The use of teaching metaphors in perservice education

Running Head: Metaphors

I view myself as a bus, carrying with me the hopes and aspirations of

my students. The schooling environment in which I will operate can be

likened to a busy highway. There are certain twists and turns that I

must safely negotiate in order to get my passengers to their desired

destination, adulthood. Through this course, my passengers would learn

that I am more than a service, respecting me as a friendly and helpful

resource. I would take my students aboard and throughout their

journey, make stops to ensure that all were on the right route and

heading in the same direction. When considering teaching as commuting,

it is essential that I as the bus of learning, flow with the other

influential traffic on the highway of life so as to ensure students

flourish in a safe and caring atmosphere. This of course means that

alternative routes may have to be taken so that each individual reaches

their potential and enjoys their developmental trip through the subject

of health and physical education and life. Just like a bus, I return

to where I began to commence another journey of guidance, this time

with a new set of passengers. All aboard.!!

Teaching metaphor written by a preservice teacher, prior to

commencement of his teaching career.

The use of teaching metaphors in perservice education

I was first alerted me to the potential of metaphors in teacher

education whors have been used in two different ways in educational

development and in educational research. New metaphors have been

developed to persuade educational personnel to modify traditional ways

of understanding schooling, teaching and classrooms (eg., Berliner,

1990; Gohen & Latan, 1990; Miller-Power, 1991). They also have used in

research by teachers (eg. Munby & Russell, 1990; Tobin, 1990) and by

student teachers (eg. Marshall, 1990; Weade & Ernst, 1990; Philion,

1990) as a reflective tool.

This study focuses on the use of metaphors in preservice education.

Three specific research questions were asked: (a) could themes be

identified across the metaphors? (b) what value did the participants

attribute to the construction of a teaching metaphor? and (c) did the

participants report that the metaphors were useful during the 18 months

of teaching experience? If they were, in what ways were the metaphors

used?

Method

Context and data collection

At the time the metaphors were written, the 33 participants in this

study were third year students enrolled in Human Movement Studies

department at a major Australian university. Students' ages ranged

from 19 to 24, 10 were female and 23 male. They had completed two

compulsory years of science orientated subjects and had enrolled in the

teacher education stream for a further two years. Prior to their first

teaching experience, they were set an assignment that asked them to

create a teaching metaphor. Some samples were given to them prior to

the task. The aim of the assignment was to encourage students to

articulate their underlying belief system about teaching and learning.

After the written piece was returned to the students, there was limited

follow up on the metaphor due to time limitations. The researcher

retained copies of the assignment for future analysis with the

preservice teachers’ permission.

Eighteen months after the metaphors were written, ten of the students

(3 female and 7 male) were individually interviewed using a semi

structured interview. These students were in the final semester of

their degree, having completed a range of pedagogy subjects and 100

days of practicum experience at six different sites (primary, secondary

and outdoor education contexts). The preservice teachers gave consent

for their work to be analysed for this study. The researcher then

selected ten participants to be interviewed. Those selected had

appeared to respond in varied ways to the metaphor task. Three

preservice teachers had responded in a very reflective manner, three

appeared to show with limited reflection, while the remaining four were

situated between the two extremes.

The interview script focused on their memory of the metaphor. The

following questions included (a) what did the metaphor mean to you, (b)

did it encourage you to think differently about teaching, (c) was it

useful during the practicum experiences; and (d) do you now consider

the teaching metaphor a suitable one, in light of your more extensive

teaching and learning experience. (See Appendix B for specific

questions).

Data Reduction and Analysis

The features of each metaphor were identified individually and any

regularities (Merriam, 1988), that is occurrences or ideas that were

duplicated frequently by participants, were highlighted and coded. The

codes were clustered into themes (Miles & Huberman, 1994). This

clustering assisted the researcher to reduce the data and identify

patterns or themes that were common across the written work. The ten

interviews were transcribed and analysed with a similar process. Member

checking was included in the following way: Each participant read the

transcribed interview and had the opportunity to add additional notes

or make corrections.

Potential limitations

There were two limitations identified in this study. First, the

researcher involved in this study was also the lecturer in the subject

that required the construction of metaphors. Second, the metaphor was

submitted as an assessment piece, although it was worth 5% and could be

resubmitted.

