teaching metaphors of student nurses

Joumal of Advanced Nursing, 1996,23,1110-1120

Teaching metaphors of student nursesMargaret McAllister RN RPN DipAppSc BA MEdLecturer, Department of Nursing Practice

and Denis McLaughlin DipTeach BA BEd MEd PhDSenior Lecturer and Head, Department of Professional Development, AustralianCatholic University, Everton Park, Queensland, Australia

Accepted for pubhcation 2 August 1995

MCALLISTER M & MCLAUGHLIN D (1996) Joumalof Advanced Nursing 23,1110-1120Teaching metaphors of student nursesThis research focused on explonng the metaphors nursing students use toexpress their experience of university teachers' practice A social constructivistapproach to meaning imderhes the process of interpreting student language mthis study The foUoviring evolved as major research questions What are themetaphors students use to descnhe teaching' Hovir do these metaphors operate'The research concluded that students readily use metaphors to descnhe thenexperiences of teaching within the nursing degree programme, there is a patternto the choice of metaphors, some of these images function as incremental orconstructive metaphors, extending understanding of what it means to teach,others support current understandings and reflect taken-for-granted notions ofteaching Specific metaphors used hy students to descnhe teaching werecontextually analysed A numher of them may offer teachers of nursing insightinto their craft Metaphors such as teacher as umpire, teacher as student,teaching with distance and teaching the hig picture may he useful images forteachers to think ahout to guide their practice

INTRODIICTTON ^ ^ °̂ come to terms wnth the substantive problems thatteachers believe themselves to face' (Mnnby 1986 p 197)

The aim of this paper is to document a phenomenological This research aimed to explore, document and nnder-study that explored metaphors used hy nursing students stand metaphors within the language that students use toto describe teaching (McAllister 1995) The study of meta- express their expenence of teachers' practice withm thephor has gained acceptance as a legitimate alternative to third-year Bachelor of Nursmg programme at the Aus-conservative and conventional perspectives m explormg tralian Catholic Umversity (ACU) Consequently, the firsthow teachers and students thmk (Candy 1985, Jones 1990) research question was What are the metaphors studentsSince beliefs are often embedded withm the imagery that use to describe teaching'teachers and students use in their everyday language. Metaphors may he lUummative and incremental,metaphor analysis can reveal what is valued by those revealing new msights about familiar and unfamiliar con-engaged m education In addition, metaphors can be used cepts (Pugh 1989) Metaphor may encapsulate complexto assist teachers and students to address prohlems information mto em organized whole (Ortony 1979) It mayby thinking more creatively, laterally or mtuiUvely also promote dialogue between people because abstractConsequently, it is 'important to decode the images if we notions are now more easily understood and ahle to be

shared (Grady 1993) Metaphor may also, however, restrictunderstanding hy offermg an image that excludes other

Correspondence Margfiret McAUister Lecturer Australian Catholic ways of knowing (Soskice 1992)University, PO Box 247, Everton Park Q4053 Australia In Order to gain a deeper understemduig of the craft of

© 1996 Blackwell Science Ltd

Teaching metaphors of student nurses

teachmg nursing it is important to examme the nature ofthe metaphors that students use to descnhe teaclnng(Greene 1984) Thus, it was necessary to move heyond theclassification of metaphors, towards exploration of formTherefore, the second research question was How do thesemetaphors operate'

THE STUDY

This study focused upon four students enrolled m thethird-year Bachelor of Nursmg programme The partici-pants were mvolved in weekly joumallmg, and discussionwith the first author The research documented metaphorswithm the language that students use to express theirexperience of teachers' practice (Munby 1986) Metaphorshave extended knowledge and understanding ahout thefamihar and imfamiliar (McFague 1982), build self-idenhty(TeSelle 1975) and contribute to change and discoverywithm knowledge (Dickmeyer 1989), self (Yob 1993) andsociety (Jung 1964) Description and analysis of the natureand quality of metaphors withm student language mayilluminate understanding of nursmg students' perceptionof teachmg

Table 1 Data sources and collection

Data sources Collection techniques

• Interviews with students

• Audio-taped recordings ofthe interviews

• Participant observation

Detailed field notesmaintained hy researcher

• Joumal maintained hyparticipants

• Focused interviews

Constant companson ofdata involving snow ballsampling and searchingfor exceptions

Metaphors checked hy acolleague

Tahled documentation ofthe categonzation process(refer to data coding)

Further checking andrecheckmg of data frommterviews, field notes,tape and journals

Categories tested hycolleagues

Transcnpts of mterviewsarchived

Research design

A phenomenological approach was selected as an appro-priate perspective to explore individual students'thoughts, attitudes and past experiences One of the pur-poses of this approach is to articulate theory which isembedded m practice, since it can assist in understanding'how people make sense of their everyday world' (Cohen& Manion 1989 p 33) Phenomenological research focuseson the study of direct experience taken at face value(Cohen & Manion 1989 p 31) The researcher must takecare not to assume, generalize or focus only on observationof the meanmg of participants' experiences Instead,interpretations should be based on subjective and objectiveexperiences

