Thursday, April 24, 2014

Using Metaphors to Describe Your School


Metaphors help us make sense of the world. They take abstract ideas and turn them into something concrete. They build a bridge between new information and something with which we are familiar. 

Try this creative way to find out what your students, administrators, and teachers believe about your school.

READY 

From the list below, have students (or staff) to underline the metaphor that best describes the school. Then have them to circle the word that describes what they want it to be. 


Factory                            Jungle
     Museum                      Summer Camp
Prison                             Family
Greenhouse                     Orchestra
Launching Pad                  Art studio
                                                       Team                          Laboratory

Are there metaphors that you would like to include that are not on the list? 

AIM

Ask your students or staff to fill in the blank:

I want our school to be a _________________________ because _________
_______________________________________________________________.



FIRE

Discuss the following with your students and/or staff. (Each person should answer and discuss.)

What role do I have in moving the school towards my desired metaphor?

What will I need to start doing in order to help move the school towards my desired metaphor?

What will I need to stop doing in order to help move the school towards my desired metaphor?



What questions would you add to the list?





2 comments:

  1. Ms. Hogan,

    My name is Jack McManus. I teach at Pepperdine University in California. Thank you for your reference to my TED-X talk in Manhattan Beach. If you or any of your blog followers would like to chat about metaphors for schools, please feel free to email me at jmcmanus@pepperdine.edu Best to all, Jack. I really like your approach to developing this idea.

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