RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN METAPHORS, BELIEFS, AND ACTIONS IN A CONTEXT OFSCIENCE CURRICULUM CHANGE

This study is an interpretive investigation of Sarah, a first-time tea cher of middle- and high-school science who, because of high levels of disruption, was unable to establish and maintain environments favorab le to learning. Sarah reflected on her roles as a teacher and identifi ed facilitating learning, management, and assessment as salient, each being associated with defining metaphors and belief sets. Sarah's effo rts to improve her teaching began with the construction of a new metap hor, the social director, for her role as manager. She developed coher ence between the new metaphor and beliefs about constructivism, teachi ng, and learning. Sarah then managed her class in accordance with the social director metaphor and, although improvements were apparent, som e students were uncooperative. Sarah then changed her metaphor for ass essment from the teacher being a fair judge to the teacher looking thr ough a window into a student's mind, an opportunity for students to sh ow what is known. When this metaphor guided Sarah's assessment practic es the learning environment improved appreciably. Although the develop ment of new metaphors was a significant part of the process of reconce ptualizing her roles as a science teacher, Sarah could not have improv ed the quality of teaching and learning without substantial assistance from her colleagues and school administrators.