The Role of Metaphor and Symbol in Motivating Primary School Children

This book provides a fresh approach to motivation in primary school children by exploring the role of metaphor and symbol in language and art as a means of expressing insights developed through learning.

The book investigates and transcends Piaget’s dominant child developmental theories and considers alternative theories from psychiatry, not least ideas drawn from the theories of Jung and the works of McGilchrist. Using literary examples from primary school children’s work, including prose and poetry, religious narratives, and drama and art based on Jungian archetypal images, the book analyses how creative approaches to lesson planning around metaphor and symbol enable children to achieve higher levels of understanding than had been previously thought possible. Ultimately, the volume evaluates why current practice largely fails to retain the initial enthusiasm shown for learning by young children, and instead offers a wealth of possible new foundations and insights for learning among primary school children.

Focusing the primary school curriculum on creative ability, this book will be of great interest to academics, researchers, and post-graduate students in the fields of educational psychology, primary school education and educational theory.