The context of meanmg is important and should be con-sidered m order hetter to understand students' perceptionsof teaching Phenomenological research is holistic It aimsto study a whole human system in a natural setting andso provide unique interpretations of data and eventswithm a context (Lincoln & Cuba 1985) Unlike empiricaldesigns, phenomenological research reframs from the for-mulation of an a pnon hypothesis and the suhsequenthypotheses testmg (Cohen & Mamon 1989) Instead, thephenomenological research suspends preconceivedhypotheses or theory in order to explore data and thepossible emergence of theory Smce phenomenologicalresearch aims to understand suhjective experiences(Cohen & Mamon 1989), it employs a variety of researchstrategies (Table 1) to address the various situations firomwhich data may emerge (Wilson 1979)

Setting

The research was conducted withm the context of thePreparation for Professional Practice Unit (PPPU) whichIS offered m the third year of the Bachelor of Nursing pro-gramme The unit aims to provide individual studentswith the opportumty to integrate existing personal andprofessional knowledge, values and heliefs, with newknowledge and practice, so that each student is preparedto practise at the level of a new registered nurse The imitoffers a fiexible programme of study, using learning con-tracts, to meet specific identified educational needs

Sample

In order to sample perceptions of leeimers from differenthackgrounds quota sampling was employed to selectinformants from the following categones mature-age stud-ent, recent school leaver as well as a student with pnornursing expenence Four students from the group whomatched these categones agreed to become participantsThey offered to share their heliefe about teaching throughinterviews, as well as by writing journal refiections

All of the students were female One was a recent schoolleaver and three were mature-age students All were under-taking tertiary study for the first time The group contameda cultural mix of Greek, Fijian Indian and Australian hack-grounds, as well as rural and urhan ongms Two of thestudents had previously worked as enrolled nurses, onehad over 10 years' expenence working m high-dependencyareas and the other had recently completed an enrolled

© 1996 Blackwell Science Ltd, Joumal of Advanced Nursing, 23, 1110-1120 m i

M McAllister and D

nursmg course pnor to commencing the degree Short pro-files of each participant, using pseudonyms, follow

Stephanie is 21-years-old and of Fijian Indian ethnicityHindi IS her first language, although she is fluent m Englishhaving learned and spoken it since pnmary school At theage of 14, just hefore the 1987 coup m Fiji, Stephanie cameto Australia to attend school Stephanie described herupbringing as relatively pnvileged In Fiji she said thatrespect for elders, which was highly valued, actuallyresulted m her repressing thoughts and needs, obeying herfather, and never questiomng rules She said that teacherswere highly esteemed and they too were never questionedShe said that her lifestyle and pnvilege encouraged her tothmk of those less fortunate than her as 'below' her Sinceliving m Australia, her values have changed She says shehas developed a sense of equality and egalitarianism,assertion and independence She has learned that it isacceptable to question rules

Alice IS 32-years-old of Anglo-Celtic origin Her pnmaryschoolmg took place in the late 1960s m a rural town Herteachers were stnct, relying on 'blackboard instruction(with) little student interaction or personal attention' andshe recalls being 'too paralysed with fear' to take an activerole m her schooling Secondary school was spent m aCatholic boarding school which was described as a 'newworld, new people, real teachers, competition m learningwith much the same style of teaching except that a lotmore energy was put into "good students" ' Alice com-pleted school with grades lower than the stcmdard requiredto enter nursing and, after 13 years spent worlang as anenrolled nurse, eventually gained a place on the nursingdegree programme Most of Alice's experience with teach-ers pnor to commencing the programme is described nega-tively She can clearly articulate what it means to be a badteacher She wrote

Most of my had expenences with teachers centred around powerissues — yelling, rulers, the cane, punishment or sheer scaretactics In my teenage years this approach just did not work —I )ust rehelled against it, and hated learning the suhject

Ann IS a 29-year-old Australiem After leaving schoolAnn worked as a receptionist, clerk, and assisting a stockbroker Anne had just completed a hospital-based enrollednurse training course m a major hospital before commenc-ing the nursing degree Ann has received distinctions orcredits smce the second year of the course and is commit-ted to hecoming an excellent nurse In the middle of thesecond year of her studies, Ann deferred for financialreasons Ann said she had to come to terms with studentsand teachers who did not know her, different cumculumcontent with an emphasis on self-directed learning ratherthan the lecture-tutorial format to which she had becomeaccustomed

Denny is a 26-ye£U'-old woman of Greek origin Her pn-mary school education was in a small pnvate school where

the classes were small and the learmng environment was'mtimate' In contrast, her secondary school education wasdifficult Denny was less focused on study hecause of theactive 'peer pressure' to socialize Also, the classes werelarge and Denny's academic performance was overlookedby teachers and family Denny admitted tbat she was nota good student but wished that the teachers had been awareof her academic needs Denny leff school hefore matncul-ating and gained emplojTnent Later, she returned to mghtschool which she enjoyed, hut found very different fromconventional schooling

