metaphor as a tool in educational

7/28/2019 Metaphor as a Tool in Educational

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Metaphor as a tool in educationalleadership classrooms

Kathryn SinghCollege of Education, San Diego State University

Abstract

As students begin credentialing programs, they usually take a basic course on leadership, and we often invite them toreflect on their own perceptions of qualities, vision, mission and effectiveness. In Fall 2008, in my classes, I discoveredthat students struggled to articulate thoughts on leadership. Many felt unqualified, not having been leaders. I usedmetaphor as a vehicle for formulating and expressing their concept of leadership. Students felt more relaxed whencomparing leadership to something else such as an orchestra conductor, a traffic cop, a stovetop or a sail. The use ofmetaphor allows students to relate a concept to something familiar and make it more concrete. Metaphors can be

used to describe leadership as well as to explore how this language tool is used within a leadership setting. This articlediscusses the use of metaphors as a teaching tool, provides examples, and offers suggestions for future uses.

Keywords

Leadership, metaphors, teaching strategies, language used in leadership

Introduction

In working with students as they explore educational

leadership, we often ask them about their philosophy of

education, their vision of an effective school and their

leadership non-negotiables. As students move throughtheir preparation programme, it is important for them to

continuously shape a personal and professional platform

that can serve as a foundation for them in their future

careers. It has been my experience in teaching introductory

leadership classes that students often feel hesitant to share

their ideas on leadership, feeling that they have limited

knowledge and experience in this area. However, as the

semester progresses, they soon begin to realise that they

have, in fact, experienced different types of leadership

throughout their lives and they do have initial notions to

build upon. I wondered if it was possible to get them

actively involved in the process of examining their knowl-

edge of leadership earlier in the semester. A colleague

recommended that I use metaphors to assess students

understanding of what educational leadership represents

to them and how and why leaders work in a particular way.

Two key questions were asked: What metaphors do future

educational leaders use to describe educational leadership?

What new insights can be gained from the use of metaphors

in developing educational leaders?

The Merriam Webster online dictionary defines

metaphor as a figure of speech in which a word or phrase

literally denoting one kind of object or idea is used in place

of another to suggest a likeness or analogy between them

(http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/metaphor).Examples of metaphors include: love is a battleground or

everyone in the organisation needs to get on board with

this new sales campaign. When one uses metaphors one

makes an effort to relay a message to an audience in a

non-literal way. When the speaker or writer offers a more

concrete representation of an idea or concept, it may be

easier for the listener or reader to understand. The message

is delivered in a more visual way, with the speaker or writer

comparing one thing to another familiar thing, which

creates a mental picture for the message receiver. For

example, when leadership is referred to as the cultivation

of a garden, the speaker or author may be implying that the

leader helps others to develop and grow by nurturing them

and overseeing their progress. If a sports metaphor is used,

the image may be of a coach who is assisting and correct-

ing, or a player who is trying to move ahead despite

obstacles, working as part of a team. Metaphor can be used

to facilitate the grasp of an abstract concept by concretising

it. As we use the metaphors just described, the listener or

reader who is already familiar with sports or gardening canmore easily visualise a leader seeing himself in this way

and acting accordingly with others.

In this article I will share a reviewof theliterature on meta-

phor as a tool for expressing concrete concepts in an abstract

way and, specifically, in describing leadership. I will also

describe the process used with my educational leadership

students. Results will be presented as metaphors chosen and

students visualisations of them and as phrases related to

specific categories. Finally, I will make suggestions for

MiE

Corresponding author:

Kathryn Singh, College of Education, San Diego State University, San

Diego, CA 92182, USA

Email: [email protected]

Management in Education

24(3) 127131

2010 British Educational Leadership,

Management & Administration Society

(BELMAS)

Reprints and permission:

sagepub.co.uk/journalsPermissions.nav

DOI: 10.1177/0892020608090411

mie.sagepub.com


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metaphor usage in educational leadership coursework in

general.

Review of the literature

In Metaphor and Thought (1993), a group of experts

approached the definition of metaphor from a number ofperspectives. In his introduction, Otorny speaks of two over-

arching perspectives: the constructivist view, which asks the

listener or reader of the metaphor to go beyond the literal in

order to create his or her own understanding of reality, and

the non-constructivist view, which sees metaphors as devi-

ants that do not follow rules or describe reality as it is. He

mentions that metaphors can be seen as a cognitive rather

than purely linguistic endeavour, allowing abstract concepts

to be dealt with more concretely by couching the unfamiliar

in a familiar framework, attributing characteristics from one

concept to another. For the purposes of this article, metaphor

will be considered based on this more constructivist sense, as

a cognitive phenomenon played out linguistically and

interpreted pragmatically.

