Abstract
In this paper, we report an analysis of metaphors used by three science teachers in their classroom discourse and consider the implications of this research for the image of science that students are likely to construct. Teacher beliefs about the nature of science are implicit and entrenched and may be contrary to both contemporary philosophies of science and constructivist theory. We argue that the presence of metaphors such ateaching as a journey, knowledge as object andteacher as pathfinder in teachers' classroom discourse signify the implicit existence of a powerful objectivist epistemology that governs teachers' pedagogies. If students are to construct contemporary views of the nature of science and if constuctivist pedagogy is to develop in the science classroom then science teachers need to reflect on their use of these role-determining objectivist metaphors.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Baker, D, & Taylor, P. C. S. (in press). The effect of culture on the learning of science in non-Western countries.International Journal of Science Education.
Burian, R. M. (1984). Scientific realism and incommensurability: Some criticisms of Kuhn and Feyerabend. In R. S. Cohen & M. W. Wartofsky (Eds.), Methodology, metaphysics and the history of science.Boston Studies in Philosophy of Science, 84, 1–31. Dordrecht: Reidel.
Black, M. (1962).Models and metaphors: Studies in language and philosophy. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.
Clark, C. M. & Peterson, P. L. (1986). Teachers' thought processes. In M. C. Wittrock (Ed.),Handbook of research on teaching (3rd ed.) (pp. 255–296). New York: Macmillan.
Cobern, W. (1992). Contextual constructivism: The impact of culture on the learning and teaching of science. In K. Tobin (Ed.),The practice of constructivism in science education (pp. 51–69). Washington DC: American Association for the Advancement of Science Press.
Denzin, N. K. (1988). Triangulation. In J. P. Keeves (Ed.),Educational research, methodology, and measurement: An international handbook (pp. 511–513). Sydney: Pergamon Press.
Driver, R. (1988). Theory into practice II: A constructivist approach to curriculum development. In P. Fensham (Ed.),Development and dilemmas in science education (pp. 121–149). London: The Falmer Press.
Driver, R. (1990, April).Constructivist approaches to science teaching. Paper presented at Seminar Series ‘Constructivism in Education’, University of Georgia.
Driver, R. & Bell, B. (1986). Students' thinking and the learning of science: A constructivist view.School Science Review, 67, 443–455.
Duit, R. (1991). On the role of analogies and metaphors in learning science.Science Education, 75, 649–672.
Erickson, F. (1986). Qualitative methods in research on teaching. In M. C. Wittrock (Ed.),Handbook of research on teaching (3rd ed.) (pp. 119–160). New York, NY: Macmillan.
Feyerabend, P. (1975).Against method. London: Verso.
Gardner, P. (1984). Circular motion: Some post-instructional alternative frameworks.Research in Science Education, 14, 136–145.
Johnson, M. (1987).The body in the mind. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Karmiloff-Smith, A. (1988). The child is a theoretician not an inductivist.Mind and Language, 3, 183–195.
Kuhn, T. S. (1970).The structure of scientific revolutions (2nd ed.). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Lakoff, G. & Johnson, M. (1980).The metaphors we live by. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Larochelle, M. & Désautels, J. (1991). ‘Of course, it's just obvious: Adolescents’ ideas of scientific knowledge.International Journal of Science Education, 13, 373–389.
Mahoney, M. J. (1989). Participatory epistemology and psychology of science. In B. Gholson, W. R. Shadish, R. A. Neimeyer, & A. C. Houts (Eds.),Psychology of science: Contributions to metascience (pp. 138–164). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Mathison, S. (1988). Why triangulate?Educational Researcher, 17(2), 13–17.
Milne, C. E. (1993).The pedagogical implications of teacher personal philosophies of science in the school science classroom: An interpretive study. Unpublished masters thesis, Science and Mathematics Education Centre, Curtin University of Technology, Australia.
Nadeau, R. & Désautels, J. (1984).Epistemology and the teaching of science. Ottawa: The Publications Office, Science Council of Canada.
Ortony, A. (1979). Metaphor: A multidimensional problem. In A. Ortony (Ed.),Metaphor and thought (pp. 1–16). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Osborne, R. (1985). Teachers of science as educational researchers: The learning in science project.Australian Science Teachers Journal, 31(2), 14–21.
Phillips, D. C. (1992).The social scientist's bestiary: A guide to fabled threats to, and defences of, naturalistic social science. Oxford: Pergamon Press.
Popper, K. R. (1979).Objective knowledge: An evolutionary approach. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Posner, G., Strike, K., Hewson, P., & Gertzog, W. (1982). Accommodation of a scientific conception: Toward a theory of conceptual change.Science Education, 66, 211–227.
Reddy, M. J. (1979). The conduit metaphor—A case of frame conflict in our language about language. In A. Ortony (Ed.),Metaphor and thought (pp. 284–324). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Silverman, M. P. (1989). Two sides of wonder: Philosophical keys to the motivation of science learning.Synthese, 80, 43–61.
Solomon, J. (1983). Messy, contradictory and obstinately persistent: A study of children's out-of-school ideas about energy.School Science Review, 65, 225–229.
Solomon, J. (1987). Social influences on the construction of pupils' understanding of science.Studies in Science Education, 14, 63–82.
Taylor, P. C. S. (1992).An interpretive study of the role of teacher beliefs in the implementation of constructivist theory in a secondary school mathematics classroom. Unpublished doctoral thesis, Science and Mathematics Education Centre, Curtin University of Technology.
Taylor, P. C. S. (1993). The influence of researcher beliefs on constructivist teaching practice. In K. G. Tobin (Ed.),The practice of constructivism in science education (pp. 267–297). Washington, DC: American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Taylor, P. C. S. (1994, March).Establishing a critical discourse on cultural myths that shape the reality of the science classroom. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the National Association for Research in Science Teaching, Anaheim, CA.
Tobin, K. (1990). Social constructivist perspectives on the reform of science education.Australian Science Teachers Journal, 36(4), 29–35.
Tobin, K. (1991).Referents for the science curriculum. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the National Association for Research in Science Teaching, Lake Geneva, Wisconson.
Tobin, K. (1993). Referents for making sense of science teaching.International Journal of Science Education, 15, 241–254.
von Glasersfeld, E. (1984). An introduction to radical constructivism. In P. Watzlawick (Ed.),The invented reality (pp. 17–40). New York: W. W. Norton & Company.
von Glasersfeld, E. (1989). Cognition, construction of knowledge and teaching.Synthese, 80, 121–140.
von Glasersfeld, E. (1992). Questions and answers about radical constructivism. In K. Tobin (Ed.),The practice of constructivism in science education (pp. 23–28). Washington DC: American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Milne, C., Taylor, P.C. Metaphors as global markers for teachers' beliefs about the nature of science. Research in Science Education 25, 39–49 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02356459
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02356459