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Using data collected from an undergraduate science methods class, this paper interrogates a variety of ways that preservice teachers construct their identities as both students of science and prospective teachers of science. Data sources included writings about an issue of "difference" in science class, a science autobiography, student-generated metaphors for teaching, a counternarrative to a personal experience, and a philosophy about teaching elementary school science. Drawing on these autobiographical writings about past experiences with science and the ways these inform visions of their future practice as teachers, this paper links the theoretical literature about science, gender, and schooling with the personal experiences of these students. Results from an analysis of the students' writings illustrate the incredible range of ways that school science was experienced in a gendered manner, and the ways in which these experiences shape these preservice teachers' orientations toward school science as they contemplate teaching. Their writings suggest the powerful effects that past science experiences have on their on-going construction of science teaching identities. Further, their writings recognize the complex ways in which the construct of schooling, gender, and science interact, hybridize, and experience synergy or attrition as they collide with one another. (Contains 42 references.) (Author/YDS)

The purpose of this research was to explore the usefulness of metaphor generation and analysis as a tool for reflection by prospective elementary teachers of science. An interpretive case study was conducted to investigate the changing beliefs of four prospective teachers about science learning and teaching. The main assertion that emerged from the analysis was "reflection through metaphor helped prospective teachers identify and actualize some of their beliefs about learning and teaching science, but the extent depended on their personal histories as science learners and their cooperating teachers." In light of this, it seems that if prospective teachers need to make their implicit beliefs explicit before they can consider learning theories and teaching strategies as presented within their teacher education programs, then they need to be encouraged to do so within reflection. To help prospective teachers make their implicit beliefs about teaching and learning explicit so those beliefs can grow and develop into consistent actions throughout their personal and professional careers, metaphor may be a useful tool for the kind of reflection that connects learning and teaching. Underlying this whole process of learning to teach science is the learning-to-teach environment as influenced by the cooperating teacher. Prospective teachers apparently need safe and supportive learning-to-teach environments where they can become confident to learn to teach science under the mentorship of cooperating teachers who understand contemporary perspectives on children's science learning as well as how prospective teachers learn to teach. (Author)

Multidimensional knowledge structures, described from a constructivist perspective and aligned with the "Mind as Rhizome" metaphor, provide support for constructivist learning strategies. This qualitative study was conducted to seek empirical support for a description of multidimensional knowledge structures, focusing on the idiosyncratic nature of knowledge that arose in the classroom and was based upon children's individual prior experience and knowledge. Participants (n=25) were students in a first and sixth grade parochial classroom in a small Midwestern city. Data were gathered through observation and student interviews. Cues and trajectories in the children's representations of knowledge were identified. Implications of the structures for generating and developing multiple perspectives and developing learner ownership are discussed. (Contains 35 references.) (MES)

This study examined the perceptions of early childhood center directors regarding their organizations, their roles, and their specific jobs. Data were obtained from 257 directors completing the Directors' Role Perceptions Questionnaire. The metaphoric images used in the directors' responses were analyzed to generate dominant themes in the way directors viewed their world of work and the discrepancy between their current and ideal conditions. From the directors' descriptions of their centers, several metaphorical themes surfaced (e.g., caring and nurturing, making connections, uniqueness and diversity), with no one theme characterizing more than 22 percent of the directors' responses. The metaphors directors used to describe their administrative role reflected a set of idealized expectations about their positions, their beliefs about the importance of the role, and their summary judgment about the nature of the position. Forty percent of directors referred to the multifaceted nature of the position that requires the balancing of multiple tasks and responsibilities (e.g., juggler); another 29 percent referred to the leading/guiding functions of the director's role (e.g., orchestra conductor, lighthouse). Among the metaphors describing the specific job, 50 percent related to pace and dealing with the unexpected. The most frequently cited metaphor combining these two elements was "roller coaster." The findings of the study confirm that examining the metaphors that directors use to describe their organizations, their administrative role, and their specific job is a powerful way to gain insight into the assumptions, beliefs, expectations, and personal visions individuals have for themselves and for their organizations. (Contains 26 references 10 figures, and 3 tables.) (Author/KB)

