Why I Climb Mountains With Students: Using Metaphor as a Teaching Tool

Abstract

Metaphor is essential to human cognition and central to teaching and learning. In this case study, the author documents the use of metaphor in a senior-level course as a strategy to build community, provide a sense of direction, and unite the class around a shared experience. Students who experienced the metaphor as a teaching tool were invited to share their memories and reflect on the impact (N = 395). Through content analysis, three themes were identified in the responses: (1) Appreciating the Journey, (2) Building and Supporting a Classroom Community, and (3) Finding Motivation, Purpose, and Willingness to Face the Unknown. Overall, most respondents remembered and valued the metaphor immediately and, in the months, and years following the course. The use of metaphors is recommended in public health teaching and learning.

Keywords

student centered teaching/learning program planning and evaluation undergraduate public health students

Over the last decade, I have climbed over a dozen different mountains with 395 students. While each journey was a uniquely challenging adventure, mountain climbing was a metaphor used as a teaching strategy. This paper describes one senior-level course in an Undergraduate Public Health program, where a mountain climbing metaphor was used to create a student-centered learning environment focused on guiding learners through the assignments and building community.

Metaphors help people understand one thing in terms of the essence of another and are important in communication and conceptualizing ideas (Burke, 1941). Metaphors are not simply communicative embellishments, but rather, human cognition is fundamentally metaphorical (Lakoff & Johnson, 2008). Humans need to think in metaphors because we need a way to navigate and make sense of abstract concepts in a concrete form. As a result, metaphors are commonly used in public health as a tool to construct and convey meaning and understanding of perspectives and strategies in health promotion and prevention science. For example, Talley (2016) called for using metaphors to increase health literacy by documenting the meaningful use of metaphor to explain health experiences, such as describing pain as burning or pins and needles. One of the most common metaphors in public health is the upstream-downstream metaphor, which is most commonly used to explain the concept of health disparities and illustrate how social factors influence health outcomes (McMahon, 2022).

Given human dependence on metaphor to understand abstract and complex ideas, metaphors are central to teaching and have a long history in education and educational leadership (Samier, 2019). Several studies have shown improved learning outcomes with the deliberate use of metaphor (Collins, 2022; Haidet et al., 2017; Scheiner et al., 2022). Others detailed how metaphors are implemented in teaching, such as unpacking as a pedagogical approach to break down complex mathematical concepts, (Scheiner et al., 2022), a Jazz band to emphasize teamwork, collaboration, and improvisation (Bishop et al., 2022), or baking a pie to teach students how to distinguish between different types of validity and reliability (Nassif & Khalil, 2006). Public health faculty are undoubtedly using metaphors to help students learn, critique, and make sense of public health theory and practice, but which metaphors are the most helpful, impactful, or memorable to our students? In this case example, a mountain metaphor was used with students enrolled in a senior-level program planning course where they developed an evidence-based community health promotion program plan. The culminating course assignment was a proposal that consisted of three products: a formal written proposal, a professional poster, and an oral presentation. The purpose for the mountain metaphor was to support students through successful completion of the assignments and to create a sense of community in the class.

A review of the literature revealed prior use of the mountain metaphor in education and public health. For example, in education, the “Mountain of Motor Development” has been widely used to teach markers of children’s motor development (Clark & Metcalfe, 2002). In public health, practitioners have utilized the mountain metaphor in interventions, including as a component of a game encouraging youth to use mental health services (van Dooren et al., 2019), to engage students in goal setting to meet progressively challenging markers (Khosla et al., 2020), and as a motivational tool to increase self-efficacy among students (Vitalia, 2016). Although the mountain metaphor has been used in some education contexts and public health practice, literature was scant in describing how metaphors are used as a teaching tool in health promotion. This best practice paper addresses the gap.

Course Context

The course in this case study was taught at a large California public university, with a diverse student body. All students in the major were required to successfully complete the course as a culminating experience. The course taught program planning with an active learning focus, and class sessions that included a brief lecture, discussion, and an application-based activity.