FINDINGS

Metaphors used hy students

Fifty-two different metaphors were identified (Table 2) Allof the participants used spontaneous metaphors m theirexpressions These data are consistent with Miller &Fredericks' (1988) contention that mdividuals will expressthemselves metaphoncally even without prompting Theauthors h3rpothesized that individuals will use metaphorsreadily because they are formed unconsciously and theyexplain, encapsulate emd extend concepts that may bedifficult to express m a literal way When data were dis-cussed with the participants, they expressed surprise thatthey had been speaking metaphoncally All agreed thatthey had been unaware of their tendency to use metaphorsrather them literal expression to describe notions of teach-ing Thus, for the participants, many of the metaphorsrepresented taken-for-granted images of teaching

Three categones of metaphor were created, named andsorted in a process of cue sorting after the data were col-lected With the assistance from three colleagues engagedin initial free cue sorting of these metaphors, a total of 25different groupings was made Thus, metaphors did notfall naturally into discrete clusters However, within thesegroupings there was significant overlap Metaphors werethen resorted and groups renamed The second phase ofcue sorting involved directing colleagues to cue sort themetaphors mto given categones From this process threecategones were created

Table 2 Findings to question 1 What are the metaphors'

1 Categones of metaphorsHow the teacher teachesPersonal styleRoles and relationships

2 Shared metaphors3 Shared constructive metaphors

Teaching as sensingTeacher as gmdeTeacher gives directionTeaching the hig picture

1112 © 1996 Blackwell Science Ltd, Joumal of Advanced Nursing, 23, 1110-1120


Categones of metaphorsThe categones mclude 'how the teacher teaches' (Table 3),which was the most frequently used, 'personality or per-sonal style' (Table 4) ofthe teacher, and 'roles and relation-ships' (Table 5) between teacher and student (Table 6)Twenty-three metaphors were grouped v«thin the 'howthe teacher teaches' category, 19 were grouped vnthm the'personal style' category and 10 were grouped withm the'roles and relationships' category

How the teacher teaches A common theme that runsthrough the 23 metaphors (Tahle 3) is the notion of stra-tegies utilized by the teacher within the student—teacherrelationship Some of the metaphors, such as 'open','approachable' and 'orgamzed', could well be descnbed aspersonal teaching styles Nonetheless, the common featurewithm this group is that all the metaphors descnbe a com-bmation of technical slalls and teachmg craft For example,images of the teacher operating a 'communication system'captures the process of transmission of laiowledge, a skillthat IS incorporated m educational theory on teaching'Making room' for discussion, m contrast, is a more subtleaspect of the craft of teachmg that is drawn more fromthe wisdom of practice than from tips of teaching(Shulman 1987)

Personal style The second category contams images thatdescnhe the teacher's piersonality traits and individualapproaches to teachmg (Tahle 4) While personal style mayshare certain elements with the category 'how the teacherteaches', it is also distinct hecause it descnbes personalrather than genenc teachmg strategies All of these meta-phors are descriptions of the teacher, an image that isgreater than teachmg style or teachmg role The categoryrefers to teachers' attitudes, thoughts and behaviours thattranscend the classroom and attempts to descnhe theteacher as a person

Roles and relationships The third category refers to therelationship hetween student and teacher and to the rolesthat each of them plays Roles and relationships are listedin Table 5 The category contains the only metaphors thatcomment on the student-teacher relationship The imagescapture a sense of the student role and the connectionbetween teacher and student

Shared metaphors about teachingTable 6 displays shared metaphors, or images, about teach-ing that participants had in common The lefthand columnillustrates images common to three or four participants,and the nghthand column displays images common to at

Table 3 Metaphors of how the teacher teaches

• human

• open

• approachahle

• not hot and cold

• shows their

personality

• down to earth

• a new hreed• have the hackground

• a child

• sense

• hecome a student

• have many sides

• operate acommunicationsystem

• a miner, sifting throughinformation

• not simplyinformation giving

9 dangle carrots

• hold hack, hlock/resist

• squelch individuality

• concerned that studentsmight outgrow them

• work together withstudents

9 pay attention

9 make room fordiscussion

• organized

Table 4 Metaphors withm the teacher's personal style of teaching

• natural• help students to see

the hig picture• a flexihle style

• an umpire

• a translator• do not push a pomt

• a story teller

• keep the plot• do not spoon feed

• a guide• hlackhoard teacher

• act as a soundinghoard

• use movement• playgames

• a comedian

• a fitter

9 know the language

• use war strategies• give direction

© 1996 Blackwell Science Ltd, Joumal of Advanced Nursing, 23, 1110-1120 1113

Af McAllister and D McLaughlin

Table 5 Metaphors of teacher's roles and relationships

9 give and take

9 get down to the samelevel as students

9 a preacher

9 a fiiend

9 a parent

9 spend time

• ahle to share withstudents

• a therapist

4 keep a healthydistance

aware of a professionalIme hetween teacherand student

Table 6 Shared metaphors

Between at least three or four Between two participantsparticipants

• friend (9 comedian (9 open (9 parent (9 guide (9 senses (9 hig picture (9 storyteller (9 game 49 go in one direction (9 same level (9 communication system i

t therapist1 child• givers and takers> resistantt down to eartht movet keep a distance• approachahlet naturalt make room> uses war imagery* hlackhoard teachers) hackground• has a flexihle style

least two participants Shared metaphors refiect that mean-ing IS grounded m cultural contexts (Lakoff & Johnson1980) Consequently, shared notions of teaching mayreflect socially acquired meamngs about teaching

