Abstract
This study examined elementary preservice teachers’ beliefs about the role/image of a science teacher and science teaching and how these beliefs change during an elementary science methods course; this examination was conducted through an analysis of their metaphor writing. Data included personal metaphors and rationale papers for supporting them collected from 106 participants at the start and end of the semester. Data were analyzed using the constant comparative method and also quantified for statistical analysis. Results indicate that most participants came to the course with traditional views and developed more constructivist views during the course. However, they tended to keep their traditional views and added new constructivist perspectives into their original belief systems. This study suggests that metaphor writing can be used as both a reflection tool for preservice teachers to clarify and refine their beliefs about science teaching and learning and a diagnostic assessment tool for teacher educators to understand their students for tailoring a methods course accordingly.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bendixen LD, Hofer BK, Pintrich PR (2002) A process model of epistemic belief change. In: Hofer BK, Pintrich PR (eds) Personal epistemology: the psychology of beliefs about knowledge and knowing. Lawrence Erlbaum, Mahwah, pp 191–208
Brickhouse NW (1989) The teaching of the philosophy of science in secondary classrooms: Case studies of teachers’ personal theories. International Journal of Science Education 11:437–449
Bryan LA (2003) Nestedness of beliefs: examining a prospective elementary teacher’s belief system about science teaching and learning. Journal of Research in Science Teaching 40:835–868
Carlson TB (2001) Using metaphors to enhance reflectiveness among preservice teachers. Journal of Physical Education and Dance 72:49–53
Charmaz K (2000) Grounded theory: objectivist and constructivist methods. In: Denzin NK, Loncoln YS (eds) Handbook of qualitative research, 2nd edn. Sage, Thousand Oaks, pp 509–535
Clark C (1988) Asking the right questions about teacher preparation: Contributions of research on teacher thinking. Educational Researcher 17(2):5–12
Cobb P (1994) Where is the mind? Constructivist and sociocultural perspectives on mathematical development. Educational Researcher 23:13–20
Feldman A (2002) Multiple perspectives for the study of teaching: Knowledge, reason, understanding, and being. Journal of Research in Science Teaching 39:1032–1055
Glaser BG, Strauss AL (1967) Discovery of grounded theory. Sociology Press, Mill Valley
Grossman PL, Wilson SM, Shulman LS (1989) Teachers of substance: subject matter knowledge for teaching. In: Reynolds MC (ed) Knowledge base for the beginning teacher. Pergamon, New York, pp 23–36
Kagan DM (1992) Professional growth among preservice beginning teachers. Review of Educational Research 62:129–169
Lakoff G, Johnson M (1980) Metaphors we live by. University of Chicago Press, Chicago
Llewellyn D (2007) Inquire within: implementing inquiry-based science standards in grades 3-8. Corwin Press, Thousand Oaks
Marshall HH (1990) Metaphor as an instructional tool in encouraging student teacher Reflection. Theory Pract 29:128–132
McGrath I (2006) Using insights from teachers’ metaphors. J Educ Teach 32:303–317
Munby H, Russell T (1990) Metaphor in the study of teachers’ professional knowledge. Theory Pract 29:116–121
Northfield J, Gunstone R, Erickson G (1996) A constructivist perspective on science teacher education. In: Treagust DF, Duit R, Fraser BJ (eds) Improving teaching and learning in science and mathematics. Teachers College Press, New York, pp 201–211
Pajares FM (1992) Teachers’ beliefs and educational research: cleaning up a messy construct. Rev Educ Res 62:307–332
Prawat RS (1992) Teachers’ beliefs about teaching and learning: a constructivist perspective. Am J Educ 100:354–395
Richardson V (1996) The role of attitudes and beliefs in learning to teach. In: Sikula J (ed) Handbook of research on teacher education. Macmillan, New York, pp 102–119
Ritchie SM (1994) Metaphor as a tool for constructivist science teaching. Int J Sci Educ 16:293–303
Russell T, Munby T (1989) Science as a discipline, science as seen by students and teachers’ professional knowledge. In: Miller R (ed) Doing science: images of science education. Falmer Press, London, pp 107–125
Saban A, Koçgeker BN, Saban A (2006) An investigation of the concept of teacher among prospective teachers through metaphor analysis. Theory Pract 6:509–522
Schön DA (1983) The reflective practitioner: how professionals think in action. Basic Books, New York
Schön DA (1987) Educating the reflective practitioner: toward a new design for teaching and learning in the professions. Jossey-Bass, San Francisco
Sillman K, Dana T (1999) Metaphor: a tool for monitoring prospective elementary teachers’ developing metacognitive awareness of learning and teaching science. Paper presented at the annual international conference of the National Association for Research in Science, Boston, MA
Strauss A, Corbin J (1990) Open coding. In: Strauss A, Corbin J (eds) Basics of qualitative research: grounded theory procedures and techniques, 2nd edn. Sage, Thousand Oaks, pp 101–121
Tobin K (1990) Changing metaphors and beliefs: a master switch for teaching? Theory Pract 29:122–127
Tobin K, Ulerick SJ (1989) An interpretation of high school science teaching based on metaphors and beliefs for specific roles. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, San Francisco, CA
Treagust DF, Duit R, Fraser BJ (1996) Overview: research on students’ preinstructional conceptions—The driving force for improving teaching and learning in science and mathematics. In: Treagust DF, Duit R, Fraser BJ (eds) Improving teaching and learning in science and mathematics. Teachers College Press, New York, pp 1–16
Vygotsky LS (1986) Thought and language. MIT Press, Cambridge
Weade R, Ernst G (1990) Pictures of life in classrooms, and the search for metaphors to frame them. Theory Pract 29:133–140
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Seung, E., Park, S. & Narayan, R. Exploring Elementary Pre-service Teachers’ Beliefs About Science Teaching and Learning as Revealed in Their Metaphor Writing. J Sci Educ Technol 20, 703–714 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10956-010-9263-2
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10956-010-9263-2