How to Use Metaphor in the Classroom
Metaphor is a way of delivering messages in classrooms, assemblies and in conversations which involves using analogies or stories. It can also be used to develop ideas and solutions in a problem-solving scenario. Using commonly experienced analogies can assist individuals and groups to understand complex ideas.
Knowledge bank
Metaphors are useful because they build a bridge between uncertain or complex ideas and that which is already familiar. Metaphors can come from teachers or from learners and can help to both put across ideas and also resolve problems. Metaphor can take various forms, each having its own power.
Comparisons draw analogies between the real content you wish to get over and some life situation that everyone can relate to.
For example, if you wanted to explain to a group of managers how you wanted your team to develop away from a traditional top-down model, you could use the analogies below.
Sometimes teams are like an orchestra, kept under the strict control of the conductor. Each member is highly skilled but is able to do only what the conductor directs them to do, using the score the composer has prepared. What I am looking for is a jazz band - each member is highly skilled, yet they work together without constant direction, creating something new and each learning from the experience. What we have in common are a set of principles and goals that we will decide together so we know what key we are playing in and the style we want to adopt, and how long we will play for. That way we can improvise and make great music, bringing our own personality to it each time.
Stories draw on a familiar set of archetypes and formulae to appeal to the audience and to convey a message or content. They would typically have a beginning, a middle and an end.
The bear
A visitor to a zoo remarked to the bear keeper how sad a solitary brown bear looked, as it sat hunched in the corner of the bear enclosure. 'Why is the bear so sad looking? Is it because it is cooped up in the enclosure? Has it lost a cub? Is it unwell?' asked the visitor. 'No' said the bear keeper. 'He is perfectly well, and he has many healthy cubs inside the bear house over there, and the other bears are perfectly happy in this enclosure'. 'Aren't you worried that he is so unhappy?' said the visitor. 'No' said the bear keeper. 7 know exactly why he's unhappy'. Looking quizzical, the visitor replied, 'Really, why?'. 'Because he's sitting on a nail' said the zoo keeper in a quite matter-of-fact tone. 'That's bizarre, if it hurts him, why doesn't he get off the nail then?' asked the visitor. 'That's simple, because it isn't hurting enough!'. (From Best & Thomas (2007) The Creative Teaching and Learning Toolkit. Continuum.)
Self-made metaphors that another person develops are another method and this can be explored to help that person understand a situation better, or generate solutions for themselves. An example appears below.
A learner says that they are 'bogged down by all their work'. The teacher replies by asking, 'What is it like to be bogged down?' Learner: 'It's like walking through thick, gloopy sludge and it's hard to move'. The teacher continues to explore the metaphor with the learner then asks: 'How are you able to climb out of the thick, gloopy sludge?' Learner: 7 need a strong stick and some sight of solid ground'. Teacher: 'Where will the strong stick come from, and where is the solid ground?' Learner: 'The stick is in the trees over there (points) and the solid ground is just in front of me.' The teacher then brings the learner back into the reality of the issue with 'So back to this difficulty you've been facing, what is the stick, really? Where is the solid ground?' Learner: 'The stick is my family, friends and teachers, and the solid ground is making a plan which I am going to do tonight.'
Working with a metaphor involves complex higher-order thinking to analyse and evaluate how it relates to real-life situations; it similarly involves creative thinking to embellish and picture the scenario. Considering a metaphor takes people into potentially quite deep states of relaxation and trance. In this way there are links between metaphor and trance induction in classrooms. In English language terms there are, of course, differences between metaphors and similes. In this briefing we have chosen not to make such distinctions, though you can do so if you wish. In our companion volume The Creative Teaching and Learning Toolkit we outline a tool for designing complex metaphors to deliver content.
Ask yourself
- How are you currently using metaphor?
- What kinds of metaphors do learners and colleagues currently use in conversation? For example, what kinds of analogies do they use in conversation?
- Look at the most challenging areas for your learners or colleagues. How could metaphor be useful here?
- Listen out for metaphors in your speech and that of others.
- Experiment with picking up the analogies that others use in their speech and asking questions to explore the metaphor further.
- Read a children's story book, such as a fairy tale, and notice how the author constructs a compelling storyline. Pay attention to characters, plot, dialogue and the underlying messages being communicated. Identify the key elements of the approach.
- Design a metaphor to deliver some content for a forthcoming topic or meeting.