Each activity contributed to the final program proposal products. After selecting a community health problem, students would research the problem in context of individual behaviors, a community, and social determinants of health. Students developed an evidence-based problem statement followed by a comprehensive program plan to solve the problem. Students learned about and applied theories of change, best practices, logic models, goals and objectives, strategies and activities, implementation planning, ethical considerations, program barriers and facilitators, evaluation, and budgeting in their proposal.

Pedagogical Framework

The course was perceived by students as difficult, and the products were particularly daunting. Students would often enter the classroom filled with conflicting emotion and energy: excited, anxious, terrified, and often doubtful. These dynamics presented an instructional challenge, and it was important to quickly establish a genuinely supportive learning environment. My teaching approaches were grounded in critical feminist and Freirean pedagogies and informed by professional and academic experiences. I aimed to center student experiences and emphasized hands-on, applied learning.

The Mountain Metaphor: Guiding Concepts

The mountain metaphor was introduced through nine guiding concepts inviting students to join a hypothetical path of a climber preparing to summit a mountain. The metaphor related to student experiences as they navigated content, assignments, personal stress, and the collective energy of the class. The guiding concepts were introduced narratively and visually (see Figure 1 for sample slides) on the first day of class, and reinforced as simple reminders to center, reflect, and look ahead.

Figure 1.

Sample slides used to introduce mountain metaphor to students.

Journey

Mountaineers are adventurous and each climb represents a unique journey. This class was also a journey. The metaphor broadly represented the path ahead as students began an experience that was exciting, challenging, and rewarding.

Purpose

Like mountaineers, it was important to acknowledge the purpose and goals. Students were invited to think about why they were in the room, including their purpose for pursuing a degree in public health. While students had many reasons for majoring in public health there was a shared purpose in the course: to learn the art and practice of identifying, understanding, and solving community health problems.

Readiness

Before climbing a mountain, adequate training is essential. Readiness was emphasized by acknowledging prior coursework and experiences, noting key skills acquired, and highlighting capacities, assets, and resources they had available to meet course goals. Students needed to know they were coming into the course prepared for the challenge.

Preparation

To prepare for a mountain climbing adventure, mountaineers must secure the necessary equipment, obtain any needed travel arrangements and accommodations, and communicate and coordinate their plans. Preparing for this course was also important. Students needed to get their schedules organized so they had time to complete the course activities and assignments. Many needed to make changes and commit to enforcing personal expectations around time management.

Community

Mountaineering is predominantly a team-based activity where group members support and assist each other. In the course, with the instructor as their guide, a sense of community helped students feel supported by one another. While the final products were individual, students were encouraged to work together, sharing ideas and resources.

Ascent

The ascent was characterized by hard work and a steady pace. In class, students were immersed in researching the literature and trying to understand complexities of a community-based health problem. They were encouraged to share resources, talk through ideas, and review each other’s work.

Summit

The class would reach the summit in the first third of the semester-long course. The summit was an impactful milestone marked by three notable considerations: (1) Completing the first major course assignment (the problem statement) elicited a sense of pride and achievement. (2) The view from the summit offered an important vantage point and perspective. Students were invited to pause and reflect on what they had learned and identify where they could intervene to disrupt the problem. (3) Lastly, it was clear we would not remain at the summit—the journey was not over. Like climbers, the class paused for reflection and celebration, but we had to keep moving.

Descent

In mountaineering the descent poses new dangers; risks that must be calculated and strategically negotiated to ensure safety. Throughout the descent, the pace remained fast, and the work challenging. In this class, the descent, which was nearly two-thirds of the course, captured the program planning process. Like mountaineering, the pace was consistent and the work extensive. Step-by-step, students learned to apply tools and best practices to create solutions grounded in theory and evidence.

The End

The conclusion of the journey was marked by the completion of culminating course products. As a class, we would recognize and honor the journey by reflecting on what was gained and celebrating individual and collective accomplishments. See Figure 2 for a visual overview of the guiding terms.

