Using metaphors to know the conceptions about the teaching profession in initial teacher education
https://doi.org/10.17583/ijep.2017.2602
Keywords:
Downloads
Abstract
Conceptions about teaching are important because they affect professional performance. Metaphors are a tool to identify them. In this qualitative study metaphors are used to gain insight into conceptions held by pre-service teachers, and their development during Initial Teacher Training in the Bachelor’s Degree in Primary Education.
A total of 247 students participated in this cross-sectional study; 145 were first-year students, and 102 were fourth-year students. Participants were requested to submit a metaphor following the open-ended formula: “the teacher is like…. because…” In order to categorize their answers, we used an inductive method. Afterwards, we calculated frequencies and percentages.
Metaphors are grouped according to the following categories: a) Main Character; b) Support; c) Family; d) Teaching; e) Importance. The most frequent category is Support, followed by Teaching and Family. First-year pre-service teachers refer to Family, Teaching and the Main Character role of teachers more often than students in their fourth year, whereas the latter allude more often than the former to the teachers’ role as providers of Support and as Social Agents.
There is evidence of a development from a transmissive educational perspective to a constructivist and transformative perspective of education, but there is no indication of any evolution towards a socioconstructivist outlook.
Downloads
References
Akan, D., Yalçin, S. & Yildirim, I. (2013). Teachers’ mental /metaphorical perceptions to Education Inspector. Mevlana International Journal of Education, 3 (19), 58-67.
Google Scholar CrossrefAkar, H. & Yildirim, A. (2009). Change in teacher candidates´ metaphorical images about classroom management in a social constructivist learning environment. Teaching in Higher Education, 14 (4), 401-415. Doi: 10.1080/13562510903050152
Google Scholar CrossrefBoyd, P. (2014). Learning Teaching in School. In H. Cooper (ed.), Professional Studies in Primary Education (pp. 267-288). Los Angeles: Sage.
Google Scholar CrossrefBuaraphan, K. (2011). Metaphorical Roots of Beliefs about Teaching and Learning Science and their Modifications in the Standard-Based Science Teacher Preparation Programme. International Journal of Science Education, 33 (11), 1571-1595. Doi: 10.1080/09500693.2010.528462
Google Scholar CrossrefBuchanan, J. (2015). Metaphors as Two-way Mirrors: Illuminating Pre-service to In-service Teacher Identity Development. Australian Journal of Teacher Education, 40 (10), 33-50.
Google Scholar CrossrefEmerson, L. & Mansvelt, J. (2014). ‘If they`re the customer, I`m the meat in the sandwich’: an exploration of tertiary teachers` metaphorical constructions of teaching. Higher Education Research and Development, 33 (3), 469-482. Doi: 10.1080/07294360.2013.841653
Google Scholar CrossrefFarrell, T. (2006). “The teacher is an octopus”: Uncovering preservice English language teachers’ prior beliefs through metaphor analysis. RELC, 37 (2), 236-248. Doi: 10.1177/0033688206067430
Google Scholar CrossrefGlaser, B. & Strauss, A. (1967). The discovery of Grounded Theory: Strategies for qualitative Research. New York: Aldine Publising.
Google Scholar CrossrefImpedovo, M. A. (2016). In-service Teachers’ Sense of Agency after Participation in a Research Master Course. International Journal of Educational Psychology, 5 (3), 281-307. doi: 10.17583/ijep.2016.2206
Google Scholar CrossrefKalra, M.B. & Baveja, B. (2012). Teacher thinking about knowledge, learning and learners: A metaphor analysis. Procedia – Social Behavioral Sciences, 55, 317-326. Doi: 10.1016/j.sbspro.2012.09.509
Google Scholar CrossrefKaradag, R. & Gültekin, M. (2012). The Metaphors That Elementary School Students use to Describe the Term “Teacher”. Mersin University Journal of the Faculty of Education, 8 (1), 69-83.
Google Scholar CrossrefKasoutas M. & Malamitsa K. (2009). Exploring Greek Teachers’ Beliefs Using Metaphors. Australian Journal of Teacher Education, 34 (2), 64-83. Doi: 10.14221/ajte.2009v34n2.6
Google Scholar CrossrefKim, M. S. (2012). Cultural–historical activity theory perspectives on constructing, ICT-mediated metaphors of teaching and learning. European Journal of Teacher Education, 35 (4), 435-448. Doi:10.1080/02619768.2011.643393
Google Scholar CrossrefKonakli, T. & Gogus, N. (2013). Metaphorical Perceptions of pre-service teachers in related to faculty of education: Asample of Kokaeli University Faculty of Education. International Journal of Human Sciences, 10 (2), 67-93.
