Background/Purpose: This study is based on the literature addressing teaching metaphors or views of teaching. It took place during the implementation of an active/healthy school initiative therefore survey items and questions were geared toward classroom content and active/healthy behavior content. The purpose of this study was to examine classroom teachers' metaphors about teaching in a Native American setting. Methods: K-12 teachers (N=20) in the SW USA completed a metaphor questionnaire similar to Alger (2009) that provided reliable scores (alpha=.80) in this sample. Teachers also participated in interviews about their personal teaching metaphors and trustworthiness measures were used (search for negative cases/data triangulation/peer reviewer). There were male (n=9) and female (n=11) mostly Caucasian (60%) or Native American (30%) teachers.
Analysis/Results: Teachers reported that before entering the profession they viewed teaching as Nurturing/Molding (65%). Now most teachers viewed teaching as Guiding/Molding/Providing Tools (70%). Teachers' views of teaching physical activity/healthy behavior content were similar to metaphors for traditional classroom content. Similar to Alger's work, current teachers often viewed teaching as guiding/molding/providing tools; however, they reported that they wished teaching could be like “engaging in the community”. Teachers' attributed changing metaphors to the naitivity of new teachers and the influence of context on practice. As one teacher described, "I was more of an idealistic, theoretical point of view...[current metaphor] You do the best you can, but there's always going to be some outside influences that limit what you can do."
Conclusions: These findings offer potential insights into understanding teacher practice and improving professional development.