Approximately 25% ofthe metaphors were shared by atleast three or four participants and 27% were sharedbetween two participants Thus, 52% of all the imagesexpressed were shared metaphors, providing support forthe contention that metaphors are not simply randomevents but are important ways of structunng and extendingexpenence (Lakoff & Johnson 1980)

An examination of some of these shared metaphors isuseful because they may give some indication ofthe domi-nant heliefs participants have about teaching The imageof teacher as 'friend', for example, was a metaphorexpressed by all participants For these participants, themetaphor was a useful way of expressmg that teachersshould be able to relate with them on friendly terms(Kliehard 1975) Such an image also seems to offer msightmto what the teacher is not The teacher should not hepatromzmg or manipulating In this image, the relation-ship IS mutual, and the individuals are open, honest andnatural with each other

Teacher as friend may he considered analogical hecause

the suhject and the metaphor have a categoncal smulanty(Soskice 1992) Moreover, the lmk between the two is notunusual, unexpected or unconventional and thereforedoes not seem to constitute what could be called 'a goodmetaphor' (McFague 1982) Teacher as friend is a familiar,commonly used image that has been literalized hy itsusers Participants failed to recognize it as metaphoricalBecause it is overused, its power to extend understandingand push conventional understanding ofthe teacher is lim-ited This IS not to say, however, that images cannot herevitalized

Shared constructive metaphorsConstructive metaphors are those images that extendunderstanding and have often unconventional and surpns-mg associations A numher of constructive metaphorsshared between participants that may be mformative forteachers of nursing will be explored

Teachmg as sensing Participants revealed an emphasison teachers' use of the senses to teach Alice talked ofhearing She referred to inconsistent mar)ang between tea-chers as a perceived prohlem for her When asked if shecould suggest solutions, she responded '[teachers] have tobe open to hear the student and to listen' Ann also referredto this metaphor of sensmg during a conversation aboutstudents who talk excessively about their personalexperiences

They may hore others or he long winded hut they [teachers] letthem say their piece so they feel listened to as well

She also said

even if what they're saying is really wrong, if you don't listen tothem. It won't change I find a lot of people's prohlems stem fromthe fact that they don't feel hstened to, they're not acknowledged

Stephanie also descrihed how important was the unage ofteachers showing students how to leam by feeling

It was one day that everyone had hrought their towels and theirhathing smts and everyone got together and [the teacher] cameand showed us how to do some massage strokes He showedus a couple and said, 'Well, go and practise' and it really madeyou feel very comfortable and I began to relax I thinV it's really



important that nurses feel what it's like to have something doneit makes you realize how they [the client] are feeling and howdifficult It IS for them

Alice also used this image of touch m a different way whenshe wrote

A good teacher feels the group — prompts and encourages partici-pation and draws out the quiet or disruptive students formclusion Many good students get left hehind, or are unnoUced,otherwise

Teacher as guide In this excerpt from Denny's memoryof unsuccessful teachmg, a detailed image of teacher asguide (as well as lesson as a movmg ohject) is related

I only have one memory of a 'had' teaching experience theteacher m this particular class had no control over the class mthat we weren't directed mto the nght area of what we were sup-posed to he learning Questions were often asked hecause themajority of the class did not understand I felt we were givenvery little guidance in this area I mean, we were new to this areaand were expected to self-direct our learmng hut I m particularneeded some guidance and clarification that I was going m thenght direction Because most of us were lost we would go off manother direction, completely off the topic, and m retrospect Iwish we were guided back

In this context, the metaphor of guide is emotive(Soskice 1992) It evokes a sense of helplessness and pas-sivity Denny's unage of dependence m this understandingof gmde emphasizes a paradoxical relationship betweenthe scientific (Dunkm & Biddle 1974) and craft knowledgeofteachmg(Burroughs-Langee(ai 1994) While there maybe an apparent scientific rationale for lmplementmgself-directed learning for students of nursing, without ateacher's artistry facilitating student confidence andmdependence (Stenhouse 1984) self-direction may gener-ate a stenle learning expenence

In another context, however, tour gmde C£m bemcremental (Soskice 1992) Thelen (1954), for example,focused less on the notions of control and rescue, whenhe descnbed the image of teacher as tour guide In hismetaphor, teachers operated more like a museum gmde,who IS knowledgeable, confident and self-assured Aliceseems to have captured this notion of gmde when shewrote

You don't just need someone [to teach], you need a competent,m-touch, flexihle, energetic, creative nurse who can also com-municate effectively her expectations of you, gmde and instructyou on prac

She also said that when students were unable to findanswers teachers should 'give some leads' and, like aguide, teachers should 'keep the group together', 'direct'and 'prompt the group' and 'steer you m the nghtdirection'

