| This study was designed to examine the terminology, concepts, and metaphors associated with sabbatical leave programs, giving special emphasis to such programs in community colleges. The study also reconceptualized sabbatical leave programs for faculty in community colleges by suggesting an alternative metaphor and terms.;Ordinary-language analysis was used to examine terminology and concepts, and analysis of metaphors was then employed to examine the metaphorical conceptions of sabbatical leave programs suggested by the terminology. These techniques were used to analyze the literature of sabbatical leave programs at the K-12, two-year, and four-year college levels.;The ordinary-language analysis demonstrated that, over time, a plethora of different terms and definitions evolved relating to sabbatical leave programs, resulting in semantic imprecision and conceptual confusion at all three educational levels.;Seven distinct metaphorical conceptions of sabbatical leave programs were found in the literature: the 'furlough', 'refurbishing equipment', 'vacation', 'cure', 'expanding one's horizons', 'advertisement', and 'cloister' metaphors. While some of these metaphors were more suitable than others, none was found to be particularly appropriate for the community college context. All seven metaphors examined either had very negative implications for community college sabbatical leave programs, or provided unsatisfactory answers to 10 key policy questions.;A new metaphor, 'retreat', was proposed as a vehicle for reconceptualizing sabbatical programs in community colleges. The terms 'individual retreat-sabbatical' and 'team retreat-sabbatical' were recommended as appropriate names for two kinds of retreats--those taken alone, and those shared with one or more colleagues. It was demonstrated that the retreat metaphor yielded more appropriate answers to the 10 policy questions under discussion, and had more positive implications for community college sabbatical leave programs, than the seven metaphors found in the literature. |
