The Interpretive Leap: Helping Students Read Between the Lines

Authors

  • Donald A. Misch Northwestern University Medical School Author

Abstract

Many of today's higher education students have little experience with the process of interpretation. Indeed, some students doubt even the efficacy of interpretation itself. Psychotherapists encounter many of the same issues, opportunities, and obstacles when using the interpretive technique with patients. The author argues that the tenets and techniques of psychotherapeutic interpretation may provide guidance to higher education teachers in their interpretive efforts with students. The specific topics he discusses include the definition and concept of interpretation, the phases of the interpretive process (right-brain creativity, left-brain analysis, consolidation), facilitation of the interpretive process (free association, metaphor and analogy, teacher transparency, collaborative construction), active suggestion of interpretations, working through interpretations, assessment of interpretive impact, and management of interpretive impasses and resistance.

Published

2024-03-22