Secondary teachers' conceptual metaphors of teaching and learning: Changes over the career span

Abstract

Much has been written about the persistence of teacher beliefs upon entering and exiting preservice teacher education programs. Little research has explored teacher beliefs over the career span. Through an online survey instrument teachers (n = 110) choose which teaching metaphors most closely match their own under three conditions: upon first entering the profession, at present, and ideally. Analysis indicates that 63% of teachers changed their conception of teaching over time. While very experienced teachers began teaching with teacher-centered conceptual metaphors, over the course of their careers some move toward student-centered metaphors. Newer teachers have a tendency to begin with and aspire to student-centered conceptual metaphors. Teachers whose metaphors for current and desired practice differed identified obstacles to, and suggestions for, a better fit.

Introduction

Much has been written about the static nature of student teachers' beliefs upon entering and leaving preservice teacher education programs (see Wideen, Mayer-Smith, & Moon's, 1998 review of literature on learning to teach). When students enter teaching credential programs, they come with a minimum of 13 years of K-12 learning experiences and, in many cases, four years of learning in college. Often, these traditional, teacher-centered experiences that students bring with them do not reflect current understandings that knowledge is socially constructed, and not situated solely with the teacher. These learning experiences also tend to solidify a set of beliefs and dispositions that can have a tremendous impact on classroom practices, views of the role of the teacher and learner, and learning to teach in general (Pajares, 1992, Richardson, 1996). Research has shown that student teachers' beliefs about teaching and learning are resistant to change because they are at the core of a student teacher's worldview (Pajares, 1992, Phelan and McLaughlin, 1995).

In their review of the research on learning to teach, Wideen et al. (1998) found that change in teacher beliefs was resistant to short-term interventions. For example, in an effort to encourage preservice teachers to reconsider what they viewed as good teaching, Weinstein (1990) conducted a seven-week combination course and fieldwork experience. Weinstein found no change in teacher beliefs. Long term solutions such as a year of student teaching in a program (Gunstone, Slattery, Baird & Northfield, 1993) fared slightly better. However, in their review of 93 studies, the longest term intervention was four years (Allard & Cooper, 1997). This begs the question, are teachers' beliefs about teaching and learning consistent and resistant to change throughout their careers? If teachers' conceptions of teaching change over time, what forces are responsible for the changes? Understanding the growth and development of teachers' conceptions of teaching over time may help teacher educators, administrators, and professional developers work more effectively with teachers.

One approach to researching these questions is through a study of teachers' metaphorical thinking over time. In their seminal study, Lakoff and Johnson (1980) make the case that much of our thinking takes place through the use of conceptual metaphors which frame and define our experience as a way to make meaning. The connection between conceptual metaphor and experience is dynamic. We have experiences for which we develop conceptual metaphors to aid in giving meaning to the experience, which we then use as a filter to make sense of new experiences. This dynamism may partially account for why it is difficult for teachers to change their belief systems.

Lakoff and Johnson (1980) also maintain that as individuals we seek out personal metaphors “to highlight and make coherent what we have in common with someone else… and make coherent our own pasts, our present activities, and our dreams, hopes, and goals as well. A large part of self-understanding is the search for appropriate metaphors that make sense of our lives” (p. 233). Oftentimes these metaphors are conventional, meaning that they are prevalent in the culture and their meaning is shared by the culture.

Teachers' use of metaphorical language to describe and explain their beliefs about students, the teacher's role, and their profession is widespread (Munby, 1987; Tobin, 1990). In classroom research, metaphor analysis has been used as a device to raise awareness about root beliefs and theoretical assumptions (Bullough, 1991; Mahlios, 2002), highlight various perspectives about the concept of teaching in language classrooms (Oxford et al., 1998), encourage reflective practice (Stofflett, 1996), challenge core beliefs, and promote change in classroom practices (Strickland & Iran-Nejad, 1994; Tobin, 1990; Tobin & Tippins, 1996). Ben-Peretz, Mendelson, and Kron (2003) studied the connections between occupational metaphors, ability level of the students the teachers taught, and teachers' self-image.

The purpose of the study reported here was to make transparent secondary teachers' conceptual metaphors for teaching and learning when they entered the profession, teaching metaphors that describe their current practice, and the conceptual metaphors for teaching that teachers currently aspire to. Do teachers' concepts of desired teaching practice change over time? If so, is there a commonality in metaphorical thinking due to particular contexts in which they teach such as subject matter or school size? Is there a fit between the way a teacher teaches and how he or she would like to teach? What forces are behind changes in conceptual metaphors, what obstacles preclude a teacher from teaching in the desired way, and what solutions can teachers propose to help create a better fit between how they teach and how they would like to teach? What do these conceptual metaphors reveal about teacher development?

First I will describe the development of an online survey instrument used to gather data about teachers' conceptual metaphors over time. Included in this section is the research to support that development. Next I will describe the participants, context, and process used to disseminate the survey. Quantitative and qualitative results will then be provided, followed by a discussion of those results.