ABSTRACT
One cannot understate the power of the metaphor to “translate” experience. Marshall McLuhan was keenly aware of this fact when he stated, “All media are active metaphors in their power to translate experience into new forms” (McLuhan 1994: 57). Without metaphors, as translators that we generally refer to as media, it would be difficult for teacher educators to design educational programs, facilitate learning, interpret various teaching and learning events, or express ideas about learning and teaching. Moreover, without metaphors artists would be hard pressed to describe their artistic compositions with “vocal symbols” (McLuhan 1994: 57), to “carry over” ideas from one medium (e.g. a music composition or dance) to another (e.g., language). As we work in an Arts context, with Arts content, metaphors rooted in the Arts help us explain how students with Arts backgrounds form relationships with teachers who possess a keen interest in integrating the Arts across the curriculum. In short, as art(ist) educators, metaphor is the medium through which many of our activities are expressed, composed, elaborated, and clarified.
