Metaphors and Methods

Abstract

It is widely understood that the development of a teacher identity for individuals transitioning into teaching is important, and therefore substantial research has been produced looking at teacher identity development. Much of this research is conducted using the possible selves theory as its framework. Nevertheless, with the self and identity being widely interpreted concepts with no consentaneous definition, researchers lean on metaphorical language at times to semantically represent the meaning of the future selves. This chapter reviews contemporary literature, discussing how different metaphors used to talk about the self, influence the methodological choices made within the study. Different types of metaphors used led to a heavier emphasis on either the integrative, temporal, or dynamic nature of the possible selves theory.