Medical education is undergoing one of its most intense reassessments in a quarter of a century. The current reassessments often have focused on reevaluation of the manner in which basic science and clinical education are provided. This paper aims to identify and illustrate the processes by which members of "MWCOM" (a pseudonym), a medical educational institution, make sense of the pedagogical innovation taking place. The paper provides a descriptive/thematic analysis that lays the foundation for future work which directs attention to the complex and shifting power relationships embedded within the MWCOM culture during the implementation period of this particular innovation diffusion process. Discussing the data from an ethnographic study--a collection of interviews with 18 administrators and faculty members at MWCOM--the paper notes a dramatic emergence of the use of metaphor in the organizational members' narratives and the subsequent use of metaphoric analysis to consider the data. According to the paper, the primary metaphor to emerge from the interview transcripts was "family," with the two strong subthemes of "double bind" and "entropy." The paper discusses in detail these themes and their application by MWCOM members. The paper concludes that it is only by studying how the MWCOM members construct their perceptions of organizational life that the "critical next step" can be taken toward forging a more meaningful look at the often politically charged meaning systems that stifle some organizational members while privileging others. (Contains 65 references. Appendix A provides the interview schedule, and Appendix B presents "Foucault's Ideas on the Micro Processes of Discipline." (NKA)

This paper draws on the metaphor of the enclosure, a forceful reconfiguration of shared space that occurred in early modern Europe, as a model for describing the current drive for privatization of education. It examines the metaphors embedded in current school transformations and contrasts the conception of democracy held by current advocates of education markets with those of the common-school reformers who founded mass education. The study compares the values embedded in the rhetoric of leading proponents of choice and charter schools in Michigan with the values of the most prominent advocates of the common-school reforms of the last century. It is hoped that such a contrast will illuminate competing conceptions of democracy, the role of education in sustaining such conceptions, and the current efforts to redefine traditional conceptions of the "public" aspect of education in the current debate regarding the spheres of "public" and "private" resources. The paper also attempts to make sense of the incongruence between these two discourses in a democratic society. (Contains 118 references.) (RJM)

This study explores how an Inquiry-Based Demonstration Classroom (IBDC) professional development program affects the extended inquiry instruction of secondary science teachers and how teachers view their extended inquiry practice while involved in the IBDC professional development program. To assess the impact of the program on participants' practice, each participant was observed enacting extended inquiry lessons. The observations of the inquiry lessons were recorded on the Extended Inquiry Observational Rubric (EIOR), then analyzed for changes in eight categories using a dependent t test. To supplement observational data, participants were interviewed throughout the year and asked to provide a metaphor that describes their instructional role while engaged in extended inquiry lessons. This study analyzes demonstration classrooms and provides additional information on the changes that secondary science teachers experience in their inquiry instruction as they participate in a professional development program that contains a demonstration classroom component. (Contains 16 references.) (DDR)

Classroom strategies and techniques can help novice teachers break with traditional ways of thinking about teaching English and begin the process of becoming reflective practitioners who see teaching as a complex activity that requires creative solutions to teaching problems. Research on pre- and inservice teachers on their metaphors for teaching indicate that teacher educators need to help pre- and inservice teachers change their metaphors for teaching and develop strategies that will enable them to enact their new metaphors for teaching. A language arts methods course instructor uses an "opinionnaire" activity that is designed to get prospective English teachers thinking critically about their own metaphors for teaching. Another activity involves having the students write a short paper on how they would teach the first day of class given a particular roster of students. Essays are discussed in class to bring out things they missed in their essays. A third activity illustrates a way to hold students' interest and involves a questionnaire of 10 to 20 items that focus on a single major character in literature but put that character in new situations. After working through the activity, the students create their own "what if?" activities. Learning these different strategies seems to help preservice teachers begin to break away from traditional views of instruction and develop new metaphors. (Contains 34 references. Appendixes contain a teaching and learning in English opinionnaire, a parent-child relationships questionnaire and associated writing assignments, a description of the "how would you teach this class?" activity, and two "what if?" questionnaires.) (RS)

