Introduction
This lesson deals with metaphors and other literary devices while underlining the importance of language. It contributes to students’ understanding of the relational-political and ethical implications of metaphors by drawing attention to the idea that metaphors can often be seen as forced (with positive and negative implications).
The lesson introduces the funky door metaphor assignment and offers guidelines below.
Presentation
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Media
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Funky door assignment
The assignment is not graded. The funky door assignment was introduced in an early lecture of the year when referring to scope of practice – when speaking about pastoral care and the scope of pastoral counselling. The funky door was said to be the angle that pastoral counselling takes in counselling. Broadly speaking it guides practitioners in what can be considered their scope of practice.
The assignment requires students to ‘create.’ Creating can be any visual representation, be it a picture drawn, a photo taken, and actual door at home, a new door. The task then requires to engage the door by any number of things (the student’s choice): write on it, or paint on it, carve from it, hang on it or wherever funkiness takes you.
Students won’t do a formal presentation. The group will show their creations but then talk about as narrators in peer-reflection. In closing the metaphor of the funky door will be discussed as well as the influence our own funky doors have in being the interviewers and active listeners for the exercise. In the end we reflect on the value of this metaphor in counselling.
The questions that the narrator might consider asking include but is not limited to (use these to prepare for class):
The language of ‘opening’
- What were important doors that opened for you in your life, and where did that lead?
- What doors did you bash in to open?
- Who were the butlers in your life? For which experiences? For which characters traits? For which values?
The language of ‘closing’
- What were opportunities that you had hoped for but doors were closed? Why were they important?
- Looking back today what door do you maybe consider to be better that it remained closed or that you exited and then closed?
Responses
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Loved the funky door exercise both years. Reviewing this content today has been useful as I think this exercise will open something for the client I will be working with tomorrow.
I really enjoyed this exercise, as this gave me a very wide perspective of the things that are important in my life and people close to my heart, things that inspire me, and my empathy and my compassion, even made me aware of things that I have to work on in my life. This gave me a very inspiring view of what I love and what happens in my mind and heart.