Activity 1.3: Methaphor for Learning

Learning burns off the fog, revealing the light of day.

When students embark on a new adventure, they have little knowledge of what lies ahead or where the adventure will take them. They approach the new endeavor with some trepidation, if not real fear. They simply cannot see the end, even if the learning experience is something they willingly enter. This is the fog. Fog obscures what is waiting for us or what is coming for us. Think of it as going to work early on a cool spring morning. Visibility is often low on such mornings. Why? The day before was warm with the promise of nicer times ahead, much like past successful educational experiences that fill the student with hope of what can be . The night before was cold reminding us of the cold and dark winter months, like past failed educational experiences that fill the student with thoughts of what could have been. The collision of these produces the fog. The fog can be light or heavy, both hiding the details of the day. As day progresses and our journey begins, we start to discern more and more detail. We learn that the dark shape in the front yard is a familiar tree; dark shapes rolling up the street are cars carrying the neighbors to new events. Learning functions the same way. New ideas and concepts are unclear, ominous. But as more learning takes places, the darkness fades as students gain the light of new knowledge.