Lakoff (1993) invites us to consider metaphor as a

cognitive tool when he says In short, the locus of metaphor

is not in language at all, but in the way we conceptualize

one mental domain in terms of another (p. 1). He believes

that metaphor corresponds to neural mapping in the brain

and that it is a way to organise human experience. Our mind

leads us to create images or connections through concep-

tual maps which are then expressed through metaphorical

expressions. Lakoff explains that metaphors operate at

superordinate levels and then branch off into specifics. For

example, one may speak oflove as a journey, with journeybeing a large concept involving transportation, and then

proceed to talk about going off track (train), hitting bumpy

patches (car) or being on the rocks (boat), all subordinate

concepts of transportation (p. 8). According to Lakoff,

conceptual mappings are purposeful and universal. He

gives the example of up signifying progress or good

movement and down implying negative movement or

backsliding in many cultures (p. 34). Metaphors naturally

emerge from our human experience allowing us to capture

the message conveyed by the speaker, seeking out the

characteristics of the source domain or metaphor chosen

to represent the concrete target domain (p. 10). For exam-

ple, using the journey metaphor, journey is the source

domain and the target is love.

Oberlechner & Mayer-Schonberger (2003) talk about

metaphors as creating reality, helping us understand

abstract, complex phenomena, showing hidden strategies

and even permitting manipulation. They suggest that meta-

phors make clear which rules are valid and which guide-

lines are useful when thinking of a construct. They tend

to revolve around themes, are not static and usually arise

in the dynamic interplay of people with their environment.

Metaphors can be gender-, age- or career- related and may

be adjusted to fit audience or societal trends. Again, this

approach follows the idea that metaphors are a cognitivematter rather than a merely linguistic one, with many

complex factors interacting in their creation.

The metaphor we choose determines our vision of the

world before us, the framework possibly acting as both

an advantage and a disadvantage to our thinking. Morgan

(1997) provides us with common metaphors for organisa-

tions. He states that Any given metaphor can be incredibly

persuasive, but it can also be blinding and block our ability

to gain an overall view (p. 347). He also says that themetaphors and ideas through which we see and read

situations influence how we act . . . as we quickly learn

that the insights of one metaphor can often help us over-

come the limitations of another (pp. 350, 353). When we

attribute certain characteristics of one object or idea to

another, it allows us to provide an image representing how

we view what we are describing, but, at the same time, it

also ties us to a particular view of reality. For example, if

we see organisations as organisms, machines, brains,

cultures or political systems, we will tend to expect and

promote certain things adaptation, connections, systemic

thought, shared norms or power struggles.

Researchers have explored the use of metaphors in

educational leadership to describe how administrators see

themselves as leaders. Fennel (1996) spoke to four female

elementary school principals and asked them how they

perceived themselves within the context of their leadership

role. They used metaphors such as: an exploding volcano, a

river, a steering wheel, a shepherd and an orchestra conduc-

tor. The principals focused on areas including relational

aspects of leadership and power, ethics of responsibility

towards co-workers, and a sense of nurturance for

co-workers. Findings suggest that the metaphors repre-

sented a power with rather than power over followers

and the notion of leadership as multi-faceted (p. 12).In an article focused on instructional leadership during

high stakes, high accountability times, Reitzug et al.

(2008) share information on how metaphors have changed

over time, with the shift moving from more bureaucratic,

scientific management approaches to more humanistic,

instructional and moral leadership emphases (p. 694). They

claim that with the bright spotlight on accountability, lead-

ers have shifted back to inspector modes rather than

facilitators of teacher growth (p. 695). Metaphors of school

leadership, then, appear to be influenced by the times.

Noonan & Fish (2004) present an analysis of dominant

metaphors in bestselling books on leadership. In their

analysis, they found the most used metaphors to be: war,

a spiritual journey, teamwork, a game, performing arts, a

natural process, a machine, vocational roles or experiences.