Findings and discussion

The metaphors varied considerably in topic. The topics included

teacher as a car, traveller, parent, lighthouse, rubix cube, tree,

chef, circus ring master, potter (2), carver, sculptor, entertainer,

sun, ocean, preacher, theatre director, river, time traveller, bus,

blue heeler, tour guide, prism, waterfall, guide, pizza maker, green

keeper, TV, jig saw contributor, and fast food worker. In addition, two

participants altered the topic slightly and reported on how they viewed

teaching (as opposed to teacher) as similar to farming and works of

art. One participant focused entirely on the child and likened each

child to a sky scraper. The focus the participants pursued also

differed.

Despite this diversity of topics and focus, ten themes were identified

across many of the metaphors. Limited examples are given to illustrate

each theme

Teacher centred approaches

One of the most prominent themes was the metaphor focus on the teacher.

Twelve of the metaphors centred strongly on the directing role of the

teacher, and the orchestration of students. There was an implication

that students had limited involvement or influence. The following

example illustrate this teacher-centred belief.

[Teacher as sun] I will be a focal point of direction and a

universally renowned symbol of guidance. Someone to look up to, I will

warmly greet my students each day and instil in them a source of life

that emulated through the class. Necessary for growth and maturation,

teacher as sun will involve melting away the icy shells to expose and

foster the true spirit that lays dormant beneath.

The teacher-centred metaphors suggested that many of the participants

focused mainly on the role of the teacher and not the students, whom

they considered were shaped and guided almost entirely by the teacher.

Their focus on teacher as director could prevent them from considering

the students as a player in the teaching and learning process.

Student centred approach

In contrast to the strong teacher focus, only four metaphors emphasised

the important role students play. The theme running through the

metaphors suggested that their writers were considering teaching and

learning as interactive and that students were considered essential and

integral parts of that process. One participant explained his vision,

I see myself as a car, providing the medium to carry the students to

wherever they want to go along the road of life. Students task: to

take the steering wheel and contained driving manual, determine

destination (with my help as a knowledgeable map) and depress

accelerator at a speed that suits their motivation and intensity in

life....Finally, whilst I intend to lead inspirationally from the

front, I will not forget that just as the car’s purpose is to serve the

driver, my key agenda is meeting the students’ needs, not satisfying

whimsical concerns that are irrelevant to the students I will teach.

The fact that only four of the 33 participants focused on their

metaphors on students suggests that they were not seeing students as

partners in the teaching and learning process.

Individualising

The theme of individualising was well represented in twelve metaphors.

The metaphors categorised under this theme suggested that the

participants were mindful of the importance of providing a variety of

feedback and varied programs to cater to a range of students in their

classes. An example was given in the metaphor: teacher as a TV:

[Teacher as a TV], I will hopefully be able to recognise that each

student requires a different station and as such, possess the ability

to change channels to suit the needs of the individual.

Supportive Environment

The need to establish a supportive environment was acknowledged by nine

participants in their metaphors. These metaphors ranged from teacher as

a tree providing leaves for shelter that offered "a safe environment

for learning, away from any outside influence which may be detrimental

to my students’ well being" to a river that "must be a strong

enduring watercourse where students can feel safe in order to learn and

enjoy the ride the river provides."

Personal qualities

A minor theme that ran through many metaphors was the importance of

the personal qualities of the teacher. One student concentrated

entirely on this aspect. He likened his qualities to those of a sheep

dog,

Blue heelers are friendly and easy to get along with but relentless

once they have set my heart on a task or goal. These dogs use the

natural terrain and features whilst working in well the stock horse, as

I would hope to draw upon and improvise with the available resources

whilst working cooperatively with other staff members. The blue heeler

is a determined worker who gives his best to complete the job and

command the respect of others through his/her dexterity and demeanour.

While there were references to the personal qualities of the teacher

and their importance in other metaphors, these references were usually

brief, and most often referred to personal attributes believed to be

important to teaching. While these attributes were mentioned, their

importance was generally not stressed.

