Metaphorical Perceptions of Elementary Mathematics Pre-service and In-service Teachers on Various Concepts

The aim of this research is to determine the metaphorical perceptions of elementary mathematics pre-service and in-service teachers about the concepts of teacher, student, teaching mathematics, and mathematics curriculum. The research is important in terms of comparing the perceptions of prospective teachers and teachers, giving clues about the functioning of undergraduate education, and revealing the difficulties experienced by mathematics teachers in the first year of the profession. The study is a phenomenological research. The research data were collected from 43 participants including 17 teacher candidates and 26 teachers in 2016-2017 academic years. Purposeful sampling was used in the selection of participants for sampling and the data were collected through a form consisting of open-ended questions. In the analysis of the data, content analysis technique was used. It has been determined that the metaphors produced by teachers and prospective teachers are different and the results are discussed in the light of the inferences about the teacher education programs and the process of teacher training system.