Shifting from one lesson to another, shuffling lessons into units, sifting through pieces of paper and packets--is this the work of a teacher? Is a teacher merely a technician, a manager of time and space?
(Picture above taken from a Brody Hall dorm room window.)Metaphor in one's imagination or in the cultural imagination has power. Lakoff and Johnson (1980) in Metaphors We Live By suggest that our conceptual system is metaphoric in nature: "Our concepts structure what we perceive, how we get around in the world, and how we relate to other people."
Is "teacher" an intellectual? a philosoper? an artist? an activist?
Is "teacher" a social service agent? a guardian of knowledge? a change agent?
Is "teacher" a role model? a coach? a facilitator? a tutor? a public servant?
How do teachers see themselves? How does the public see them? Each of these identifiers would privilege or limit certain behaviors or perceptions. It is our contention that if teacher identity could be clarified by the teacher education community, there would be greater purpose and power for this profession. Because the purpose of public schools have steadily expanded over the century and half of its existence, so have purposes of the teacher, thus diluting and distracting from a generative concept of teacher.
We would like to know what "teacher" means to you. No, this is NOT an essay contest. :) Any insights, experiences, readings, questions, or visions you could share with us would help us to explore this complication.
Thank you!
Lucia Elden, Mark Helmsing, Zachary Hunter
High school and college language arts and social studies teachers