Teacher gives direction Giving direction is a metaphorthat suggests that learning involves movement from oneplace to another Smce all participants used the metaphorseveral times, it appears to he a dominant image of teach-ing Denny said that she 'takes the long way around', andthat teachers can be teachmg m one direction — 'straightforward' — while she may not be on that 'track'

The movement metaphor was used hy student teachersas clues to how they construct their world (Munhy 1986,Munby & Russell 1990) Using movement to describeteachmg mdicates that progress has been made or thatdistance has been travelled (Munby 1986) For Denny, itwould appear that studymg involves some kmd of travel-ling to a destination and the role of the teacher is to helpher to reach it

Teachmg the big picture The big picture has some com-monsense meamng It refers to the whole which contamsmultiple subsections In a professional course such asnursing which incorporates a number of disciplines, thebig picture may, at tunes, he difficult to appreciate Thefollowing excerpt about the importance of teachers helpingstudents see the big picture was provided by Alice

I suppose the cumculum has to he holistic If the framework'sholistic and you get the big picture, I think that's a good ideahecause you leam ahout all different types of human hehaviour,not just the physical you open your mind up to everything

Stephanie also used the metaphor when she wasexplaining another unage, the importance of a teacher whopomts students m tbe nght direction

The mam strength is when things are put together to see the bigpicture and once m a while she would put all those thmgs togetherand make us see a big picture That was really helpful

This image may he Ein mformative one for teachers whodesire to encourage students to see the big picture whenassessmg clients 'Big picture' assessments can be seen aschent assessments that consider their biological, social,psychological and spiritual needs m a holistic way, ratherthan assessmg one part and then another Holistic nursmgteaches that the whole is more than the sum of lU partsThe 'hig picture' image is conducive with this philosophy

How do these metaphors operate?

The second research question sought to explore the mean-mg and complexity of these metaphors m order to under-stand how metaphors operated withm the language ofstudents of nursmg In order to gam understanding it willhe useful to examine the mechamsm of action of a numherof mterestmg metaphors vnthm each of tbe three majorcategones (Table 7)


Af McAllister and D McLaughlin

Table 7 Fmdmgs to question 2 How do the metaphors operate'

1 How the teacher teachesTeacher as studentTeacher pays attentionTeacher dangles carrot

2 Personal styleHas the personalityStory tellerUmpireUses war strategiesTranslator

3 Roles and relationshipsTherapistDistance

How the teacher teachesThis category contained the most numher of metaphorsSeveral metaphors within this category have been selectedfor discussion because of their ability to contribute tounderstandmg of the student's ideas on how teachersteach nursmg

Teacher becomes student The following excerpt, con-taining several metaphors, descnbes Ann's comparisonbetween negative and positive experiences with teachers

Snappy turtle teachers don't know how to improve themselves,they don't want to know that they have a need hecause that makesthem feel vulnerahle [Meanwhile, the other teacher] spent lotsof time with all the students, moving around the room talking,sharing and showing everyone what they needed Looking hack,I think she taught what the student mdividually needed sheresponded to the learning deficits that the student dictated Theteacher becomes the student

A metaphor of interest is the image ofthe teacher becomingthe student This metaphor was explained by Ann to meanthat a good teacher is able to perceive things from the pomtof view of a learner as well as a teacher Students are cap-able of teachmg teachers, who are open to leam from them

Another dimension to this image of teacher as studentwas introduced hy Alice She wrote

[Teachers are] co-learners they must he knowledgeahle and notwithhold their knowledge, [hut] they should not he hell hent onself-direction We need guidance to understand this system oflearning they should also encourage group discussion, givepractical examples and encourage group cohesion

Thus, the notion of implementing a philosophy of teach-mg such as problem-based learning should not be pursuedrigidly If good didactic teaching is reqmred, then it is astrategy m a teaching repertoire that should he able to beused Teacher as student can also refiect the teachmg asdialogue metaphor (Tihenus 1986) which m turn acceptsthe notion of transactional teaching wherein information

exchange and a reciprocal relationship between studentand teacher is promoted 'Teacher as learner' (Tanner 1990)IS a useful metaphor to explore the power relationshipbetween teacher and student The metaphor of teacher asstudent should not compete with other useful teacherimages such as Socrates, tour guide and midwife (Thelen1954, Ayers 1986) All of these images suggest ttat the roleof teacher involves direction and wisdom Iromcally,teacher as student also does this for direction and wisdomcan emanate from a vanety of sources including students(Ortony et al 1977)

Teachers pay attention The metaphor of pajrmg per-sonalized attention is a donunemt image that Alice used todescnbe good teachmg

I had a good teacher in secondary school who actually paid someattention to me mayhe this was my first experience of 'individual'schoolmg/leaming I responded with improved grades

Alice also wrote

Good teachers did pay attention, showed some personality, somehumour, understanding and spent energy

Teachers dangle carrots Not cJl of the images discussedby participants were positive, as this extract from Ann'sjoumal illustrates

Some tutors and lecturers are really funny ahout passing onknowledge It's like they dangle a carrot at you hut never reallylet you get it Sometimes it feels like it's exclusive knowledgeto them as experienced RNs [registered nurses]

