Metaphors We Teach By (original) (raw)
Related papers
Eliciting metaphors from narratives of collaboration experiences with teachers in writing a textbook
Studies in English Language and Education
Collaboration of teacher educators with school teachers in developing lesson materials is paramount for professional development. A burgeoning of research on educator-teacher collaboration in writing a textbook, for instance, has existed; however, there is little attention to the narratives on the collaborators’ experiences through the metaphorical lens. Telling stories about collaborative experiences through the metaphorical lens can help understand the complexity of phenomena because thoughts are implicit and difficult to express. This study attempted to fill the void by analyzing the experiences of partnering with English teachers in developing the textbook of classroom action research (CAR). It involved stories of the researchers upon their collaborative writing experiences working with twelve primary school teachers in Aceh, Indonesia. In analyzing the collaborators’ experiences, this study drew upon Lakoff and Johnson’s Conceptual Metaphor Theory (CMT). Analyses of the collabo...
System, 1998
This article explores the uses of metaphor to express various perspectives about the concept of “teacher”. The metaphors came from student-written and teacher-composed narratives, interviews, articles and texts by education theorists and methodologists. A variety of metaphors emerged to describe teachers, especially language teachers, such as Teacher as Conduit, Teacher as Nurturer and Teacher as Competitor. This article exhibits different, often contradictory metaphors held about teachers, organizes them according to four major philosophical viewpoints, and shows how language teaching methods relate to these metaphors. Identifying and fully understanding these contrasting views can heighten “perspective-consciousness”, increase tolerance and understanding, and make the language classroom a more welcoming environment for students and teachers alike.Metaphor is the omnipresent principle of language. We cannot get through three sentences of ordinary discourse without it. (Richards, 1936)
Making sense of teaching through metaphors: a review across three studies
Teachers and Teaching, 2010
The purpose of this paper is to synthesize findings from three studies that have addressed the conceptualization and application of the metaphor construct to the study of teachers and teaching. We specifically examined the perspectives of elementary and secondary preservice teachers, how the particular metaphors indicated conceptualizations of and orientations to classroom life, and how metaphors influenced teachers' approaches to teaching, curriculum and their work with pupils. We frame the discussion in light of the larger literature on the relationship of beliefs and practices as it relates to learning to teach and teacher education. The paper provides implications for linking the research reported with contemporary ideas for teaching and teacher preparation.
What lies beneath teacher beliefs? A study on metaphoric perceptions
The purpose of this qualitative study is to examine the metaphors a foreign language teacher used to describe her teaching experience and the role she adopted. The study tries to follow the conceptualizations of an experienced EFL teacher in regard to her teaching experience and the role she adopted. The data for the present study were collected by means of metaphor elicitation sheet, interview, and diary. The data were collected every month over a period of 24 months. The results revealed that during the first period of data collection (12 months), the participant teacher developed 10 different metaphors with regard to the concept of “teacher”. The number of new metaphors developed in the second period of data collection (the second 12 months) was 7, most of which implied the democratic teacher. Even though the same metaphor was used at different times, the rationale behind using the same metaphor always yielded differences. Keywords Teacher beliefs; Teacher perceptions; Metaphor; ...
Reflecting on metaphors and the possibilities of language change in teaching and teacher education
The paper suggests that 'language change' might hold an important key to aspects of educational reform and to the betterment of teacher education. The language we identify as contributing the most to the ineffectiveness of educational reform is the educational language impregnated by psychologised metaphors, which dominate educational discourses-a language that utilises constructs (e.g. self, mind, cognition), as if those were 'things' located within an individual. We argue that psychologised language creates and uses metaphors for students and teachers that constitute obstacles to learning/knowing. Psychologised metaphors produce learning/ teaching 'technologies' that bring about subsequent practices that work against the declared school goals, while pathologizing individual minds and holding them responsible for departing from assumed universal patterns of normality. The paper suggests some alternative paths by proposing a different metaphor (learning as performance) and discussing its implications for teaching and teacher education.
The construction of teaching identity is an important factor in the success of teacher preparation programs and in the subsequent decision of teachers to remain in the field. The problem this study addressed is the need for a greater understanding among teacher educators and supervisors of the process of developing a teaching identity among student teachers. The purpose of this study was to determine if the construction of a teaching identity can be examined through an analysis of the multiple voices identified in the narrative accounts of student teachers, through analysis of documents such as their generative metaphors and reflective written work, and through on-site observations of their respective "professional knowledge landscapes." The results of this study support the position that the student teachers used narrative and metaphor to construct a teaching identity. By telling their teaching stories, the student teachers "authored" an identity for themselves through the "meaning making" of the narrative process. We found in this study that utilizing the Bakhtinian concepts of voicing, double voicing, and ventriloquation can serve as a useful heuristic device to analyze the process by which student teachers author a teaching identity by positioning their own voices in relationship to the multiple voices that populate their narratives. This way of looking at dialogical voices can serve as a useful tool for teacher educators and others interested in exploring the process by which teaching identities are constructed.
3L The Southeast Asian Journal of English Language Studies, 2018
Metaphor and metaphorical expressions are phenomena of interest in teacher education research and research on teacher identity. However, little attention has been given to teaching of English to young learners (TEYL) teachers' metaphorical expressions, and what these expressions might tell us about their identities and experiences. This study explores the metaphorical expression constructed by an experienced teacher to describe what it means to be a TEYL teacher in the ESL context. Data were gathered from semi-structured interviews, stimulated recall interviews, and a metaphor elicitation prompt: 'Who do you see yourself as a teacher?' The results revealed that while the metaphorical expression of 'mother' stands out as a concept that associates teaching with being nurturing, the teacher's enactment of other roles; projected as 'knowledge provider', 'law enforcer', and 'facilitator', is more strongly oriented to the behaviourist idea of teaching. These findings shed light on the role of identity in expanding the in-service teachers' perspective of teachers and teaching using selfconstructed metaphors. A major recommendation of this study is that teacher educators need to promote reflective practice in TESL teacher training to critically explore the concept of knowledge about self.
2016
This case study used metaphor analysis to gain insight on the conceptualizations of literacy informing six English Language Arts educators ’ understanding of the meaning and goals of U.S. literacy education today. While findings indicated literacy’s functional aspect as the most prominent metaphoric conceptualization employed, the teachers ’ use of alternate metaphors to highlight the value of literacy learning beyond its pragmatic outcomes suggests that U.S. literacy education reform may be out of step with the pedagogical goals teachers have for their students. The article concludes with a discussion of the pedagogical implications suggested by the study findings. It is important to see that we don’t just talk about arguments in terms of war. We can actually win or lose arguments. We see the person we are arguing with as an opponent. We attack his positions and we defend our own. … Though there is no physical battle, there is a verbal battle, and the structure of an argument refle...
Teaching and Teacher Education, 2007
Examination of prospective teachers' beliefs about teaching and learning on entry to teacher education programs, and tracking the development of these beliefs in light of academic and field-based experiences, is a critical task for teacher educators. The study examines metaphor construction as a tool to gain access to, and promote the development of, prospective teachers' beliefs through the incorporation of reflective activities that integrate academic and field-based experiences. Specifically, this research examines how metaphorical representations of preservice elementary teachers' in the United States and Europe changed and examines the factors influencing the development of beliefs and the modification of metaphors. r