“Please bring a plate”: A metaphor for learning advisor practice based on Pacific values

Abstract

Metaphors are powerful devices for guiding the practice of Learning Advisors, but are often used implicitly. This can result in such personal metaphors mis-guiding practice, or constraining the thinking about practice through a monocultural perspective. This paper is a response to the paper of Golding et al. (2015) in the first issue of the ATLAANZ journal, which evaluated a variety of different metaphors for Learning Advisors. The metaphor suggested in this response is based on the process of helping someone bake for a ‘please bring a plate’ function. It is an attempt to develop a metaphor that has resonance for Learning Advisors of Palagi/Western cultural backgrounds, but which is based on the values embedded in Pacific cultures. This metaphor is offered as a contribution to the philosophy of learning advising discussion: it is my ‘plate’ that I am bringing to help feed our academic community.