They state that:

Metaphors of leadership influence the way we think about

such things as: the nature and purpose of leadership; the

role and participation of leaders and followers; the actions

associated with leadership activity; the skills or traits asso-

ciated with effective leadership; and the representation of

leadership found in various cultures. (p. 1)

Mullen et al. (2005) used metaphor to explore the connec-tion between theory and practice in educational leadership

courses. The authors indicate that metaphors provide an

128 Management in Education 24(3)


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organizational framework for expanding understanding

and reflective inquiry of complex concepts (Gentner &

Gentner, 1983, and Lakoff & Johnson, as cited in Mullen

et al., 1980: 1) and that metaphorical pedagogy facilitates

the concept of reflection for producing insight into human

experience that shapes future action (Schon, 1987, as cited

in Mullen et al., 1980: 1). In order to break down the barrierbetween theory and practice, Mullen and colleagues asked

students to imagine that they were looking through binocu-

lars and seeing theory in one lens and practice in the other.

Graduate students were asked to develop their own theory

practice metaphors. Results include mountain climbers

ascending from different sides but obligated and willing

to inform one another along the way, ocean waves crashing

on the beach and then returning to the sea implying a circu-

lar motion, the relationship between architect and builder in

a construction project and a closet including many theories

that can be used in different ways.

Petrie (1979) states that The very possibility of learning

something new can only be understood by presupposing the

operation of something very much like metaphor . . . it is

what renders possible and intelligible the acquisition of

new knowledge (p. 439). Metaphor gives us a structure

through which we can visualise and express our ideas in

a more concrete way. The use of metaphor may make con-

cepts easier to grasp by establishing relationships between

the unknown and the known. Some theorists, such as

Lakoff (1993), believe that much learning occurs only if

an abstract, metaphorical approach is taken, allowing the

learner to grasp a complex concept and place it within his

or her repertoire.

The literature indicates that metaphor can be visualisedfrom different perspectives. It can be seen as purely linguis-

tic, and within that classification can be considered a legit-

imate part of language or a violator of the rules. It can also

be seen as more pragmatic and meaning-focused, with the

speaker or writer deciding to use language creatively to

convey a message. Cognitively, metaphor can be seen as

a tool to facilitate the understanding of abstract concepts

by creating a new mental picture, attributing familiar

characteristics to a lesser known construct. Metaphor as a

cognitive tool may be used as an instructional strategy to

facilitate and enrich the process of conceptually mapping

out complex constructs such as leadership, allowing the

metaphor-generator to consider which characteristics are

key and to determine how best to share his or her world

view with another.

Discussion of methodology

In the Fall of 2008, I worked with two sections of an

introductory educational leadership class, with an average

of 20 credential Masters level students, with an average age

of approximately 30, 57 years in teaching positions (not

yet in administrative/leadership roles) and an equal distri-

bution of males and females. Students were asked to

describe a metaphor that best captured their perception ofeducational leadership. A 23 page paper was due in writ-

ten form on the second night of class. They were to describe

what leadership would look like if their metaphor were

applied. They had one week to work, individually. Students

would then share and discuss their metaphors in class.

The activity was assigned early in the semester so that

ideas could be gathered before the formal content influenced

them too much. In the first class, teams talked about their

thoughts on leadership in educational settings, their personalinterest in leadership, the capacities needed to be effective

and their experiences as leaders. They also shared their basic

beliefs and values and their mission as educators, what they

stand for, both personally and professionally. They also

talked about how societys expectations for schools and

educators, including leaders, have changed. The purpose of

this activity was to put leadership in a context. At the start

of the second class, information on leadership theory was

presented to them in lecture format. Students then shared

their metaphors, with their team providing feedback about

theoretical and practical concerns that emerged.

Presentation of findings

Until I had students share and discuss their metaphors, I did

not realise the tremendous potential this activity had for

allowing students to get to their deep-down perceptions.

Students were better able to express their ideas when

questions about leadership were couched in this creative

exercise. The exercise allowed me to reach greater insight

as to their particular leadership orientation, something that

would not have been possible had I asked them to write a

simple, more factual, description of leadership. When

asked to comment on leadership in the first class session

(prior to creating their metaphors), students hesitated, stat-ing that they did not know what their principals did. Or

they described leaders as they felt they should, based on

what they heard in their schools, what they had experienced

as teachers or what they had read. Many saw school admin-

istrators as managers rather than leaders. When using meta-

phors their descriptions were much richer. I looked at the

results from two perspectives. First, I looked at the meta-

phors themselves. Then I classified the comments they

made into different aspects of leadership, such as vision,

values, leader qualities, results, role, commitment and

teamwork.

