The story [Who Moved My Cheese] is an analogy to how people react to change, either in their workplace, or in life. The premise is that there are characteristic ways that individuals handle and adapt to ‘flux’ in their lives and how they adapt to changing conditions. These include:

  • Change Happens – They Keep Moving The Cheese
  • Anticipate Change – Get Ready For The Cheese To Move
  • Monitor Change – Smell The Cheese Often So You Know When It Is Getting Old
  • Adapt To Change Quickly – The Quicker You Let Go Of Old Cheese, The Sooner You Can Enjoy New Cheese
  • Change – Move With The Cheese
  • Enjoy Change! – Savor The Adventure And Enjoy The Taste Of New Cheese!
  • Be Ready To Change Quickly And Enjoy It Again – They Keep Moving The Cheese.” (Wikipedia). 

Since I’m a lover of all things cheesy, including this analogy, this really resonates with my thinking. I love metaphors and analogies. If I put this analogy to the work of teaching and learning, then I can see that moving the cheese around can be helpful, healthy, and leads to greater understanding, knowledge and productivity. If the cheese we’re talking about here is the acquisition of learning, then all of these ‘negotiations’ with cheese will need to be made throughout a learning course.

So as an educator, should I keep shifting the questions, keep moving the ideas around, and keep pulling in new ‘flavours’? Should I keep adjusting the course trajectory to ensure that students acquire that cheese! Underneath this analogy, there’s an element of Logos, some truth to be learned and shared. There will be some specific outcomes and goals in the teaching and learning events.

That will be the elusive goal – the cheese worth acquiring.

Check out my fellow Lakehead 9x9x25 bloggers:

Shauna Burnie – When Opportunity Knocks (hint, it’s a cheese moving scenario)!

Steven Secord – ​http://teachingbythebay.ca

Image attribution: Katrin Leinfellner on Unsplash Retrieved from https://unsplash.com/photos/v9deD75EaRw