ELT in Images – roads and book covers
Saturday 25 July 2009
When we (the series editors and publisher at Delta) were talking about the new Teacher Development Book Series we had a long discussion about book covers. There’s a saying “don’t judge a book by its cover”, but I find I judge books by their covers all the time. A good cover should be noticeable from across the room and it should make you want to pick up the book and look inside at the very least (and, hopefully, buy it).
After a long morning of discussion about covers we liked and didn’t like we hit on the idea of roads. Since this was a series of books about development the idea of a road leading off into the distance struck us as a good metaphor. It gives the idea that you are going somewhere. The road or journey is also a powerful metaphor for life and growing as well. You “set out on a new project”, life can “take an unexpected turn” and so on. Once our designer got a hold of the idea she found lots of amazing photos of all different kinds of roads. It was soon decided: the road would be the theme of the new series.
Reaction to the first two covers has been extremely positive too. On Duncan’s book you see a leafy overgrown path going into a forest. It looks inviting, but also mysterious and magical. A good metaphor for the path a teacher’s development can take. For Scott and Luke’s book, we chose a straight highway on a bright sunny day. This was because the authors had emphasized that Dogme was the most direct road to learning a language, it was not the scenic route of coursebooks. That image on the cover of Teaching Unplugged was the most direct road image we could find!
Do you see your development as a road? If so, what kind of road? Where is your road leading? Or is the journey the reward in itself?
This post brings to an end our mini series on ELT in images. I will be posting some ideas on how you could use these in a teacher training session and then the blog will be on a summer break. We hope you’ve enjoyed the Delta development blog so far, and will come back to read more from other authors of upcoming books.
1
Scott
25 July 2009 13:01
Nice series of postings, Lindsay! And an upbeat image to finish on.
Of course, coursebooks too have used the “road” image extensively in order to project the metaphor of “learning-as-journey”: think of all those coursebook titles that are permutations of paths- and -ways, as well as departures and destinations. But is there one called Open Road? If not, I hereby claim it as the title of the Dogme coursebook series, with Whitman’s poem as its epigraph:
Song of the Open Road
Afoot and light-hearted I take to the open road,
Healthy, free, the world before me,
The long brown path before me leading wherever I choose.
2
Jason Renshaw
25 July 2009 13:55
Like the concept behind your covers, and to Scott’s road poem I’d like to add my own favourite – from Mr. Bilbo Baggins:
The Road goes ever on and on
Down from the door where it began.
Now far ahead the Road has gone,
And I must follow, if I can,
Pursuing it with eager feet,
Until it joins some larger way
Where many paths and errands meet.
And whither then? I cannot say.
On a somewhat less poetic note, just let me congratulate you, the authors and the publisher in general for talking so directly with your audience. It’s refreshing to see a publisher connecting in a direct but honest way with its potential readership!
Keep up the great work!
3
Leahn
27 July 2009 12:15
Hi Lindsay,
Thanks for the images they have been food for thought.
I see my development as a long journey, it has been hard, it has been fun, it has been rewarding and worthwhile.
Along the way I have taken a few wrong turns and ended up in the jungle, have been confronted by a terminator or two, have seen the odd Guru and have seen a few changes in trends.
Although I have had many a bad performance the good ones have far outweighed the bad and whenever I thought the jounrney was comming to an end there has always been an article or a workshop that has set me off again!
Corny I know!
4
Leahn
27 July 2009 12:18
Thanks for the food for thought!
For me it has definitely been a journey. Long, tiring, fun rewarding and often dangerous!
I have seen my fare share of jungles, gurus and terminator demons a long the way!
5
Leahn
27 July 2009 12:19
Woops computer went strange!
6
Georgina
30 July 2009 03:39
Hi Lindsay,
I have to agree that book covers have a powerful impact on the consumer and “roads” is a very appropriate metaphor for development.
Scott’s point of an “Open Road” would probably best desriibe teacher development for me. The traditional road has a beginning and end but I don’t believe there is an end to development. I also like the idea of a never-ending network of different length roads to represent teacher development – each road being a different area/stage of development… that would make an interesting illustration for a book cover (or it could just look a complete mess!)
7
anthony
31 July 2009 21:16
Hi Lindsey, thanks for the thought-provoking posts. Much of the time I have followed those who passed before me along the beaten track. Occasionally, however, “I took the one less traveled by / and that has made all the difference” (Robert Frost). Thanks again.
8
Lindsay Clandfield
12 August 2009 15:31
Thanks everyone for the comments. I have been away from the internet rather a lot recently and sorry I haven’t seen these before. May all your respective roads bring you to a good port (am I mixing metaphors terribly again? too much sun and sangria perhaps)