Google Scholar CrossrefKramsch, C. (2003). “Metaphor and the subjective construction of beliefs”. In P. Kalaja & A.M.F. Barcelos (eds.), Beliefs about SLA (pp. 109-128). Netherlands: Springer.
Google Scholar CrossrefKrull, E., Koni, I. & Oras, K. (2013). Impact on student teachers’ conception of learning and teaching from studying a course in educational psychology. Asia-Pacific Journal of Teacher Education, 41 (2), 218–231. Doi: 10.1080/1359866X.2013.777026
Google Scholar CrossrefLakoff, G. & Johnson, M. (1980). Metaphors We Live By, Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Google Scholar CrossrefLandau, M. J., Meier, B. P., y Keefer, L. A. (2010). A metaphor-enriched social cognition. Psychological bulletin, 136 (6), 1045-1067. Doi: 1045-1067. 10.1037/a0020970
Google Scholar CrossrefLeavy, A.M., McSorley, F.A. & Boté, L.A. (2007). An examination of what metaphor construction reveals about the evolution of preservice teachers’ beliefs about teaching and learning. Teaching and Teacher Education, 23, 1217-1233. Doi: 10.1016/j.tate.2006.07.016
Google Scholar CrossrefLopez-Luengo, M. A., Torrego-Egido, L. M., & Vallés-Rapp, C. (2015). ¿Qué Metáforas Personales Definen al Profesorado de Educación Infantil en Formación? REICE. Revista Iberoamericana sobre Calidad, Eficacia y Cambio en Educación, 13 (3), 37-56.
Google Scholar CrossrefLin, W., Shein, P. P. & Yang, S. C. (2012). Exploring personal EFL teaching metaphors in pre-service teacher education. English Teaching: Practice and Critique, 11 (1), 183-199.
Google Scholar CrossrefMahlios, M., Massengill-Shaw, D. & Barry, A. (2010). Making sense of teaching through metaphors: a review across three studies. Teachers and Teaching: theory and practice, 16 (1), 49-71. Doi: 10.1080/13540600903475645
Google Scholar CrossrefMassenhill-Shaw, D. & Mahlios, M. (2008). Pre-service teachers’ metaphors of teaching and literacy. Reading Psychology, 29 (3), 31-60. Doi: 10.1080/02702710701568397
Google Scholar CrossrefMartinez, M.A., Sauleda, N. & Huber, G.L. (2001). Metaphors as blueprints of thinking about teaching and learning. Teaching and Teacher Education, 17 (8), 965–977.
Google Scholar CrossrefMcGrath, I. (2006). Teachers’ and learners’ images for coursebooks. ELT Journal, 60 (2), 171–80.
Google Scholar CrossrefMellado, L., Bermejo, M. L. & Mellado, V. (2012). Personal metaphors of prospective secondary economics and science teachers. Asia-Pacific Journal of Teacher Education, 40 (4), 395-408. Doi: 10.1080/1359866X.2012.724658
Google Scholar CrossrefNikitina, L. & Furuoka, F. (2008). Measuring Metaphors: A Factor Analysis of Students’ Conceptions of Language Teachers Metaphor, Metaphoric.de, 15, 161-180.
Google Scholar CrossrefPalencia Villa, M. (2009). Transformaciones del modelo cultural de las educadoras de Preescolar. Revista mexicana de investigación educativa, 14 (42), 787-811.
Google Scholar CrossrefPerry, C. & Cooper, M. (2001). Metaphors are good mirrors: reflecting on change for teacher educators. Reflective practice, 2 (1), 41-52. Doi: 10.1080/14623940120035514
Google Scholar CrossrefPinegar, S., Mangelson, J., Reed, M. & Groves, S. (2011). Exploring pre-service teacher’ metaphors plotlines. Teaching and Teacher Education, 27, 639-647.
Google Scholar CrossrefSaban, A., Kocbeker, B. N. & Saban, A. (2006). An Investigation of the Concept of Teacher Among Prospective Teachers through Metaphor Analysis. Educational Science: Theory y Practice, 6 (2), 509-522.
