How prevailing metaphors for teaching, learning, and school reform, shaped Minnesota's education technology policy

As a result of funding trends in recent years state policy makers are practically, as well as legally, dealing with education reform. Many of these policy makers carry metaphors for teaching, and schooling in their heads that influence what they believe can be done to improve schools. These images shape their decisions. My dissertation examines the metaphors of influential state policy actors in Minnesota, during the 1997 legislative session, as they talked, read and wrote about education while legislating educational technology policy for K--12 schools. Using content analysis of internal and external communications, in-depth interviews with several policy actors and observation of the policy making process, I uncover the metaphors of policy actors and identify the potential political legacy for K--12 technology that results from there contribution to both policy debate and policy action. Imposition of the marketplace metaphors "competition", "accountability", and "choice" for school along with "transportation" for teaching and learning resulted in technology infrastructure and its requisite funding being the focus of policy action. Acceptance of these metaphors potentially narrows future public debate to issues of access and cost. Educators wishing to lead in a state education policy culture must recognize the importance of metaphor in shaping policy discussion and forging action. Educational leadership requires both rejecting inaccurate and inappropriate metaphors applied to education and offering potent metaphors consistent with the fields language and modes of operation.