The interpretation of information and the generation of knowledge is dependent on the existing metaphorical conceptual frameworks or mental models of the learner. Metaphorical mental models are both a method of representing and a way of organizing knowledge, and summarize an individual's beliefs about a system. Since the particular metaphors underlying an individual's understanding of the Internet serve to stimulate or limit the human imagination, it is essential to explore students' mental models in order to appropriately design the learning experience. Following a review of previous research eliciting metaphorical models or conceptions of the Internet, a structured questionnaire was developed and used to explore the metaphors employed by a sample of pre-service teachers in Singapore; this provided insights into their conceptual understanding of the nature and uses of the Internet. Findings indicate that the Internet is perceived more as a depository of information (passive) rather than as an interactive environment (active). The "Metaphors of Internet Questionnaire" is appended. (Author/AEF)

Hypnotic language provides a powerful tool for the transfer of learning in adventure therapy. It allows the therapeutic adventure practitioner to use the client's experiential language to enhance the isomorphic connections of the adventure activity and to draw upon and develop the client's unconscious resources to support client goals. This paper provides a basic outline of hypnotic language and examples of its use in adventure therapy. An introduction explains hypnotic language within the context of Erickson's model of psychotherapy and view of the unconscious as a place of untapped resources and strength. The basic model of Ericksonian hypnosis involves three stages: absorbing a person in an experience or activity, ratifying that absorption, and eliciting the person's inner resources to address the symptom or problem. Examples are given of practitioner language used in accomplishing each step, including statements of truisms to develop cooperative agreement between practitioner and client, permissive language that allows the client some choices, and language patterns that deliver suggestions and link them to the absorption process. A case example demonstrates how hypnotic language deepened a recovering addict's experience of the trust fall as a metaphor for letting go of resentment toward his father and receiving support from the group. (Contains 18 references.) (SV)

Rhetorical norms of early McCarthyist discourse reveal a reliance upon images of chaos and the body. Through such metaphors, rhetors crafted a model of discussion that feminized "democracy" and "tolerance" to support anti-Communist measures and de-legitimize their opponents. Political variety was coded as deviant to national identity. "Tolerance" became a warrant for the argument to contain political freedom. The paper's examination of congressional deliberations of contempt of Congress citations, the Subversive Activities Control Act, and Senator McCarthy's own rhetoric shows the development of the rhetorical norms of McCarthyism. (Includes 84 notes; contains 45 works cited.) (Author/NKA)

Pointing out that the growing body of literature on the Holocaust has been accompanied by concern about how knowledge of the Holocaust may be conveyed, this paper argues that elucidating links between terminology and policy invites reconsideration of what Holocaust studies should accomplish. Close textual analysis of historical artifacts is used as a prelude to constructing alternatives to rhetoric that culminates in destructive action. Using Kenneth Burke's concepts of "telos" and "logology," it traces the biologically rooted terminology of anti-Semitism in Nazi Germany as it built toward a crescendo of eliminating populations deemed racially inferior. The paper contends that identification of key metaphors--in this case, biological and medical terms--can reveal how linguistic resources that foster bigotry and genocide persist without necessarily becoming manifest in overt acts of violence. Topics discussed include: the philosophy and method of telogology and its roots in classical Greek rhetoric; the unfolding rhetorical telos toward genocide; and pedagogical applications and exercises--concrete methods for constructing responses to the terminological and ideological choices presented via the rhetorical telos, i.e., metaphorical redirection and comic reframing. The paper concludes that the challenge facing those who engage in Holocaust studies is to cultivate an accurate understanding of the past while trying not to relive it, and that telogology, by concentrating on evolving patterns of language use, offers a way to appreciate how momentum built toward a mentality that would treat genocide as a logical outcome and necessary consequence of racial doctrines. Contains 40 references. (NKA)

This article presents a conceptual framework for the research and practice of educational computer conferences that shifts the focus from the on-line messages being exchanged to the participants' engagement with the conference. This framework, known as the "Iceberg Metaphor" or the "Michigan Model of educational telecommunications," maintains that on-line communication is similar to the tip of an iceberg, whereas a great deal of the conference participants' learning experience takes place off-line. This conceptual framework was used in a recent case study at the University of Michigan regarding preservice teachers' use of a computer conference. The Metaphor's implication for this study was to shift the focus of inquiry from the conference transcript to extensive interviews with the participants to better understand their overall engagement with the conference. A summary of this study and its major findings are presented. The final section of this article discusses the possible implications the Iceberg Metaphor and related research may have for the creation, implementation, and evaluation of international educational computer conferences. (Contains 15 references.) (Author)