When connecting them with their metaphors, I began to

understand each of my students more fully. For example,

seeing leadership as a traffic cop is very different to seeing

leadership as a clock, a rock climber or a bridge. Each

metaphor carries its subtleties and implications. Many of

the metaphors shared common threads: control, organisa-

tion, orchestration, flexibility, strength, nurturing, growth,

collaboration and struggling to move ahead or get to the top

of a challenge. Examples of metaphors are provided in

Table 1.

Phrases generated by students through their metaphors

revealed interesting ways of looking at leaders, followers

and their interactions. Their thoughts provided a base for

the course, during which we would cover many of the areasthey naturally generated. Some examples of phrases and

categories are given in Table 2.

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Table 2. Leadership phrases by theme

Vision The leader, as a beacon of light,transmits clarity and perspective.

A successful leader is a coach whowill seek to help others realise notjust who they are but who they canbecome.

A leader decides on a path the otherscan follow.

Values The tracks symbolise the values thata group stands on as it journeystogether towards success.

Leaders are able to look into theirown beliefs and values to create anappropriate vision for their team.

A caring, passionate and capableleader can take their school as far asthe staff wants to go.

Leadershipqualities

Leadership does not require thatthe leader be better than all or any ofthe employees at their job.

The leader has to have enoughGrenache (a type of grape that is thefirst to be tasted in a Rhone wine) toensure that the beginning of everyinteraction starts well.

A leader must be student-focused andready to stand up for what is best forstudents. It means having the courageto overcome fear and to take risks.

Results If all the teachers show up and present

their lessons, but students are notlearning, the school is not a success.

The leader manages people and

transforms the source of energy(like a prism) into a visible product.

Schools are just buildings where great

things can happen but without astable curriculum and instruction,learning does not take place.

Role Leadership is not authoritative. It isinvested with authority, but that issomething different.

Leadership is a vehicle that takes usfrom being simple seedlings tobeautiful flowers and strong trees.

A leader is not useful if he has nofollowers.

Commitment If someone is not committed anddoes not put in what it takes to get aticket on the success train they areasked to pay the price and if theyrefuse they are kicked off the train.

A good leader uses the abilities anddreams of others to create anappropriate goal for the commongood.

Teachers must feel they have thetools and strategies that will supportthem in teaching.

Teamwork As one thread in a quilt gets strongerby the other threads feeding off thatfirst thread, it builds cooperation and

aids the progress of reaching the finalgoal.

The final goal in leadership isobserving your school runningsmoothly with a collaboration of

trained professionals all workingtogether towards a goal.

Players might think they know thebest way to proceed and try to do itall themselves, but a coach will try to

get those players to help othersaround them to become a betterteam.

Motivationand courage

Powerful leadership, like a trainengine, will keep the whole trainmoving ahead no matter how steepthe hills or challenges might be.

A school leader who possessescourage can lead his or her staffthrough uncharted paths that willbenefit student achievement.

People will work harder towards agoal if they enjoy the journey.

Change Changing course on a ship is likeimplementing institutional change you cannot stop on a dime and changecourse suddenly. You need the crewonboard and doing their jobs.

Leaders must learn to bend and swayand adapt to change, lest they perish.They must embrace the inevitablechange that will arrive.

The quality of change is more criticalthan the quantity.

Context A miracle worker in one school mightnot make it in another the light bulbdid not fit the socket.

A good leader adapts his style to themovement needed in an organisation.

Table 1. Metaphor themes and descriptions

Traffic cop needs to oversee, orchestrate, is not a driver but can create harmony or chaos with movementsor decisions

Pair of shoes different types of shoes for different situations, some shoes are more comfortable than others,not alone always in a pair, allow one to move about

A cornfield ears open and listening, flexible and swaying with the wind, students are kernels to be protected

by leadersA sail on a sailboat can make the trip successful or can toss the whole crew into the oceanWine grapes different grapes add different aspects, leader needs to lead in, develop and then finish off

interactions smoothlyDiet 7-Up transparent, bubbly, soothing, refreshingA stovetop lots of things cooking at the same time, some needing more tending than others, can get burned

outAn artist commissioned to do acommunity mural

has talents and tastes but also gets feedback from those who will live with the final results of theproject

130 Management in Education 24(3)


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Discussion

The metaphor exercise allowed students to explain how they

visualised educational leadership. Students appeared to be

more at ease and open to play with their ideas knowing that

they did not have to write a formal paper. No one expressed a

concern about the difficulty of generating a metaphor; all

approached the activity with enthusiasm. The exercise

required that they personalise the description of leadership

rather than using formal theory as their platform. With these

two groups under study, source domains representing the

target domain of leadership varied greatly, but in general

referred to concepts similar to those presented in Fennel

(1996) including: relationships, power, responsibility and

nurturing. Other concepts included: organisation, order, inte-

grating, complexity, multi-tasking and flexibility/adaptabil-

ity. Many of the dominant metaphors mentioned by Noonan

& Fish (2004) were mentioned as well, for example the voca-

tion of a traffic cop, thejourney or experience of sailing, oper-

ating a stove as a machine, and the performing arts through amuralist. In terms of the work presented by Reitzug et al.

