The purpose of this study was to investigate Finnish mathematics teachers’ beliefs about teaching and teachers as expressed through metaphors. Because teachers’ beliefs play a significant role in their teaching, it is important to recognize those beliefs. Metaphors provide insights into beliefs that are not explicit or consciously held. In this study we investigated what kind of metaphors Finnish mathematics teachers in different schools and in different stages of their careers use. This study focused on Finnish 7-9 grade mathematics teachers’ (n=70) metaphors about teacher. The metaphors were classified into five categories: teacher as a subject specialist, teacher as a pedagogue, teacher as a didactics expert, self-referential and contextual metaphors. Teacher as a didactic expert was the most frequently used metaphor (49%). The information gained from this metaphor analysis show teachers’ beliefs about themselves. Changing teachers’ beliefs can help to change teachers’ behaviours and in such way improve teaching and learning process.Peer reviewe