How to teach

Eleven metaphors included reference to the importance of teaching

techniques and strategies. Most referenced it in passing, such as

"These people must be shown easy and attractive ways to incorporate HPE

into their daily lives, in order to enhance their quality of life"

(teacher as preacher) or indicated limited aspects of pedagogy, for

example. "Director must guide and monitor and provide feedback"

(teacher as a theatre director) or "[A cook/teacher should be] able to

put aside the cook book, combine the right ingredients, prepare a

fulfilling dish." While a third of the metaphors contained a passing

reference to the need for teaching techniques, it was not a major

emphasis in most metaphors. Given the stage of the participants’

careers, this absence of strategy is not surprising.

Teacher knowledge and curriculum issues

The content of what should be taught and the teachers’ knowledge of

"what" to teach (as opposed to "how") was included in eleven of the

metaphors. The following example illustrates the way many preservice

teachers touched on these issues.

As a teacher [as a pizza maker] I can either simply throw flour and

water into a bowl and produce a pizza dough or I can produce a better

base by taking a little more time to research better methods, plan the

order in which ingredients are added and establish certain conditions

and climates that will allow maximum development of the base to occur.

Teacher growth

Seven metaphors mentioned or made analogies about the importance of

teacher growth and experience. Several of these metaphor stressed that

experience was a vital ingredient to improved teaching, as the

following example demonstrates,

As a [teacher as time] traveller makes his way into a city for a

second visit, he returns with the experience from the first. Similarly

a teacher will go into his second and subsequent lessons with

experience from those that preceded. Experience is an invaluable

teaching tool (teacher as time traveller).

Teaching as a journey

Nine metaphors included a "journey" theme. This theme was often

closely connected to teacher growth, although some of the journeys

described included a strong connection to student growth. A student

focused example included the following: "The goal is to guide students’

journey through their developmental years, along the way reviving

endless hours of joyous exploring and interesting discovery. Learning

through exploration."

Teaching for life

Twelve metaphors contained an emphasis on either the belief that their

teaching could make a life time impact on the children they teach or

that the impact of the subject that they were teaching would be

considerable and important to their students’ lives. The following

example illustrates this belief,

[Teacher as preacher] Above all, the leaders must not only continue to

facilitate learning and improvement in their devoted followers but must

also work to win back those who have strayed from the path and those

who are entirely ignorant of it. These people must be shown easy and

attractive ways to incorporate HPE into their daily lives, in order to

enhance their quality of life

What the participants say: Metaphor memory

Eighteen months after the writing of the assignment, eight of the ten

interviewed participants remembered their metaphors clearly and in

detail. The other two preservice teachers did not remember the subject

until prompted but could then describe clearly the main concepts of the

paper. Participants reported that the metaphor remained with them for

several different reasons. For some participants it was because they

found the assignment meaningful and they had thought carefully about

the metaphor that best suited their beliefs about teaching. For

instance, one participant explained,

[Teacher as a car] Having a metaphor gives you a picture in your own

mind, gives you something tangible, Not let go of that vision that

you originally had. There are some things I hold on to. I guess while

I haven’t really thought over it [the metaphor] much since, I am still

operating under the same philosophy. That is probably why I can still

remember it.

A few other participants stated that they selected metaphors that

related to their lives in some way, while others were far more

pragmatic about their selection, as the following example illustrates,

[teacher as a tree] It was something I grabbed because I have to do the

metaphor but it was something that did relate to all the stuff that

surrounded teaching. So it wasn’t meaningless, "it sounds good, I will

do that" - there was certain things that you could attach to it about

teaching.

The two students who could not remember their metaphors both reported

that they had difficulty writing them. They confided that no suitable

subject for comparison came to mind. One participant (teacher as tour

guide) commented,

I couldn’t find anything that really fitted....I tried one thing and I

would write it, I can’t remember what it was, I deleted it. I tried

another one and deleted it. I don’t think it was grasping at straws,

it was trial and error process. I finally found something that sounded

pretty good and suited pretty well what I wanted. It wasn’t exactly

what I wanted but it wasn’t not what I wanted. It was the case of near

enough is good enough at the time.

This finding could suggest that in order to make an impact on the

preservice teacher, the selected metaphor must have personal meaning.