Scientific language is not simply for recording facts but it is also an instrument of thought. It has a central role in not only developing a sense of social identity for members of the scientific community and students in the classroom but also in inculcating views on the nature of science and reality itself. Physicists have created a language in which the fundamental components and symmetries of the world cannot be observed. It is not the case that there is a non-metaphorical physics that has to be made intelligible using figurative language--analogy and metaphor are inherent in the nature of physics. Figurative thinking lies at the heart of scientific thinking. Some results of an empirical investigation of students' conceptions of figurative language are described following an analysis of the nature of metaphors, analogies, and models. Contains 55 references. (Author/NB)

The moral framework of a carousel is used to advance possible connections between the institutional and regulatory life within prisons and teacher education programs. The moral paradigm case narrated is based on the researcher's field experience in a prison as a researcher-teacher. Connections are drawn to restrictions within a correctional writing program and the qualitative protocols of research. The framework of a carousel promotes an expressive, less bounded way of studying prescriptive and liberatory practices. The carousel image underscores the institutional cycles of circularity, predictability, and continuity. Inmates, understood broadly, are viewed as prisoners of this pattern. The carousel also refers to the romance side of rehabilitation and re-education, and to institutional cover stories that can be disrupted in an effort to reform. The carousel framework is developed using multiple writing efforts that contradict traditional notions of education and rehabilitation. Through border crossing into correctional facilities or prison education, moral development in one's own field can be examined with respect to educational inquiry and its correctional elements; conversely, incarceration itself can produce liberatory elements that have educational meaning. It is argued that examining the cultures of teacher education and correctional facilities can lead to further insights into educators conceptions. (Contains 51 references.) (JLS)

In ethnographic research, silence can be probed as a filter through which to understand metaphors present and absent in conversations. The question posited in this study is how to account for silence as deliberate. From analysis of conversational interactions with classroom teachers, it became apparent that the silences also had meaning, that they were "inhabited." Probing of the silences revealed that although the focus of the conversations was race, the teachers' awareness of themselves as raced (i.e., as having a racial identity) was absent from the conversations. When asked how they described themselves, the teachers included many non-racial descriptors; race was also absent from written biographies. Because whiteness continues to be construcd as the norm, it is rendered invisible. Additionally, when asked how they saw themselves racially, the responses focused not on their race but rather on their identity as white women. Reversing the polarities of silence and talk, or treating talk as the ground and silence as the figure for analysis, results in making the familiar strange and the strange familiar. It is suggested that researchers can become more open to the possibility of multiple meanings in silences and thus find new areas for research. (Contains 26 references.) (JLS)

Lexical derivation in the Navajo verb system is described, with examples. Derivation involves four broad processes: (1) straightforward use of verbal roots and adverbial-derivational prefixes, with their base meanings; (2) extension of base root meaning, often by metaphor, to permit application to disparate concepts; (3) figurative use of adverbial-derivational prefixes and prefix compounds; and (4) idiom. Derivational prefixes and their patterns of occurrence are outlined, and patterns signifying extension of meaning of verbal roots are delineated for a number of verbs. It is noted that most of the noun lexicon is derived from verbs, and that some of the stem nouns the ancestral Navajos brought with them from the Northland five centuries ago have undergone changed meaning in the new geographical/ecological environment of the Southwest. Borrowing from English has become more common. (MSE)

Physics learning involves a change in the habitual perception of the everyday world. In order to describe the real world scientifically, an individual must develop perception and cognition capable of reconstructing the world from raw sensory data and incorporating acquired knowledge of the scientific community. The introductory physics student struggles to "see" the invisible filters of conventional physics ideas that most physicists take for granted. This paper draws on several theories of perception and imagery to explore experiences with the invisible world of physics. Discussion includes: generation of images as a route to understanding physics; internal physics imagery and physics thinking; viewing light as a particle or wave; the speed of light; and illustrating the speed of sound and black holes with visual metaphors. Nine figures illustrate various physics concepts. (Contains 11 references.) (AEF)