Figure 2.

Visual summary of the Mountain Metaphor.

Student Feedback

Anecdotal feedback suggested students enjoyed the metaphor, finding it helpful and motivating. In the summer of 2022, students were directly queried about the metaphor. Data were collected through an online survey with two open-ended questions: what they remembered, (if they remembered the metaphor), and their reaction to a brief overview of the intent. The goal was to explore the extent to which students found the metaphor helpful. The query was approved by the Institutional Review Board (IRB) from the instructor’s institution and consent was obtained before initiating the survey.

A total of 394 students who were enrolled in the author’s section of the course from Spring 2013 through Spring 2021 were emailed directly and invited to participate. One third of the emails were undeliverable (127). Of the remaining 267 students, 115 responded. Among students who responded, 58% remembered the metaphor and 44% shared their memories. Following the prompt explaining the intention with the metaphor, 67% shared their reaction. Data were downloaded from Qualtrics and imported into Excel for analysis.

Content analysis, which is a process used to describe an experience or phenomenon by identifying and exploring relationships and patterns in the data (Hsieh & Shannon, 2005; Kleinheksel et al., 2020), was used to analyze the written responses. A multi-step process was implemented, starting with becoming immersed in the data. The second step involved identifying ideas through margin notations. These initial notations were condensed in an iterative process to capture similar ideas. A dozen words, phrases, and concepts were categorized into eight codes that succinctly captured the meaning. The data were reorganized, reviewed again in full, and three themes were identified: Appreciating the Journey, Building and Supporting a Classroom Community, and Finding Motivation, Purpose, and Willingness to Face the Unknown. Each theme will be described and presented with direct participant quotes centering the voice and perspective of the students.

Appreciating the Journey

The first theme captured the process. Students shared memories of the metaphor as a journey and the utility of meeting the challenges of the class through a step-by-step process that was difficult, rewarding, and grounding. One remembered, “It was going to be tough and there were steps that we would need to take on the mountain - piece by piece.” Similarly, another said, “You don’t climb the mountain a day, week, or month. Like writing the paper, it takes breaking the challenge down into smaller attainable steps. Little by little you get closer to the top of the mountain.”

Students also reflected on the metaphor in terms of both challenge and reward, as described by one who said,

The metaphor symbolized the journey of program planning in terms of the work required to create a successful program and the feelings experienced throughout the process. In the beginning, the road ahead appears long and more challenging. As you move forward, more time and effort are required. You will even run into challenges along the way, but when you reach your destination, you will look back and realize all you have accomplished. Your work will feel like it’s paid off.

Many students conveyed appreciation as they described the metaphor as a helpful guide. One student shared, “I liked the metaphor and visual as it gave me a clear idea of what to expect.” The student explained the metaphor allowed them to “focus on the major parts first, which ultimately made the smaller parts easier and more attainable.” Similarly, another explained how the metaphor helped manage their emotional response to the journey, noting, “I think the metaphor made this course easier to understand and made me not feel so overwhelmed.”

Building and Supporting a Classroom Community

The second theme captured a high value that students placed on togetherness, including reflections about working together, supporting, caring, and learning with and from one another. Phrases such as: “we would do it together” and “we will walk the path together” typified this theme. Students described the camaraderie: “Many of us had to overcome several obstacles, some more than others. However difficult the challenges were, we made sure everyone was part of the pack and kept advancing towards the top.” This was echoed by a student who explained what a sense of community in the class meant when they said, “I am not alone, and I am able to tackle the ‘beast’ of the paper.”

Some recalled a sense of fellowship and support, as one student explained, “It was comforting to know that with each section, I wasn’t the only student who at times felt uncertain about their future in the class—I was happy to have found community.” Others reflected directly on peer support: “I remember we all were trying to get to the top, as a team we would eventually get there. There would be times I would want to give up climbing, but classmates would push me to keep going.”

