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Metaphor as a tool in educational leadership classrooms

Kathryn Singh College of Education, San Diego State University
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

Abstract As students begin credentialing programs, they usually take a basic course on leadership, and we often invite them to reflect on their own perceptions of qualities, vision, mission and effectiveness. In Fall 2008, in my classes, I discovered that students struggled to articulate thoughts on leadership. Many felt unqualified, not having been leaders. I used metaphor as a vehicle for formulating and expressing their concept of leadership. Students felt more relaxed when comparing leadership to something else such as an orchestra conductor, a traffic cop, a stovetop or a sail. The use of metaphor 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 article discusses 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 through their 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 knowledge 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 correcting, 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 can more easily visualise a leader seeing himself in this way and acting accordingly with others. In this article I will share a review of the literature on metaphor 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

Corresponding author: Kathryn Singh, College of Education, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA 92182, USA Email: ksingh@mail.sdsu.edu

128 metaphor usage in educational leadership coursework in general.

Management in Education 24(3) 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 organisations. 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 the metaphors 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 overcome 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 conductor. 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 represented 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, leaders 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 associated with effective leadership; and the representation of leadership found in various cultures. (p. 1)

Review of the literature

In Metaphor and Thought (1993), a group of experts approached the definition of metaphor from a number of perspectives. In his introduction, Otorny speaks of two overarching 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 deviants 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 conceptual 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 of love as a journey, with journey being 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 example, using the journey metaphor, journey is the source domain and the target is love. Oberlechner & Mayer-Scho nberger (2003) talk about metaphors as creating reality, helping us understand abstract, complex phenomena, showing hidden strategies and even permitting manipulation. They suggest that metaphors make clear which rules are valid and which guidelines 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 cognitive matter rather than a merely linguistic one, with many complex factors interacting in their creation.

Mullen et al. (2005) used metaphor to explore the connection between theory and practice in educational leadership courses. The authors indicate that metaphors provide an

Singh 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 (Scho n, 1987, as cited in Mullen et al., 1980: 1). In order to break down the barrier between theory and practice, Mullen and colleagues asked students to imagine that they were looking through binoculars 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 circular 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 concepts 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 visualised from different perspectives. It can be seen as purely linguistic, and within that classification can be considered a legitimate 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.

129 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 personal interest 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, stating 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 administrators as managers rather than leaders. When using metaphors their descriptions were much richer. I looked at the results from two perspectives. First, I looked at the metaphors 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, organisation, 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 areas they naturally generated. Some examples of phrases and categories are given in Table 2.

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 distribution of males and females. Students were asked to describe a metaphor that best captured their perception of educational leadership. A 23 page paper was due in written form on the second night of class. They were to describe

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Table 1. Metaphor themes and descriptions Traffic cop Pair of shoes A cornfield A sail on a sailboat Wine grapes Diet 7-Up A stovetop An artist commissioned to do a community mural

Management in Education 24(3)

needs to oversee, orchestrate, is not a driver but can create harmony or chaos with movements or decisions 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 ears open and listening, flexible and swaying with the wind, students are kernels to be protected by leaders can make the trip successful or can toss the whole crew into the ocean different grapes add different aspects, leader needs to lead in, develop and then finish off interactions smoothly transparent, bubbly, soothing, refreshing lots of things cooking at the same time, some needing more tending than others, can get burned out has talents and tastes but also gets feedback from those who will live with the final results of the project

Table 2. Leadership phrases by theme Vision A successful leader is a coach who will seek to help others realise not just who they are but who they can become. The tracks symbolise the values that Leaders are able to look into their own beliefs and values to create an a group stands on as it journeys appropriate vision for their team. together towards success. The leader has to have enough Leadership does not require that the leader be better than all or any of Grenache (a type of grape that is the ne wine) to first to be tasted in a Rho the employees at their job. ensure that the beginning of every interaction starts well. If all the teachers show up and present The leader manages people and transforms the source of energy their lessons, but students are not learning, the school is not a success. (like a prism) into a visible product. Leadership is a vehicle that takes us from being simple seedlings to beautiful flowers and strong trees. A good leader uses the abilities and dreams of others to create an appropriate goal for the common good. The final goal in leadership is observing your school running smoothly with a collaboration of trained professionals all working together towards a goal. The leader, as a beacon of light, transmits clarity and perspective. A leader decides on a path the others can follow.

Values

Leadership qualities

A caring, passionate and capable leader can take their school as far as the staff wants to go. A leader must be student-focused and ready to stand up for what is best for students. It means having the courage to overcome fear and to take risks. Schools are just buildings where great things can happen but without a stable curriculum and instruction, learning does not take place. A leader is not useful if he has no followers. Teachers must feel they have the tools and strategies that will support them in teaching.

Results

Leadership is not authoritative. It is invested with authority, but that is something different. Commitment If someone is not committed and does not put in what it takes to get a ticket on the success train they are asked to pay the price and if they refuse they are kicked off the train. Teamwork As one thread in a quilt gets stronger by the other threads feeding off that first thread, it builds cooperation and aids the progress of reaching the final goal. Motivation and courage Powerful leadership, like a train engine, will keep the whole train moving ahead no matter how steep the hills or challenges might be. Changing course on a ship is like implementing institutional change you cannot stop on a dime and change course suddenly. You need the crew onboard and doing their jobs. A miracle worker in one school might not make it in another the light bulb did not fit the socket.

Role

Change

A school leader who possesses courage can lead his or her staff through uncharted paths that will benefit student achievement. Leaders must learn to bend and sway The quality of change is more critical and adapt to change, lest they perish. than the quantity. They must embrace the inevitable change that will arrive. A good leader adapts his style to the movement needed in an organisation.

Players might think they know the best way to proceed and try to do it all themselves, but a coach will try to get those players to help others around them to become a better team. People will work harder towards a goal if they enjoy the journey.

Context

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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, integrating, complexity, multi-tasking and flexibility/adaptability. Many of the dominant metaphors mentioned by Noonan & Fish (2004) were mentioned as well, for example the vocation of a traffic cop, the journey or experience of sailing, operating a stove as a machine, and the performing arts through a muralist. 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 phrases they talked about quilts, ships, journeys, light, paths, coaching, a vehicle, a success train, flexible 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 provides insight into how they perceive their future role and, perhaps, 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 reality they create, as suggested by Morgan (1997). It is also useful for students to see that we do not all share the same concept (or expectations) of leadership.

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 programme. Asking students to create their own metaphors and share their perspectives with others allows them to consider their own and others perceptions. It also allows groups to have a greater understanding of what each member 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-ConTheorMetaphor.pdf (accessed August 2009). Merriam Webster Dictionary. Online: http://www.merriamwebster.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-Scho nberger,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. Education and Urban Society, 40(6), 694714.

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 be priority, the school environment and relationships with others. Students can ask practising leaders about their metaphors 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 theories (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.

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: ksingh@mail.sdsu.edu