The metaphor captures an unage of teachers lurmg andmanipulating students to leam It also highlights thepotential for the ahuse of power that exists m teachmgThe metaphor has revealed that one element of teachmgineffectively mvolves an attempt to use knowledge as ahargeoning device

Personal styleA numher of metaphors withm this category have beenselected for discussion because of the interesting valuesthat are revealed within them

Teacher's personality After considering distmgmshmgfeatures of skilled teachers, Stephanie responded

I want to he ahle to do that I think it is somethmg that is learnedhut also, well, partly just natural, like you would have to he anoutgoing sort of person, hut I [also] thmk it's something thatyou've learned over the years

The notion of teaching expertise hemg partially innate andpartially acquired seems to operate as a metaphor thatguides Stephame's image of teachmg and leammg For her,good teachers had a comhination of ordinary human

1116 © 1996 Blackwell Science Ltd, Joumal of Advanced Nursmg, 23, 1110-1120


qualities such as bemg ahle to relate with people, as wellas having practical expenence m the suhject matterStephame heheved that this abihty would promote mutualrespect, a value she acquired after leavmg a Fijian culturewhich focused on teachers using authontative power(Lmdstrom 1990) Students responded respectfully hybeing passive After commg to Australia, Stephamelearned that disagreeing, bemg assertive and cultivatmgaltemative responses to those of the teacher are encour-aged For example, Stephanie descnbed a particularlyimpressive teacher in the following manner

She's down to earth, you can go and approach her ahout things,she never talks down to me, she would bnng knowledge down toyour level so that you understand what she's talking ahout hutnever talking down to you There is a difference

For Stephanie, good teachers also have practicalexpenence

With their background they leam to identify the things that theyas students found difficult to leam They should also he ahle torelate the theory to the practice I think that is really importantLike this really good teacher [I knew] had worked in the area thatshe teaches she makes that link and then you can relate hetterto what's out there

She believed that teachers ought to stay m touch with clini-cal nursing and avoid bemg 'up on a pedestal' because shesaid It could promote elitism and make students feel asthough they were 'below' teachers

Ann descnbed 'mce natured' personality as a basic qual-ity of good teachers The following example illustratesthis image

People with basically nice personalities teach effectively Peoplewho know themselves well, who admit to themselves their vulner-ahilities, who are self-aware

Ann also said that it is easier to describe what she meantby mce natured by elaborating on what 'nice nature' is notFor Ann, nice nature does not mean aloofriess 'It meansyou meet people m the middle If they come out, you comeout' Nice nature does not mfer condescension It meansfriendliness m contrast to friendship 'You give for stud-ents, and you give for yourself

Analysis of this simple metaphor reveals a dominantvalue ahout teachmg held by Ann Nature, or personahty,IS an inherent personal quality, something that is bom notmade, and therefore something that cannot be formallytaught m a teaching cumculum While teaching skills maybe acquired through a technical rational approach (Schon1983), the art of teachmg is cultivated from intangible,human qualities (Stenhouse 1984)

Teacher as story teller and comedian Stephame sug-gested that teachers could use story tellmg and humour mteachmg

You don't have to come m [to class] and say, 'I'm so and so andlet's just get on with work' Mayhe you could start with, 'Do youknow what happened with ''' You can usually find funny thingsthat happen m nursing

She related a story that a teacher once told the class morder to help them overcome their fear of shaving clients

He said that he was shaving this guy who was very wrinkly Hewas a really old man and he was shaving his neck and he just gota little hit cut and [the nurse teacher] turned around to get a towelto wipe It off and hecause he had so many wrinkles it spread thewhole way through, across the neck, and it looked as though hehad split the whole neck

For Stephanie, this story embodied her unspoken fear ofshaving someone for the first time A secret was thusexposed and the black comedy of the situation producedlaughter and relief In the telling of the story, the teachermade a connection with the students They shared similarconcerns and uncertainties Stephanie explained

It was just so funny You could really identify with this hecause,well, I'd never nursed anyone hefore, hut after I heard the story Iwent into the nursmg home and I thought, 'Oh yeah, I can dothis' You don't feel as had and naive and you think, 'He got overIt and look, he's now teaching, so I'll get over it'

Story telling is a technique that should be more readilyused in nursing courses (Hemnch 1992)

Teacher as umpire Another illuminative and unusualmetaphor expressed by Ann was the image of teacher asumpire

I don't thmk you can give someone a rule and say, 'This is whatyou do m that situation' You've got to call it as you see it

She also said

A play happens and the umpire decides People are individual soyou can't have a rule and impose it on mdividuals

Ann related a story from climcal practice expenencewhich for her illustrated the effects of a nursing teachernot behavmg like an umpire The nurse msisted on ngidlytoilettmg all patients, regardless of need, every 2 hoursAnn believed that an umpire could have responded tothese patients with greater fiexihility and attention to theirmdividual needs While umpires know the rules, andensure that the game is played accordmg to them, theyalso make decisions with the mdividual in mmd Umpires,like good teachers of nursmg, usually are, or have heen,expert players m their field