Google Scholar CrossrefSeferoglu, G., Korkmazgil, S. & Ölcü, Z. (2009). Gaining insights into teachers’ ways of thinking via metaphors. Educational Studies, 35 (3), 323-335.
Google Scholar CrossrefSeung E., Park, S. & Narayan, R. (2011). Exploring Elementary Pre-service Teachers` Beliefs about Science Teaching and Learning as Revealed in Their Metaphor Writing. Journal of Science Education and Technology 20 (6), 703-714. Doi: 10.1007/s10956-010-9263-2
Google Scholar CrossrefSexton, D. M. (2008). Student Teacher Negotiating Identity, Role, and Agency. Teacher Education Quarterly, 35 (3), 73-87.
Google Scholar CrossrefSfard, A. (1998). On two metaphors of learning and the dangers of choosing just one. Educational Researcher, 27 (2), 4-13. Doi: 10.3102/0013189X027002004
Google Scholar CrossrefSimon, S. (2013). The Weaving of a Tapestry: a Metaphor for Teacher Education Curriculum Development. Australian Journal of Teacher Education, 38, (8), 73-91. Doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.14221/ajte.2013v38n8.5
Google Scholar CrossrefSoler, M. (2015). Biographies of “Invisible” People Who Transform Their Lives and Enhance Social Transformations Through Dialogic Gatherings. Qualitative Inquiry, 21 (10), 839-947.
Google Scholar CrossrefSumsion, J. (2003). Rereading Metaphors as Cultural Texts: A Case Study of Early Childhood Teacher Attrition. The Australian Educational Researcher, 30 (3), 67-87. Doi: 10.1080/09518390903443282
Google Scholar CrossrefSykes, J. D. (2011). Facilitating reflection on implicit learner beliefs through metaphor elicitation. Journal of Pan-Pacific Association of Applied Linguistics, 15 (1), 91-113.
Google Scholar CrossrefTait-McCutcheon S. & Drake, M. (2016). If the jacket fits: A metaphor for teacher professional learning and development. Teaching and Teacher Education, 55, 1-12. Doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2015.12.0050742-051X/
Google Scholar CrossrefTannehill, D. & MacPhail, A. (2012). What examining teaching metaphors tells us about pre-service teachers' developing beliefs about teaching and learning. Physical Education and Sport Pedagogy, 19 (2), 149-163. Doi:10.1080/17408989.2012.732056
Google Scholar CrossrefThomson, M.M. (2015). Metaphorical images of schooling: beliefs about teaching and learning among prospective teachers from the United States displaying different motivational profiles, Educational Psychology: An International Journal of Experimental Educational Psychology, 36 (3), 502-525. Doi: 10.1080/01443410.2015.1024612
Google Scholar CrossrefTrinidad, A., Carrero, V. & Soriano, R. (2006). Teoría fundamentada . La construcción de la teoría a través del análisis interpretacional. Madrid: CIS (Centro de Investigaciones Sociológicas).
Google Scholar CrossrefVadeboncoeur, J. A. & Torres, M. N. (2003). Constructing and Reconstructing Teaching Roles: a focus on generative metaphors and dichotomies. Discourse: studies in the cultural politics of education, 24 (1), 87-103. Doi: 10.1080/0159630032000069402
Google Scholar CrossrefVygotsky, L. 2002. Thought and language. Cambridge: MIT Press.
Google Scholar CrossrefWegner, E. & Nückles, M. (2015). Training the brain or tending a garden? Students´ metaphors of learning predict self-reported learning patterns. Frontline Learning Research, 4, 95-109. Doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.14786/flr.v3i4.212
Google Scholar CrossrefWoollard, J. (2005). The implications of the Pedagogic Metaphor for Teacher Education in Computing. Technology, Pedagogy and Education, 14 (2), 189-204.
Google Scholar CrossrefYesilbursa, A. (2012). Using metaphor to explore the professional role identities of higher education English language instructors. Procedia Social and Behavioral Sciences, 46, 468-472. Doi: 10.1016/j.sbspro.2012.05.143.
Google Scholar CrossrefDownloads
Published
Almetric
Dimensions
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
All articles are published under Creative Commons copyright (CC BY). Authors hold the copyright and retain publishing rights without restrictions, but authors allow anyone to download, reuse, reprint, modify, distribute, and/or copy articles as the original source is cited.