Metaphor as a Tool for Evaluation

This paper analyses the use of metaphor as a tool for evaluation through the case study of a cohort of students on the first year of a Diploma in Social Work/Diploma in Higher Education, a professional social work training programme. It concludes that such a use can generate energy and images containing clear messages which are less constrained than those which arise from some more traditional evaluative techniques. The considerable restraints imposed on the use of metaphor in the case study are evaluated. Several suggestions are made for developing its use into personal and academic assessment and into group and individual supervision.