The 'teacher as umpire' metaphor appears to he particu-larly relevant to the nursmg degree programme which aimsto care for clients and students holistically The image sug-gests expertise, vnsdom, decision-makmg ahihty, prompt-ness, fairness, humanness and fiexihility Teacher as


M McAllister and D McLaughlin

umpire is a simple metaphor encapsulating a complex con-cept The metaphor also extends understandmg ofthe roleof teacher As such, it may he considered a constructive(Tihenus 1986) or mcremental metaphor (Soskice 1992)It illuminates understandmg of what it means to teachnursing Fairness, quick decision making, familianty vnthrules, as well as a willingness to hend rules accordmg tothe context, are features of good teachmg that may not herevealed in more conventional metaphors such as teacheras Socrates (Thelen 1954) or skilled manager (Clark &Yinger 1987)

Teacher uses war strategies The image of teacher as chal-lenger IS an interesting metaphor uncovered withm Alice'sdata Such a metaphor may, accordmg to Lakoff & Johnson(1980) and Miller & Fredericks (1988), be descnbed as warimagery Alice wrote

A good teacher challenges' — encourages the group to think, dis-covers what our learning needs or weaknesses are, encouragesprohlem solvmg and decision making as a group and may meanputting you on the spot 'OK, you've got this situation, how areyou going to solve it, or what can you do for client X'''

Ann also used the image of war when wnting about ateacher whom she feared

The method used to assist students in leammg was like pnmaryschool' Like a power play I rememher one teacher who frightenedus all so much that no one spoke She would slam her hand onthe tahle for attention and once she accidentally spat on thedesk in front of me She apologised hut her power, her control,the fear tactics all seemed so silly

The war metaphor characterizes teachmg as a form of war-fcire or combat where the teacher both challenges and ischallenged by the students (Miller & Fredencks 1988),hence the use of combative language m education as objec-tives, targets and strategies (Gilbert 1994) Gilbert (1994)coined the metaphor of 'learner as enemy' He suggestedthat, while the image offers a framework for teacher action.It unfortunately positions students as objects The teacheraims for victory, and adopts a strongly interventionist roleThe student appears passive and has no position butdefence While Alice appears to have used the metaphorto descnbe positive characteristics of the teacher, sheseems unaware of what the metaphor can also subtly sug-gest about the student role Thus, metaphors distort as wellas expand understandmg

Teacher as translator A metaphor that seems particu-larly relevant to nursmg education is the image of theteacher as translator, illustrated m the followmg text thatdescnhes Alice's memory of poor teaching dunng alesson on nursing theory which focused on functionalhealth pattems

It was the first time we were dealing with the functional healthpattems and care plans It was like Chinese for most of us It waslike I was sitting there hstemng to not only a different language,hut someone who couldn't speak the language very well

She continued to descnhe what she thought a good teachershould do m this situation and discussed tbe notion thatteachers should not only know theu own 'language', con-tent knowledge, they should know how to 'translate thelanguage', or communicate understanding to students Inorder to translate effectively, teachers need to

he ahle to sift through the mformation and he ahle to take outwhat's relevant and helpful and he ahle to put that across m anmterestmg way

Roles and relationshipsTeacher as therapist Teacher as therapist was anotherconstmctive metaphor considered by Ann to be importantm teaching nursing Teachers, like therapists, should beengaged m helping others Good teachers, like good thera-pists, are also self-aware Their role involves helping stud-ents to look mside themselves and to discover their ownpotential, to challenge old habits and to teach them tobecome more self-reliant As Ann stated

I think there should he some form of hreakmg past hahits, particu-larly with students who have heen enrolled nurses for a long timehecause they're not taught things, I don't thmk

Ann had been an enrolled nurse pnor to commencingthe degree programme and had personally expenenceddifficulty m adjusting to the role of registered nurse Shebelieved that teachers had a responsibility to assistenrolled nurses to adapt to the role by helping them tochange behaviours She vvTOte of mcipient bitterness mstudents who had been enrolled nurses because theirleammg needs were neglected hy teachers

This hittemess seemed to spiral and a gap grew hetween the nurs-ing education staff, the ENs [enrolled nurses] themselves and thestudents new to nursmg It never felt like everyone workedtogether The ex-ENs always whinging ahout 'the way it really is''I guess, m hindsight, the ENs perhaps needed to be heard andassisted in modifying their own attitudes that underlie theirhehaviour

Ann descnhed the teacher as therapist, someone whohelps students to change behaviour

They [teachers] let them say their piece so they feel listened toand then work on it that way

For Ann, this unage of teacher as therapist appears to meanthat a teacher should be insightful, understanding and agood listener

Distance A predominant image used by Ann to descnbeteaching mvolved distance The followmg example



illustrates the image of professional distance It also illus-trates how frequently Ann uses metaphors to expressherself

I've noticed that a lot of the tutors at the start, they're really openand canng and they've got so much to give, and then, within acouple of months, they've heen burned and they just pull every-thing back, and they put their walls up and that's fair enough, I'ddo exactly the same thu^, I think, m that position, hut you haveto sort of get the balance m between It's the ones that have foundthe balance m hetween that are really good tutors They're ahleto give lots — ieep a professional distance that keeps every-hody happy