Synectics is the use of thinking in metaphors, or figurative language in general, to see the familiar in unfamiliar ways or the unfamiliar in familiar ways. W.J.J. Gordon and his Cambridge Synectics Group isolated ways to think metaphorically by using artistic problem-solving mechanisms most people possess in their experiential background. This paper shows how Gordon's synectics mechanisms can be incorporated in introductory poetry writing instruction for public school students. These mechanisms include personal analogy, direct analogy, symbolic analogy, and fantasy analogy. Suggestions include: (1) starting out by reading poetry aloud to students without analyzing it; (2) beginning the writing with a list poem--students jot down words as quickly as they are perceived without worrying about final composition; and (3) beginning through prose writing, which frees the student to follow the flow of their words. The student then rewrites the prose piece with the addition of metaphors, trying to imagine what they wrote in a different light using Gordon's mechanisms. The prose can be transformed into a poem by including metaphors, shortening the sentences into brief phrases, then rearranging the spacing for lines. (Contains 10 references.) (AEF)

The recent Irish film "Into the West" (1992) explores the myth of the West on two continents. Images from television and movies appear as a visual reference point within "Into the West"; the main characters, two young Irish boys, are fascinated with the American West of cowboys and Indians as depicted in countless Hollywood versions. The image of the horse operates as the common denominator to the exploration of both myths, since the boys embark on a rescue mission after they see a horse that was stolen from them appear in a televised sporting event. The horse as visual icon crosses the boundaries of time, space, and culture; it defines the parameters of the Western genre in theme and style and represents key elements of the identity of the cowboy. Traditionally, the traits of power and freedom associated with the depictions of the horse shape the masculine identity of the cowboy. "Into the West" shows how the bonding process of horse and man frequently represents a rite of passage for young Westerners, an initiation into manhood. As in other Western sagas, the journey of the two main characters represents both physical movement across the landscape and spiritual quest. (AEF)

Associated with the cultural paradigm of postmodernism, the cyborg, in its numerous aspects, has become a predominant metaphor used to describe the relationship between humanity and technology in post-industrial information societies. This case study of Barry Levinson's 1992 comedy film, "Toys," demonstrates some of the many facets of the cyborg. The theme that runs throughout the film and the one thing that all the "Zevos" appear to share in common is their love of gadgetry, or toys. What differs between the military Zevos and the civilian Zevos are their conceptions of what makes a good toy, and what a toy should be good for. It is their mutual love of technology that makes them all exceptional candidates for cyborization. The central message of the film is presented in its first line which is, "If I cannot bring you comfort, then at least I bring you hope..." A description of some of the cyborgization indicators present in the film's characters is provided. Nine figures present reproductions of the characters and a table of characters and their cyborg indicators. (Contains 12 references.) (AEF)

This paper provides an Australian perspective on the question of the name that should be given to people who work as information specialists in schools. The paper reviews metaphorical analysis as a research tool and outlines a qualitative research project employing the metaphor technique in an attempt to discover the conceptions that stakeholders (teacher-librarians, principals, classroom teachers, and others) hold about alternative titles that could be employed by the teacher-librarian profession. The study identified the types of metaphor that would be used to identify the positions of: Teacher-Librarian, Information Specialist, and Director of Information Services. Respondents were instructed to identify a metaphor for the term, and provide an explanation of the metaphor. The paper includes two examples of the raw data collected: principals' and teacher-librarians' metaphors and explanations for the term "teacher-librarian." (Contains 23 references.) (SWC)

One method of determining teachers' beliefs about teaching is through investigation of their personal teaching metaphors. Delaware health and physical education teachers (N=391) were surveyed with 104 responding (26.6 percent) to "A teacher is like...". Additionally, two factors were also explored: grade level taught and accumulated teaching experience. Seven metaphor categories emerged with parent/protector and group leader predominating (totaling 69 percent of responses). Results indicated that parent/protector was predominant in elementary and middle school and for teachers with 1-25 years of experience; group leader was dominant in high school and college and for teachers with over 25 years experience. It is concluded that an understanding of one's personal metaphor for teaching would assist in reflection about one's practice, which would provide potential for more effective teaching. (Contains 38 references.) (ND)