Neglect of Metaphors

Converting Concepts to Procedures

We can see that identifying the metaphor is a “conceptual activity” involving questions like why & when, whereas doing the operation is a “procedural activity” involving how. The former is a uniquely human ability which cannot be programmed mechanically. The latter is an activity which can be done mechanically, either through an algorithm or software.

In our schools, the various metaphors related to arithmetic operations are never explicitly taught. By not focusing on metaphors, math curriculum developers have lost an excellent opportunity for training in conceptual thinking.

By focusing on the “mechanical procedure”, the various metaphors associated with an operation have been completely missed out. Children are not trained in recognizing different life situations (metaphors) which are mathematically represented by the operation.

This is one of the major reasons why word problems are considered very difficult by both teachers and students. It is also mistakenly assumed that the problem is merely that of correctly interpreting the language.

The real reason is that even children who can understand the language of the word problem, have difficulty in translating the language into “mathematical meaning” which in turn would lead them to the operation which has to be used.

Objective of Math Learning

In the last 3 decades, computers have become powerful enough to do almost any computation in mathematics. Hence the focus of the math curriculum has to change from computational skills to conceptual understanding which leads to abstract, logical & structured thinking. BY neglecting operation metaphors, the curriculum designers are denying our students an opportunity to strengthen their thinking skills.