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On Two Metaphors for Learning and the Dangers of Choosing Just One

Item

Title
On Two Metaphors for Learning and the Dangers of Choosing Just One
Abstract/Description
This article is a sequel to the conversation on learning initiated by the editors of Educational Researcher in volume 25, number 4. The author's first aim is to elicit the metaphors for learning that guide our work as learners, teachers, and researchers. Two such metaphors are identified: the acquisition metaphor and the participation metaphor. Subsequently, their entailments are discussed and evaluated. Although some of the implications are deemed desirable and others are regarded as harmful, the article neither speaks against a particular metaphor nor tries to make a case for the other. Rather, these interpretations and applications of the metaphors undergo critical evaluation. In the end, the question of theoretical unification of the research on learning is addressed, wherein the purpose is to show how too great a devotion to one particular metaphor can lead to theoretical distortions and to undesirable practices.
Author/creator
Date
1998
In publication
Educational Researcher
Volume
27
Issue
2
Pages
4-13
Resource type
en
Medium
en Print
Background/context type
en Conceptual
Open access/free-text available
en Yes
Peer reviewed
en Yes
Language
en
ISSN
0013-189X
Citation
Sfard, A. (1998). On Two Metaphors for Learning and the Dangers of Choosing Just One. Educational Researcher, 27(2), 4–13. https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189X027002004
Resource status/form
en
Scholarship genre
en

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