The Power of Language and Mental Frames, Part I

Language shapes the way we think, and determines what we can think about.
—Benjamin Lee Whorf

What do the terms teach, dialogue, staff development, and professional learning community have in common? They’ve all come to mind recently as I’ve reflected on the significance of language and frames in response to a question Joan Richardson, NSDC’s director of publications, posed in an interview she conducted with Stephanie Hirsh and myself for publication in the Summer 2007 JSD. Joan asked: What words would we like to see used less frequently in our field?

While considering how I’d respond to Joan my thought flashed to the Thinkmap Visual Thesaurus, a piece of software into which the user types a word or term and a mindmap or web is created with the word in the middle of the page and related terms clustered around it whose proximity to the key word show the strength of the relationship. Joan’s question prompted the immediate creation in my mind’s eye of such a mental map for the term “staff development” as it seems to exist in the minds of many teachers and administrators—“delivery system,” training, trainer, presentation, presenter, inservice days, PowerPoint, CEUs, program, project, and so on were the concepts that quickly came to mind.

Such a conceptual map drew me back to the writing of George Lakoff, whose views on the power of frames I shared with you some time back. "Frames are mental structures," Lakoff writes in the "Preface" to Don't Think of An Elephant. "As a result, they shape the goals we seek, the plans we make, the way we act, and what counts as a good or bad outcome of our actions. . . . Reframing is changing the way the public sees the world. . . . Because language activates frames, new language is required for new frames. Thinking differently requires speaking differently."

My experience is like Lakoff’s--some mental structures enable those who possess them to achieve their goals--enabling frames provide direction, clarity, and a steady flow of energy. Others disable by cognitively freezing the status quo in place. Consequently, the frames created by language and the ideas they link in our minds are critically important aspects of professional learning and change in practice.

The other terms I’ve mentioned--teach, dialogue, and professional learning community--each have their own cognitive structure of linked words or terms that are immediately activated and provide a frame of reference for both those who are speaking and hearing them. And because such commonly used terms are often vague in their expression, activate different mental maps, and are sometimes linked to antiquated ideas, people often talk past one another in ways that inadvertently preserve current understandings and practice. Trying to change those mental structures is very demanding, particularly if we are unaware of their existence and power. Addressing them, I believe, is at the core of professional learning that produces deep understanding of complex subjects and lasting change in mental and behavioral habits.

I’ll have more to say on mental frames and how they can be accessed and altered in upcoming postings, but in the meantime I look forward to hearing your views on this subject.