Learning and metaphors

All thought and talk about learning involves the use of metaphors. Whilst metaphors aid our understanding of things by suggesting novel insights, they can also mislead if too much is read into the supposed likenesses. Acquisition and transfer are easily the most popular metaphors used to understand learning. This article argues that these metaphors commonly mislead when we take them to mean that learning is located inside of learners, and, hence, that the individual is the appropriate unit for understanding learning. This article discusses the strengths and limitations of the alternative metaphors invoked in some more recent theories of learning, metaphors including participation, construction/re-construction, and becoming. A consideration of these alternative metaphors reveals the multi-facetted nature of learning. It also highlights important kinds of learning, by groups, teams or communities, learning that are not plausibly located inside of individuals. Any rich account of professional practice needs to encompass the roles of both individual and group learning.