Facilitating Experiential Learning as a Process of Metaphor Development

Abstract

Perspectives on metaphors in adventure education: Ever since Stephen Bacon introduced the metaphor concept to outdoor education (Bacon, 1983; 1987), it has been very present in the related literature. The metaphoric model proposed by Bacon was further developed in a series of articles in this journal and other texts (Gass, 1991; Gass, Goldman & Priest, 1992; Gass, 1995; Itin, 1995; Priest, 1995; AEE-list, 1995; Flor, 1996). A common characteristic of this writing is its emphasis on metaphors as facilitators’ introductions to outdoor activities, rather than participants’ guiding principles during their actions. Two issues seem relevant here. The first one concerns who’s the agent of learning, the developer of the metaphor, and the second one whether metaphors are primarily looked at as ‘figures of speech’ or ‘figures of thought’ (Lakoff and Johnson, 1980).