Based on the findings, what implications are there for literacy teacher educators?
This study has three educational implications. First, this study provides understanding of the perspectives for
practice that preservice teachers possess and for understanding the common ground upon which their professional
community rests. One suggestion is for teacher educators to solicit metaphors on the first or second day of the
semester. It is common to start each semester by having students identify their interests and other acquaintance
activities. By supplementing this activity by having students delve deep into their past educational experiences and
current beliefs to generate metaphors, literacy educators can tap into a cognitive resource that may explain much
about the group of students enrolled that semester.
The analysis of metaphors benefit research because “metaphors have not only instrumental value for selfreflection, anticipation, and communication, but also an important function as mind settings, which influence our
cognition of the self and the world” (Moser, 2000, p. 4). Metaphors are reliable, can be operationalized, and they
holistically represent a person’s knowledge and understanding. Teacher educators should identify their own
metaphors and openly share these with preservice teachers. This allows students to quickly and accurately
understand the instructor’s parameters, goals and methods (Finegan-Stoll, 2006), and engage in “communal
examination” of concepts (Parsons, Brown & Worley, 2004).
Second, by soliciting preservice teacher metaphors and then discuss [