(2008), students used a mixture of metaphors, ranging from

the more top-down and monitoring, such as the traffic cop,

to more facilitative and collaborative, like the muralist or the

cornfield. In their phrasestheytalked about quilts, ships, jour-

neys, light, paths, coaching, a vehicle, a success train, flex-

ible tree trunks and miracle workers. Leaders were seen as

guides who keep the group motivated, inspired and on track.

Close consideration of the metaphors used by students pro-

vides insight into how they perceive their future role and, per-

haps, the way they see their current or previous school leaders.

This insight may assist instructors and fieldwork supervisors

in monitoring how students act out their metaphors and how

they expand their thinking so as not to be limited by the real-

ity they create, as suggested by Morgan (1997). It is also use-

ful for studentsto seethatwe donot allshare thesameconcept

(or expectations) of leadership.

Suggestions for using metaphors in

educational leadership programmes

Metaphors can be used in a number of ways in educational

leadership courses. Through an analysis of their own and

others metaphors, students can be asked to describe what

the leader stands for, what types of activities would bepriority, the school environment and relationships with

others. Students can ask practising leaders about their meta-

phors and then shadow them to determine whether the

leader actually follows through. Students can research a

communitys ideal leadership metaphors and then compare

them to the metaphor they attribute to their actual school

leader. They can also match metaphors to leadership the-

ories (for example, what type of metaphor might go with

transformational, X and Y, or situational leadership?).

Later on, students can look at the use of metaphor as a tool

used by leaders in communicating with their followers.

Conclusions

Metaphors allow us to visualise and describe an abstract

concept in a more concrete way. By using metaphors in

educational leadership classes we can invite students to

reflect on their perceptions in a more natural way and to

gain a greater depth of understanding sooner in the pro-

gramme. Asking students to create their own metaphors

and share their perspectives with others allows them to con-

sider their own and others perceptions. It also allows

groups to have a greater understanding of what each mem-

ber believes in terms of the role leaders play, permitting

them to use those ideas as springboards for discussion.

References

Fennel, H. (1996) An Exploration of Principals Metaphors for

Leadership and Power, Research Report. ERIC Document

Reproduction Service.

Lakoff, G. (1993) The Contemporary Theory of Metaphor.Online: http://terpconnect.umd.edu/*israel/lakoff-ConTheor-

Metaphor.pdf (accessed August 2009).

Merriam Webster Dictionary . Online: http://www.merriam-

webster.com/dictionary/metaphor (accessed August 2009).

Morgan, G. (1997) Images of Organization. Thousand Oaks CA:

Sage.

Mullen, C. A., Greenlee, B. J. & Bruner, D. Y. (2005) Exploring

the theorypractice relationship in educational leadership

curriculum through metaphor. International Journal of

Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, 17, 114.

Noonan, S. & Fish, T. (2004) Metaphors of Leadership. Paper

presented at the annual meeting of the National Council of

Professors of Educational Administration, Branson, Missouri,

August.

Oberlechner, T. & Mayer-Schonberger,V. (2003) Through their

own words: towards a new understanding of leadership through

metaphors. Online: http://www.ksg.harvard.edu/leadership/

pubs/papers/index.php?year2003 (accessed March 2009).

Otorny, A. (ed.) (1993) Metaphor and Thought. Cambridge:

Cambridge University Press.

Petrie, H. (1979) Metaphor and learning. In A. Ortony (ed.)

(2003) Metaphor and Thought. Cambridge: Cambridge

University Press, pp. 43861.

Reitzug, U., West, D. & Angel, R. (2008) Conceptualizing

educational leadership: the voices of principals. Educationand Urban Society, 40(6), 694714.

Biography

Kathryn Singh is an Assistant Professor in Education

Leadership at San Diego State University in California. Her

research interests primarily include the study of leadership

as it plays out in schools as well as how future leaders are

prepared to assume leadership roles and to build leadership

capacity in others. E-mail: [email protected]

Singh 131

metaphor as a tool in educational

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