"tip of the icebergs": Clichéd metaphors in education

The Problem With Icebergs: Why Lazy Metaphors Are Holding Education Back

We’ve all heard it—“just the tip of the iceberg.” It’s a metaphor that won’t die, used to explain everything from culture to anger to learning. But what if this overused image actually limits our thinking? Icebergs are static, predictable.

Learning isn’t. Knowledge isn’t.

Ideas don’t just sit beneath the surface - they shift, collide, and melt. Maybe it’s time to abandon the iceberg altogether.