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Newsgroups: bit.listserv.edtech
Date:         Thu, 7 Jan 1993 09:22:08 EST
From:         MCCOLLUM@WSUVM1.BITNET
Subject:      Root Metaphors

I was asked to elaborate on root metaphors and instructional design.

I recently used "root metaphors" as a way of talking about social
constructions. "Social construction" (S. Tripp) was apparently a
seed crystal within a previous discussion regarding IQ testing.
A strange attractor called "Social constructivism" is now beginning
to capture conversation. I like the social constructivism discussions
since they help flesh out certain dimensions in my explorations of
root metaphors. I don't wish to detract from social constructivism
by expounding on my own unquestionably embryonic work-in-progress.

I will instead give a few blanket statements and provide a brief
bibliography:


"Ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny." I believe this statement to
be as revealing of evolving intellectual development as it is of
evolving morphologic development. It suggests meta-patterns
historically, socially and individually.

Root metaphors are cognitively close to "conceptual archetypes",
"world views", "paradigms" and "deep meaning structures".

Root metaphors are distinguished from illustrative metaphors by
being unrestricted in their subject matter and comprehensive in
their scope. Root metaphors characteristically operate below the
level of concious awareness and describe entire worlds, whereas
models or illustrative metaphors help describe the contents of
those worlds.

A root metaphor can create and reconcile any other world view in
its own terms, i.e., Chinese vs. Western medicine.

Like the strange attractors of chaos, root metaphors often appear
unexpectedly and in peculiar resonance with other theories, i.e.,
Piaget's Epigenesis, Edgar Dale's Cone of Experience, various adult
learning theories.

Root metaphor theory suggests that any and all MEANING is the process
of shifting illustrative metaphors, a ubiquitous ("North is up") and
occasionally liberating ("the earth revolves around the sun") exchange
of seeing one idea in terms of another.

Root metaphor's importance in instructional design revolves around how
we structure both general and specific learning experiencesi.e., why
hypercard does a great job in contextualism but is ineffective in formism.

I am submitting a paper (in progress) on root metaphor and instructional
design to The World Congress on Biomedical Communications (1994) and
AECT (1993). A seminal effort is available in Proceedings, Association
for Media and Technology in Education in Canada (1992).

Meanwhile:

Belli, RF. Mechanist and Organicist Parallels Between Theories of Memory
and Science. The Journal of Mind and Behavior. 1986, 7, 63-86.

Black M. Models and Metaphors: Studies in Language and Philosophy.
Cornell University Press. 1962.

Haskell RE (Ed.). Cognition and Symbolic Structures: The Psychology of
Metaphoric Transformation. Ablex Publishing Corp. 1987.

Ortony A (Ed.). Metaphor and Thought. Cambridge University Press. 1979.

Pepper S. World Hypotheses: Prolegomena to Systematic Philosophy and a
Complete Survey of Metaphysics. University of California Press. 1941.

ALSO

The Journal of Mind and Behavior, volume 3, 1982, was devoted to
exploration of Pepper's root metaphors.

Kindest Regards,

Jerry McCollum, Dir.  Biomedical Communications
Washington State University, Pullman WA 99164-7013
mccollum@wsuvm1.csc.wsu.edu  509-335-2624
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