Filipino Pre‐service Education Students' Preconceptions of Teacher Roles Viewed through a Metaphorical Lens

Abstract

Premised on the belief that students who enter teacher education programs bring with them a schema of teaching which serves as reference points for understanding new experiences, this study explored Filipino pre‐service teachers' preconceptions on teacher roles through a metaphorical lens, with 125 sophomore and junior students from a comprehensive university in the Philippines as its subjects. Data came from actual drawings and written explanations, which were done by the subjects to represent their ideas on what a teacher is. Each subject was allowed time to show his/her work to a group and to discuss it orally. The metaphoric images were listed, tallied, analysed and categorised to show meaningful patterns and themes. Results showed that preconceptions converged into five clusters: knowledge source, direction‐setter, character formatter, change agent and learner. Metaphors used were predominantly instructivist or teacher‐centered, with some emerging constructivist or learner‐centered leanings. The study offered possible explanations for these preconceptions, and their implications on teacher education programs.