I'm very fond of metaphors in teacher education and having had the opportunity to write a paper about classroom culture I decided to approach the issue drawing on Breen's metaphor of the coral garden for the classroom environment. I believe this is a very nice image because it depicts the richness and complexity of the interactions that happen in the classroom and also the forces affecting it, both from the inside and the outside.
What would be your metaphor for the classroom?
Breen, M. P. (2001) The social context for language learning: A neglected situation? In Candlin, C. N. and N. Mercer (eds) English Language Teaching in its Social Context. London: Routledge.
Cheers - Chris
Comments
mceupc
Hi Chris!
Thank you very much for bringing to us this important point in education as well as your suggested source.
When I read your question, I immediately recalled a very exciting book by Nick Owen , "The Magic of Metaphor", containing fascinating stories. The Author hopes that "readers and listeners will continue to learn from those stories, and in turn pass on their learning to others." So I am delighted to share this selected story letting you and readers here ponder about what it means for you all.
* Core Learning (Taking the Pith)
An Apprentice complained to a Magician, "You tell us stories but don't explain what they mean." The Magician replied, "And when you go to the fruit shop to buy oranges, do you ask the greengrocer to taste it for you, leaving you with just the skin?"
(General source: Sufi tradition)
As for my metaphor for the classroom I would say I have always tried to apply a variety of them depending on the situational contexts, and within a wide range of meanings. I think using metaphors in education is very insightful, working like "Magic" indeed. Since I read Jeremy Harmer ,and reflected on his words -"Teaching is a dialogue. Teachers guide while learners make their own discoveries." - I've tried to build relationships first with learners, and then let them experience the way they understood contents, encouraging them to see the world through different frames ... This has been very enjoyable!
Cheers - Maria
Chris Lima
Hi Maria
Indeed, Owen's book is a very inspiring one, because apart from the metaphors and stories in it, it makes of you think of the added value of stories, imagination and creativity in the learning process, which is something that, in my opinion, is still undervalued.
One of my metaphors for the language classroom is the golf course. I see many similarities between a game of golf and the teaching/learning process and the interactions happening there have many contact points with the way I see a classroom should be. Anyone for a round?
Cheers - Chris
Chris Lima
Hi everyone
I've been reading some material connected with the use of methaphors in teacher education and I've just found this article from Scott Thornbury. He says,
Images - and the metaphors that help identify them - far from trivialising the search for alternative approaches, offer teacher educators a valuable tool: they are a powerful - perhaps the most powerful - force for change and should be of critical interest to those whose business is educational change.
Straight to the point Scott!!
Thornbury, S. (1991) Metaphors we work by: ELT and its metaphors. ELT Journal, 45 (3).
PMC
Geology & Astronomy & Chemistry: Oh My!
Study Tunguska! Comet gone by:
Absolute, burlesque, catachretic, complex, conceptual, conventional, creative, dead, extended,
grammatical, mixed, primary, root, structural, submerged, therapeutic and Visual a type...
Mete-o-(pho)-r ... no-more.