In this example, personality traits such as openness andresistance are descnbed metaphoncally Managing the ten-sion between them with balance and distance wasdescribed as an important teacher slall While distance hascommonsense mecining because it is a familiar metaphor,Ann has given it a broader meaning Thus, this dead meta-phor has heen revivified For Ann, professional distancemeant a game m which distinct roles are played One startsto lose the game when the distance becomes too near, ortoo far Closeness hetween players results in blumngbetween roles so that the student and teacher are not surewhether they have a fnendship or a professional relation-ship Ann considered this to he negative because thiscloseness can ironically result m distance for other stud-ents Students who do not share the 'chummmess' can feeldistanced from their fellow students as well as from theteacher This can lead other students to feel ostracized, orto feel uneasy and unwilling to exchange opinions andideas For Ann, this openness is catalytic m the acquisitionof effective interpersonal skills required m nursmg

According to Ann, although teachers who maintain aprofessional distance from students may he efficient theytended to have a 'harsh delivery' Ann heheved that whenteachers cultivate such a distance, they impose a sense ofmadequacy upon their students who ask themselves,'What have I done'' She also coined appropnate pro-fessional distance as 'healthy distance'

There has to he a healthy distance, at least while you are studymgI've spoken to one lecturer who said that she is like that, hut onceyour course finishes then she can take up the friendship

Ann believed that a healthy distance promoted fairnessShe believed that teachers who do not mamtam the heal-thy distance 'cross the professional Ime' and the remainmgstudents could he treated unfairly In this situation, theteacher may find it difficult to evaluate 'friends' objectivelyand students who step beyond the Ime may perceive anunfairness, whether it existed or not Ann descnhed a 'finehne' hetween hemg too near and too far

It's such a fine hne hecause it makes everyone uncomfortahleand if people m the group don't get along with tutors as well as

other people m the group then they might feel left out or ignoredor had ahout themselves so there has to he a healthy distance,at least while you're studying

Ann said that she liked to 'know where she stood' withteachers With a clear division hetween the role of teacherand student, friend and teacher, or mother and teacher,there is no confusion over roles

For Ann, the comfortable place to he was the 'middleground' For the student, this was a place where one knewwhere one stood, the teacher was not too friendly, and wasconsistent — even with students who may he difficult toget along with Ann stated that with this kind of teacheryou could 'subtly rely on her to be fair'

Metaphors withm the metaphor of professionaldistanceThis broad metaphor of distance appeared to containvwthm it several other metaphors that served to describepeople who were situated either too near or too far to beeffective teachers of nursing For example, Ann suggeststhat teachers who appreciated the fine line are ahle to'count to 10 or take two steps back when a student reactsor says something which sounds silly' In contrast, teach-ers who failed to mamtam a healthy distance were

a little hit naive and fresh faced and are the ones who get bumed,I thmk There's one in particular who got really bumed she wasjust so open and just was so fiiendly towards everyone She toldeveryhody everything and had nothing private

The consequences and remedies for this lack of distanceare further illustrated by Ann in this comment

I think some people who really wanted to teach, wanted to hearound students and wanted to educate, have come m gung hoand they've given everythmg they've got within the first 3 monthsand they're bumf out and they've given so much of themselves toso many different people, their only way to get it all hack is topull the anchors in completely and start from scratch, whichleaves all the students wondering 'what's going on'' or 'what thehell's happened''

The image of distance has assisted Ann to conceptualizecharactenstics of the effective and meffective teacher andillustrates the metaphor's ahility to encapsulate complexinformation Distance may he considered part of the craftof teachmg nursmg It is a way of hemg, a part of practice,a delicate skill mvolvmg movement, halance, role differ-entiation and consistency It requires that teachers make adeliberate effort to be close enough to nurture friendlmess,hut distant enough to prevent alliances, m order to ensurethat all students feel equally part of the teaching-leammgrelationship

Greene's (1973) image of teacher as stranger offersanother perspective on the advantage of distance m theteachmg-leammg relationship A stranger may take the


M McAlhster and D McLaughlin

vantage point of ohservmg events from a dispassionate dis-tance A teacher as stranger is aware that emotional con-nection with the student or with the suhject matter cansometimes distort perspective The cunous, yet detachedstranger can offer an objectivity and a freshness to therelationship which can he re-energizmg for students

CONCLUSION

This study was based on the belief that metaphor is apowerful linguistic device because it extends and encapsu-lates knowledge about the familiar and unfamiliar, itbuilds self-identity and contnhutes to change and dis-covery within knowledge, self and society The researchconcluded that students readily use metaphors to describetheir expenences of teaching within the nursing degreeprogramme, there is a pattern to the choice of metaphors,some of these images function as incremental or construc-tive metaphors, extending understanding of what it meansto teach, others function as analogues, supporting currentunderstandings and refiectmg taken-for-granted notions ofteaching

Specific metaphors used by students to descnbe teach-ing were contextually analysed A number of them mayoffer teachers of nursing msight into their craft Metaphorssuch as teacher as umpire, teacher as student, teachingwith distance and teachmg the big picture may be usefulimages for teachers to thmk about to guide their practice

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