Metaphor:
The Articles of Confederation & Soccer
This weekend I worked on the creation of a Powerpoint on the Articles of Confederation for my niece. At a later time, I hope to transfer my Powerpoint with audio lecture into Youtube. At the end of the lecture, I realized that my niece was still struggling to comprehend the problem of the states having more power than the government. My niece is an avid soccer player, and she truly enjoys the sport. I decided to employ a metaphor that compared the effects of the Articles of Confederation to that upon a soccer team. I asked my niece to imagine that situation that would arise if each individual player decided what position they would play and at whatever allotted time and point of the game they decided. I asked her to consider the chaos of all the player agreeing upon each facet of the game. I saw in her eyes a look of understanding, she now realized that the lack of strong executive power (a President) under the Articles of Confederation, caused the problems that would be the equivalent of a lack of a Coach on her soccer team. Pink writes in the chapter entitled "Symphony": "In fact, metaphor is central to reason...Metaphorical thinking is also important because it helps us understand others..."(139).
Empathy as a Powerful Tool for Educators
Not only did I employ a metaphor to help my niece better understand U.S. History, but I also employed it as a means of putting myself in her shoes, to understand her confusion. Therefore, I employed what Pink describes as one of the six senses needed in the rise of the Conceptual Age: Empathy. Pink defines empathy in the following manner: "Empathy is a stunning act of imaginative deterring-do, the ultimate virtual reality-- climbing into another's mind to experience the world from that person's perspective" (159). Empathy can be a powerful tool for educators. In my example of tutoring my niece, one learner, I was able to see a huge success in employing the use of a metaphor and empathy. As educators, we need to put ourselves in the shoes of the students, so that we can better see why they struggle, and then be able to become better educators.
Your soccer metaphor seemed very effective for your niece. It is nice to have children"take a walk in someone else's shoes."
ReplyDeleteI really like your metaphor with soccer, often this makes learning more meaningful for the students and makes a great connection, especially if your niece likes soccer.
ReplyDeleteYou're doing so many wonderful things with Spanish and dual-language learning! Keep it up--your niece and nephew will benefit so much, and so will others (Heck, you could make a really unique curriculum unit from it & maybe even sell it). Can't wait to see what else you come up with!
ReplyDeleteWay to go:) yes that what educators need to know Empathy. They also has to remember themselves when they were kids, how did they feel and how did they understand things.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I liked that you have connected the information in the book to her own life. I n this way kids will better understand the context.