Metaphors we teach by ola aiyegbayo
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Although most teachers may be unaware of the power of metaphors in their language, they certainly represent their teaching and learning in metaphorical language (Yero, 2002). Majority of the studies in educational metaphor literature have focused on teacher trainees and teacher educators and there is a paucity of literature on higher education teachers’ metaphors. This TALISS seminar will focus on the key findings from a study which examined National Teaching Fellows’ metaphorical images of teaching. The National Teaching Fellowship Scheme (NTFS) is a competition that recognises and rewards individual excellence in teaching and/or supporting the higher education student learning experience. The presenter contacted one hundred and five National Teaching Fellows (winners of the 2010 and 2011 NTFS competition) for their teaching metaphors. 45 Fellows (43%) responded to this email survey. Seminar attendees will be encouraged to share their own teaching metaphors and reflect on whether their teaching metaphors have any impact on their teaching practices.
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Metaphors we teach by ola aiyegbayo
- 1. Metaphors we teach by: National Teaching Fellows’ metaphorical images of teaching Olaojo Aiyegbayo #TALISS
- 2. Seminar Overview Presentation Discussion (30 mins) (30 mins)
- 3. Metaphorical Stem Activity “My teaching is (like) ………………… because …………” Complete with a metaphor that best describes your current teaching practice & state relevant teaching context.
- 5. Book’s Main Premise
- 6. Metaphors are analogical devices which lie beneath the surface of an individual’s awareness and serve as a cognitive device for learning new information, concepts and skills. Andrew Ortony (1993)
- 9. Research Background National Teaching Fellowship Scheme
- 10. 105 Fellows5 45 Fellows 19 Strong 17 Non 9 Noes
- 13. “My teaching style is like a ‘tour guide’, signposting the interesting landmarks and providing some context in a way that encourages others to explore the landscape for themselves in a way that is of most use to them…….” Fellow B
- 15. "Teaching is like feeding students with pre-digested concepts in an animated and enthusiastic manner - the students should always feel they have left a teaching event having learnt something new." Fellow I
- 16. “…..It is a bit like being a good parent, you know when you have been successful, they can fly away on their own.” Fellow J
- 18. “Lecturing (Teaching) is interactive theatre where you use your physical presence, social contact and the physicality of the lecture theatre and audience to enthuse about the subject……” Fellow L
- 20. “Teaching is giving mental athletes the tools to help them stretch and develop towards becoming fully functioning [personally and intellectually] individuals.” Fellow O
- 22. “My teaching is like fair-isle knitting. I am the needles gently teasing the strands of wool together and creating the structure and the framework, yet it is the wool (or learners) who provide the colour and substance of the final result……” Fellow P
- 24. “I think my preferred teaching metaphor would be that of gardener - striving to bring out the best in the plants under their care so that they can produce productive fruit…..” Fellow Q
- 26. “The teacher is a scaffold that gradually removes itself to the point of not being needed. With the scaffold the building (student) can go much higher than it could have done without this support at the early stages.” Fellow R
- 28. “Teaching is like learning to fish. You have to spend time watching the water before you gradually become aware of all the activity beneath the surface. Then you have to recognise how the fish (learners) are swimming, so you can align yourself with their direction & then lead them where you want them to go.” Fellow S
- 29. Non-metaphorical responses • “Teaching is enabling learners to hold on to what would otherwise be difficult to grasp. It turns abstractions into tangible things.” • “Teaching is remembering that you are always a student of the discipline and a student of the best of way delivering it….”
- 30. Benefit of metaphors to teaching practitioners
- 31. Metaphors are reframing or heuristic tools that can be employed by teachers to reflect upon and improve their practice (Munby & Russell, 1990). “Metaphors are reframing or heuristic tools that can be employed by teachers to reflect upon and improve their practice.” (Munby & Russell, 1990)).
- 32. “I love metaphors as they are really powerful ways to convey ideas and this exercise certainly made me think about my approach and what I am trying to do in my teaching so thanks very much. Thank you for making me think this evening.” Fellow P
- 33. “I don't normally use metaphors but your question made me think more” Fellow J
- 34. Discussion • Please share your teaching metaphor with the group and your thoughts on its connection with your teaching practice.
- 35. Teacher as travel or tour guide, ship Travelling metaphor captain, lighthouse keeper and students as travellers Parenting metaphor Teacher as ‘good’ parent and students as children. Performance metaphor Teacher as actor, tightrope walker, cheeky clown and students as audience Coaching metaphor Teacher as coach and students as mental athletes Knitting metaphor Teacher as needle and students as wool Gardening metaphor Teacher as gardener and students as plants Construction metaphor Teacher as scaffold and students as buildings Fishing metaphor Teacher as fisherman and students as fishes
Editor's Notes
- Seminal book by George Lakoff and Mark Johnson (cognitive linguists) released in 1980 which has influenced educational metaphor research.
- Book’s main premise. Metaphors are not just mere literary devices or short cuts – figures of speech to spice up conversations but conceptual or cognitive tools/instruments used by people to understand and comprehend their social and inner realities – their world. * Most studies in the area of educational metaphors have focused on teacher education rather than higher education – on teacher educators and teacher trainees not academic lecturers.
- A fish has no conception of water until it is out of it – metaphors are so subtle and below awareness* The fact that metaphors are part and parcel of daily conversations and interactions makes them invisible so that unless you look out for them, you rarely notice them.
- Most of the studies have focused on teacher educators and student teachers but there is a limited study on HE lecturers. I needed a small population sample of lecturers and National Teaching Fellows fitted this bill. These were academics regarded as excellent teachers by the HEA. It was interesting to find out what their teaching methods would be.
- http://www.flickr.com/photos/ssc-sportsphotography/7256576146/sizes/z/in/photostream/