Candidate Primary School Teachers' and Primary School Teachers' Metaphorical Perceptions about Teaching and Mathematics Teaching

Abstract

The primary goal of this study is to identify the metaphors primary school teachers and candidate teachers use to describe teaching and mathematics teaching. The second goal is to highlight the parallels and discrepancies between metaphoric themes related to teaching and those related to mathematics teaching. A study in phenomenological design—one of the qualitative research methods—was conducted with this goal in mind. The study involved 121 primary school instructors and 84 undergraduate primary school teaching students. The researcher's own questionnaire form was used to electronically gather the data. After conducting a content analysis of the data, themes were developed. Four (4) themes for candidate teachers and six (6) themes for teachers were created from the metaphors provided for the concept of teaching. Six (6) themes for instructors and four (4) topics for potential teachers were created from metaphors about mathematics teaching. It is believed that certain teaching metaphors and metaphors for mathematics teaching are influenced by prior knowledge, some by teaching material, and some by experience. The fact that the teachers—as opposed to the candidate teachers—created metaphors about mathematics teaching around the themes of "A Field of Instruction with Rich Solutions" and "A Field that Requires Variety in Teaching Methods and Techniques"—suggests that teachers' opinions on the subject evolve as they gain more practical knowledge. It is advised that prospective primary school teachers be offered training in related courses to help them form views about teaching and mathematics teaching in light of the research's findings.