and of Education

Metaphors in/of education Dominik Lukeš www.bohemica.com/metaphor School of Education and Lifelong Learning, UEA

Outline … in education overview of metaphor inquiry in edu metaphor as a tool for instruction … of education TEACHER IS … (cognitive metaphors) school should be … (generative metaphors) … there and back … towards a classification of metaphor use

Uses of Metaphor in Education Make sense of the world Express complex meaning Construct alternatives Organize systematic concepts Invite interaction Add dramatic effect adapted from Cortazzi and Jin 1999

Context of Metaphor in Education Theory building generative exegetic Policy debates Teacher training Personal identity/motivation Organization and presentation of instructional content

Research of Metaphor in Education Metaphors as an instructional tool Metaphors in the language of instruction Metaphors in conceptualization of self in teachers (new and experienced) and students Metaphors in educational discourse Public discourse Policy debates (not all conceptual) Conceptualizing innovation (dtto) Conscious and unconscious metaphors

Metaphor as an instructional tool Design of instructional content (Locus of classic debate) Presentation to students for ease of understanding Adapting ‘literal’ scientific content to ‘pedagogic’ level Method of inquiry to allow students to find personal meaning (both of academic content and own life)

Cognitive Metaphors of Education SCHOOLS ARE PRISONS, GARDENS, FACTORIES, SOCIETIES, FAMILIES TEACHERS ARE PARENTS, GUIDES, DIRECTORS, ACTORS, ANIMAL TRAINERS STUDENTS ARE CONTAINERS, PLANTS, ANIMALS TO BE CONTROLLED LEARNING IS GROWTH, FILLING UP, LIFE, ACQUISITION OF GOODS, BUILDING A PORTFOLIO, BUILDING A STRUCTURE

Education as a Source Domain LIFE IS A TEACHER EXPERIENCE IS A SCHOOL COMPANY IS A SCHOOL (The learning organization) EMPLOYEES ARE PUPILS BEING ABLE TO DO SOMETHING IS BEING ABLE TO READ (functional literacy, emotional literacy, numeracy, computer literacy, academic literacy, oracy)

Generative Metaphors of Education Market metaphor Growth metaphor Family metaphor Engineering/scientific metaphor Society metaphor (education for democracy) Moral/humanistic metaphor (education to ensure moral humans) Ad hoc generative metaphors

Metaphors and educational policy “ Diverse and sometimes contradictory metaphors on schooling and school improvement dominate the thinking of policy makers , scholars and practitioners.” (Wincek, 1995) “ It was Napoleon who once famously described Britain as a nation of shopkeepers. Successive governments, since the premiership of Mrs Thatcher, have accepted this grocer-like view and attempted to turn every social institution into a commercial enterprise.” ... “This is a classic example of what philosophers call 'category error', the mistake of discussing - or in this case planning - one area of activity in the language and terms and with the concepts which are appropriate to another. ... It is a seriously fallacious form of reasoning .” (Kelly, 2004)

Market metaphor Product Consumers Manufacturing Trade Currency Efficiency Marketplace Business theory Parents Students Society Government Knowledge Information School Employment

Examples of discourse “ A school has to decide what kind of organization it is (a factory, a work community, a market-place ?), who its customers are, what they want and how that is to be delivered and measured .” (Handy&Aitken, 1986) "We must give consumers of education a central part in decision-making . That means freeing schools and colleges to deliver the standards that parents and employers want. It means encouraging the consumer to expect and demand that all educational bodies do the best job possible . In a word, it means choice ." (Kenneth Baker introducing Education bill in 1987) “ It is only through the market mechanism of choice that we can get away from the stultifying and inherently unjust method of assigning children to schools according to their ZIP codes.” (Education Week, 2002)

Areas of policy influenced School vouchers School choice School (academic) performance and league tables Performance-related pay No strikes for teachers (as professionals) Effective administration (school/district/nation level) Economies of scale (Edison schools) Superheads Curriculum for needs of country i.e. business Competition in textbook design Teacher training Assessment

Growth (organic) metaphor Organic nature Nourishment Care Biological theory Birth Illness Health Death Learning Becoming adult Being mature Being a useful member of society Being a responsible citizen Being able to learn Mind/body

Examples of discourse “ Plants are shaped by cultivation and men by education . If man were born big and strong, his size and strength would useless to him until he had learned to make use of them.” … “The education of man begins at his birth ; before speaking, before understanding, he is already learning.” (Rousseau, 1762) “ The object and reward of learning is continued capacity for growth .” (Dewey,1916) “ We teach children , not subjects.” (Progressivist slogan) “ The growth metaphor in itself thus embodies a modest conception of the teacher's role, which is to study and then indirectly to help the development of the child , rather than to shape him into some preconceived form...” (Scheffler, 1960) “ only true education comes through the stimulation of the child’s powers by the demands of the social situations in which he finds himself” (Dewey, 1897)

Areas of policy influenced Child-centered education Textbook design National curriculum Teacher training in child psychology and physiology Physical education in the curriculum

Family metaphor Parents Children House rules Obedience/Duty Love Rearing/behavior control Society Teachers Students Principals School rules School allegiance Love for knowledge Society

Examples of discourse “ The family metaphor is fundamental to education since society requires that school personnel and parents act as co-guardians of children. Even legally, school personnel act in loco parentis .” … “Mega Center's children developed a strong sense of loyalty to their individual family of learners and to the schoolwide family . The school's principal, teachers, and staff expressed both in words and in practice their conceptualization of school-as-family for the children . Although, the teachers and staff related to children as family, their relationships with one another did not flow from the family metaphor . Neither were parents and guadians of the children viewed through the lens of the family metaphor.” (Wincek, 1995)

Areas of policy influenced School environment Teacher role Parental involvement Corporal punishment Proportion of moral education in the curriculum Proportion of socialization as a purpose of education Sex education Breakfast clubs No child left behind / Every child matters

Mixing metaphors for diversity “ it is undeniable that modern technology plays an increasingly important role in the process of wine-making, yet there is a definite limit to technical intervention. We are in fact operating within a triangle: nature, technique and care . Only the combination of these three can explain why each year, each winery, and even sometimes each bottle brings a different wine .” (Leirman, 1993) “ Metaphorical language, it seems, has served as a vehicle for introducing concepts -- usually emanating from academic circles--into the parlance of practice. In decade after decade, scholars have clothed their newly developed ideas about leadership in metaphors from earlier eras .” (Beck and Murphy, 1993)

Metaphor Theory After Education Metaphors before Lakoff&Johnson Affective and higher cognitive role of metaphor Metaphorbility – Aptitude for metaphor Consequences of metaphor (Metaphors and actions) Metaphors and the nature (mental representation of understanding) Metaphors in use vs. metaphors in mind Classification of metaphor use Cognitive Interpersonal Textual

Consequences of Metaphors Metaphors influence actions People who think of language as a tool are more likely to be pro-reform than those who think of it as a person Metaphors interpret actions/states Teachers are more likely to see students as container than students who might see themselves as such Metaphors and actions/states cooexist Experienced teachers see learning in a behaviorist way rather than constructivist way

Metaphors in and of Education

More Related Content

What's hot (20)

Viewers also liked (20)

Similar to Metaphors in and of Education (20)

More from Dominik Lukes (20)

Recently uploaded (20)

Metaphors in and of Education