Those who selected a metaphor that had some meaning to them were very

accurate in their recall of the details, even though most had not read

the assignment for over eighteen months.

Importance and usefulness of the metaphor to participants

The importance placed on the metaphor varied considerably amongst the

interviewed participants. Some considered it important, while to

others, such as the two participants who could not remember them, the

original creation of the metaphor obviously had little impact. Those

who identified it as important mentioned the tangibility of the

assignment and stated that the metaphor format assisted them to think

in more depth about why and how they wanted to teach. The following

example suggest that for some of the interviewed participants the

writing of the metaphor contributed to the reflection process.

[Teacher as a fast food worker] It made me think "Why am I going into

this? What is the reason for choosing teaching. That might have been

one of the first moments that I actually had to think about why I am

going into teaching and what do I think of it at the moment and how do

I approach my teaching. So in that way, yes, it definitely made me

think about that. I think it probably would have happened along the

line anyway as we got further into the issues of teaching

Limited paradigm shifts

The majority of the interviewed participants believed that their

metaphor was still relevant to the way they viewed teaching.

Statements such as the following were common, "Yes, most aspects I

think are still relevant to how I see teaching now. (teacher as fast

food worker), "Yeah, all the stuff on the metaphor is still true

(teacher as a tree).

Most, however, reported that while the basic concepts were still

relevant, they would like to extend the metaphor to included at least a

few new aspects as the following example illustrates,

[Teacher as fast food worker] I would probably encompass a few more

areas into it, areas I didn’t think about before we started teaching -

issues about working with other teachers and instead of just handing

them on to the next teacher, working with that teacher about the

student. I would probably expand our clarify some areas.

It is interesting to note that the two interviewed participants who

could not remember their metaphors were the only two who wanted to

change the focus considerably. One of the participants explained,

[Teacher as tour guide] In a very shallow kind of way it still fits.

I said I was a tour guide but I was more than a tour guide. I don’t

think on my pract that I was just showing the kids around. I don’t

think I understood what teaching was really about and what role you

really had in instructing the kids. It has definitely changed.

Expansion of the use of the metaphor

Some of the students voluntarily suggested that revisiting the metaphor

could be a valuable tool to assist them to reflect on "the bigger

picture." Others, when asked, agreed that it could be useful in part

because it focused on a different level than the very practical and

specific level to which they were accustomed during their practicums. A

participant explained his reasoning,

[Teacher as tour guide] It wouldn’t be a bad option to repeat the

process now that we have done it. Maybe it would give us a little more

focus, encapsulate our thinking, [help us to] develop some sort of

philosophy on teaching. I think it would be a good exercise now. And

even to reflect on the old one and draw comparisons and contrasts to

see what you have come and where you went to would be a worthwhile

activity.

Summary

The five main findings of this study are as follows: (a) themes could

be identified across participants’ work, (b) personally meaningful

metaphors were more likely to be remembered and impact beliefs, (c) the

creation of the metaphor assisted most participants to think about

their vision of the teacher, (d) participants reported that revisiting

the metaphor was useful in helping them think about what teaching meant

to them, and (d) metaphors were reported as useful for clarification,

to encourage a different type of reflection and helped participants

articulate how they were thinking about the teaching process.

Implications: Metaphors as a reflective tool

Four conclusions can be drawn from this study. First, the results

suggest that the creation of a teaching metaphor may be useful to help

preservice teachers conceptualise their beliefs about teaching and

learning. This finding supports findings from other studies that used

metaphors as a means for encouraging reflection (Marshall, 1990; Weade

& Ernst, 1990; Philion, 1990). Second, participants should be

encouraged to try to make the metaphors personally meaningful to them

in order that they have maximum impact. Third, the classification of

preservice teachers’ metaphors into themes may provide a useful

discussion point to assist preservice teachers to reflect on the

"bigger picture." Finally, revisiting the metaphors appeared to be an

essential aspect of the metaphor process if maximum benefits is to be

gained

Acknowledgment: Thanks to Jackie Davis for assistance in editing this

manuscript.

References

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teacher. This paper reports the findings from the analysis of the

teaching metaphors, in addition to describing the meaning ten

preservice teachers gave to their metaphor eighteen months after they

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