Imagining and re-imagining our students and ourselves: Using metaphor to story the experiences of teacher candidates and teacher educators

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of this chapter is to examine how the exploration of metaphors of learning and teaching can contribute to the professional development of teacher candidates and teacher educators.

Approach – The chapter draws on the author's experiences as a teacher and teacher educator to illustrate ways in which metaphors of teaching offer deeper understandings of the personal and social dimensions of teaching and teacher education practices.

Findings – Metaphors and other artifacts by the author and teacher candidates are examined to illustrate how metaphors have been be used to story experience in teacher education.

Research implications – Imagining and re-imagining metaphors provide a solid foundation for the preparation and development of teachers. Engaging teacher candidates in the identification and development of their metaphors of learning and teaching contributes to their development into teachers able to understand the experiences of their students and adapt their teaching to enhance student learning. The exploration of metaphor can also help teacher educators to better understand their professional identities and practices.

Value – Teacher educators are uniquely positioned to help teachers explore how their teacher images inform practice and to analyze these images to enhance personal professional knowledge and teaching practices.

Citation

Kitchen, J. (2011), "Imagining and re-imagining our students and ourselves: Using metaphor to story the experiences of teacher candidates and teacher educators", Kitchen, J., Ciuffetelli Parker, D. and Pushor, D. (Ed.) Narrative Inquiries into Curriculum Making in Teacher Education (Advances in Research on Teaching, Vol. 13), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 109-128. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1479-3687(2011)00000130009