Metaphors as a Vehicle for Exploring Preservice Teachers' Perceptions of Mathematics

Abstract

Many elementary preservice teachers begin our mathematics methods course anxious about learning and teaching mathematics. Students often approach us privately during the first week of class to talk about their past experiences. They explain that they dislike mathematics because they struggled in school or had poor mathematics teachers. Some express apprehension about the content of the course and ask questions such as, "Are we going to be doing much work with fractions or algebra?" Many of these students tell us that their anxiety began in elementary school. We often find that these anxious students are reluctant to participate in class, even though we model constructivist principles throughout the course by actively engaging the students in learning and encouraging oral and written discourse. Loewenberg Ball (1990, p. 12) states that "teachers, equipped with vivid images to guide their actions, are inclined to teach just as they were taught." Our challenge is to help preservice teachers confront their past experiences and anxieties about the teaching and learning of mathematics. If these are openly dealt with during their university education, fewer teachers may be content to teach just as they have been taught. To learn and to teach, one must have an awareness of leaving something behind while reaching toward something new (Greene 1995). This year, we tried a new approach to addressing mathematics anxiety issues. Our goal was to have students examine their past experiences as mathematics learners and begin to explore the impact of these experiences on their future teaching. This article describes the use of metaphors to explore perceptions of the learning and teaching of mathematics.