by Peggy Kraus, Pharm.D., Clinical
Pharmacy Specialist, the Johns Hopkins Hospital
Aristotle
once observed that “Those words are most pleasant which give us new
knowledge. Strange words have no meaning
for us; common terms we know already. It is metaphor which gives us most of
this pleasure.”
The word
metaphor comes from the Greek words meta
or “over, across” and pherein or “to
carry.”1 They are often used
in education to help “bridge the distance” (a metaphor) between what students already
know and what they need to know.1 Every
metaphor highlights one aspect of the concept, just as it hides another.1 George Lakoff, Professor of Linguistics
at University of California, Berkeley and Mark Johnson, Knight Professor of
Liberal Arts and Sciences at University of Oregon, called this “metaphorical
systematicity.”1 Are we not “bridging the distance” through distance
learning (yep a metaphor) thanks to the power of technology in our own class?
Metaphors
can be used to create a pattern and expectations, shape the way we think, and influence
the decisions or thoughts of others. 1,2,3 In education, are we not trying to do these
very things? We need to relay complex,
often abstract concepts. Metaphors can
help students understand the concepts.4
Using
“the web” as a metaphor for the Internet highlights some of its essential
characteristics while making other, non-web-like qualities less apparent.1
Information is education (another
metaphor).1 Some assume information transmission is the main purpose
of education, or that the content of education is synonymous with information.1 But if this were the case, the internet would
do away with the need for schools and colleges.1 What is lost or
hidden in this metaphor is that attending too closely to information overlooks
the social context that helps people understand what the information means and
why it matters.1 This information needs to assimilated, understood
and made sense of, and that understanding is different depending on the
learner.1
We use
metaphors as a bridge to understand educational contexts. Researchers and participants often draw on
pre-existing knowledge to explain current experiences.3 Metaphors
accomplish this by enabling the connection of information about a familiar
concept to another familiar concept.3 That can lead to a new
understanding in which the comparison between the two concepts acts as
generators for new meaning(another metaphor).3 They can be used to take knowledge that is
already held and build the scaffold (another one) to teach or learn a newer
concept.4
In order
to examine the use of metaphor, Devon Jensen classified metaphors into four
categories: active, inactive, dead, and foundational.3 Active metaphors carry saliency between the topic
and vehicle terms. For example, “This
school is a real melting pot.”3 Inactive metaphors, the optic term must be
interpreted through the vehicle term just as “The car race ended in a
massacre.”3 Dead metaphors , the
saliency between the topic and the vehicle terms are not apparent to due a lack
of knowledge or experience with the characteristics of the vehicle term. For example, “working downtown is a real rat
race” is only understandable to modern man when the concept of a “rat race” is
explained; few of us today have had experience or witnessed rats in a frenzy. 3 The last category, foundational, the metaphor
defines the centrally important features of the concept. Example: “ organization as machine.”3
Jensen
then used these classifications and searched for studies that used metaphors
and metaphor analysis as their central method.3 He found 1,128 studies, which surprised
me. He then classified the studies into five
major themes. Studies in theme one attempted to raise awareness of modern
metaphors that legitimized social process with regard to power and politics.3
In the second theme, these studies examined the metaphoric usage within an
educational setting and led to change in education practice, policy and/or
roles.3 The third theme was a group of studies that examined
techniques and procedures for measuring, understanding, and interpreting
metaphors in educational and literary writing.3 Theme four examined
the usages, implementation, and/or analysis of metaphor in student, school, and
institutional writing.3 And the last theme was on qualitative
education research characterized by studies that look at how participants use
metaphor to describe existing educational states.3 Metaphors can be myths
that limit growth or new ideas that expand possibilities.3
One must
be careful about the use of metaphors because it can lead to confusion or
misunderstanding.4 This is particularly true when there are culture
differences between students and instructors or when the metaphor is too old
for a younger audience to understand. Metaphors
mean different things to people of different cultures and ages.
James
Geary, a writer and the former European Editor of Time, during his TED talk entitled "Metaphorically Speaking" claims
that we use six metaphors a minute.2 I really did not spend much time thinking
about metaphors until I started working on this blog, but I now recognize that
I use them a lot without even realizing it.
Geary starts his presentation by analyzing the many metaphors found in Elvis
Presley’s song, “I’m All Shook Up.”
It might sound a little weird but its an interesting analysis. Later in his presentation, he draws parallels
between René Descartes famous philosophical declaration and
Elvis’ song. “I think therefore I am” was
translated into English from the Latin “cogito ergo sum.” But according to Geary, the literal
translation should be “I shake things up, therefore I am.” So perhaps Elvis was trying to tell us
something really deep through the use of metaphor!
References:
1. Meyer, K.A.
Common Metaphors and Their Impact on Distance Education: What They Tell Us and
What They Hide. Teachers College Record.
2005; 107 (8):1601-1625.
2. Geary J. Metaphorically speaking.
TED.com. Accessed February 20, 2013.
3. Jensen, D.F.N. Metaphors as a bridge to understanding educational and social contexts. International Journal of Qualitative Methods
2006, 5(1), Article 4. Accessed March
30, 2013.
4. Ritcher, R. The use of metaphors in teaching and learning. The teaching tomtom. Accessed March 30, 2013.
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