Finding Motivation, Purpose, and Willingness to Face the Unknown

The final theme coalesced around how the metaphor was a meaningful way to transform the normal process of feeling “lost” into finding motivation, a sense of purpose, and willingness to face the unknown. Students frequently described the metaphor as a source of motivation that provided direction, reassurance, and grounding as they headed into the unknown, as one recalled, “The metaphor was used to motivate and guide us to the top!” Another said the mountain offered “a strong framework of selflessness that eventually led us students to want to engage with our best efforts.” Others related to how the metaphor made them feel, impacting learning and perceptions of success. One student recalled, “It helped me calm down the stress and fear.” Another reflected, “It was the first time I felt like I was putting so much into a class and getting so much back. All in all, the metaphor was probably the first time I had a successful grounding technique.” A third student shared, “The more I reflect on the intention, it becomes clear how significant it was for my success in the classroom.”

Students also considered meanings beyond class, saying “I remember that we should keep climbing when we face obstacles in our pathways. To reach the impossible. Always keep pushing forward to reach our goal. Really loved the metaphor.” Others shared, “I literally implement it in any hard task I want to accomplish now, this metaphor still applies to my life to this day and rings truth to the way you live in life as a whole,” and acknowledged continuing “to climb mountains and peaks in my life.” Some also reflected how the class encouraged them to take risks. One notable example was a student who explained: “I really don’t think I would have accomplished so much if it weren’t for [this] class inspiring us to keep going, helping us think out of the box, and showing us more of the world!” They continued,

Because of this mountain metaphor in class, . . . I ended up applying and getting a job in Kenya . . . Although I could not make it to Mt. Kilimanjaro, my experience in Kenya changed my life and connected my passion for working with underserved communities and healthcare.

Discussion

The purpose of this paper was to introduce and share student feedback related to using a metaphor to guide students through assignments while creating a sense of community. The mountain metaphor centered a shared learning process, even as students were cautiously concerned about the class. The metaphor provided comradery and a roadmap that helped students understand what to expect at different points in time. Student feedback confirmed the effectiveness of the metaphor as a teaching tool. The metaphor helped students embrace the process and journey; created a sense of community and support; and provided motivation, purpose, and strength to face the unknown. Through the metaphor, intrapersonal barriers to student success, including a lack confidence and imposter’s syndrome, were directly confronted by normalizing the idea that learning was challenging, their struggles were not deficits, and with external supports and internal perseverance, hard things could be done. Some kept tokens as tangible memories from the class (e.g., mountain images on assignments) and others described extending the metaphor into their own lives, (e.g., climbing a mountain in real life or inspiring professional pathways).

Findings from student feedback should be considered in context of the following limitations. First, responses captured overwhelmingly positive reflections, and it is possible that students who enthusiastically endorsed the metaphor were overrepresented. Second, the author had invested nearly a decade in teaching with the metaphor and student reflections may have mirrored the authors’ enthusiasm, experiences, and beliefs. To reduce the impact of these potential biases, several strategies were employed, including reducing power dynamics by querying students well after graduation; anonymizing the survey and collecting no personally identifiable information; exercising control in the survey with forced responses; and using precise wording to support memory without prompting. In addition, the author sought to identify and explore personal beliefs and perspectives that may have impacted the analysis of student feedback by maintaining a separate document noting reactions, experiences, and beliefs and thought partnering with another faculty member experienced teaching the class. Despite these limitations, student feedback suggests there is positive potential in using metaphor in public health practice and education.

Public health faculty guide students to master knowledge and apply public health practices to complex community environments. Metaphors can serve many different purposes, including providing students a framework to approach the process of learning. In this case, the mountain metaphor was simple to introduce, amplified the content, and was impactful to students and their experience in the course. As we guide students to explore and understand abstract concepts, metaphors can be used strategically and instrumentally to help students learn the language and practice of public health.

Footnotes

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

The author declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Funding

The author received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

ORCID iD

Anji Buckner-Capone

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