Metaphors of Reading and Teaching Reading - Adult and College Educators’ Readerly and Teacherly Identities

Oct 15, 2026

The study explores implicit models of reading that shape curriculum and instruction in adult and postsecondary developmental reading contexts. Using a qualitative, metaphor-based approach, it examines faculty conceptualizations of reading through linguistic metaphors. Forty-six reading education professionals completed an online survey offering open-ended or prescribed metaphor options. Metaphor analysis identified conceptual metaphor categories, revealing notable differences between participants’ readerly identities and teacherly identities.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages18

Reading Time45 min

AccessFree to download

Abstract

Metaphor Analysis

ADULT LITERACY EDUCATION Summer 2021 | [http://doi.org/10.35847/DShaw.SArmstrong.AAlejandro.SYoung.AWeyan.3.2.4](http://doi.org/10.35847/DShaw.SArmstrong.AAlejandro.SYoung.AWeyan.3.2.4) | | | --- | --- | | | Research Article | Metaphors of Reading and Teaching Reading: Adult and College Educators’ Readerly and Teacherly Identities Donita Shaw, Oklahoma State University Sonya L. Armstrong, Texas State University Adam J. Alejandro, Texas State University Shelley Martin-Young, Oklahoma State University Abby Weyen, Oklahoma State University Abstract The purpose of this study was to explore possible implicit models of reading that drive curriculum and instruction in adult and postsecondary developmental reading contexts. This qualitative investigation explored faculty conceptualizations of reading via linguistic metaphors. Forty-six reading education professionals completed an online survey that gave two options for describing Reading and Teaching Reading: create an elicited metaphor through an open-ended statement or choose from a prescribed list of metaphors. Using metaphor analysis procedures, we identified conceptual metaphor categories. Results indicated interesting differences within the conceptualizations of these participants’ readerly identities compared to their teacherly identities. Keywords: metaphor, conceptualizations, reading Almost a decade ago, Miller et al. (2010) wrote about the advances as well as the challenges that remain in adult literacy research, with a specific focus on adult learners. This is but one part of the equation, however, as a scholarly focus on adult literacy educators is equally important. A key emphasis within this area is on educator beliefs, which have “an implicit influence on a teacher’s practice”(Mishima et al., 2010, p. 769) and therefore directly impact the learner experience. In a review of literature on adult educators’ beliefs, we discovered that instructors partially built their conceptual framework based on curriculum documents, while their personal beliefs, attitudes, and values were a much more significant influence in their instruction and decision-making (Kendall & McGrath, 2014). Similarly, Chapman and McHardy (2019) interviewed 19 adult reading teachers to understand their perspectives on why their adult students had reading difficulties. They discovered Correspondence: [donita.shaw@okstate.edu](donita.shaw@okstate.edu) 4 four origins for the teachers’ beliefs: the teachers’own personal experiences; their experiences as a teacher; their knowledge about teaching reading; and their knowledge about reading frameworksand theory. Although these and other recent studies show how important one’s beliefs are to teaching, thereis limited inquiry in this area, and particularly so within the realm of adult literacy. This focus on instructor beliefs is especially valuable to adult literacy education because prior research has shown a deficit orientation in adult literacy (Perry et al., 2017) that centers on basic skills instruction perhaps to the detriment of other more contextualized aspects of literacy (Perry et al., 2017). Further, understanding how instructors conceptualize reading and teaching reading may lead to more productive and critical professional development that may nudge teachers toward identifying gaps between what they believe about reading versus how they are actually teaching reading. With these gapsin mind, the present study was designed to contribute to the existing knowledge on adult and college literacy educators’ beliefs. Metaphor Analysis In the present study, teachers’ conceptualizations were gathered through the use of metaphor analysis. Metaphor analysis is a methodological approach that is still relatively new to U.S.-based studies within literacy education. Even so, metaphor analysis studies in other forumsand in other fields have demonstrated the utility of providing this methodological tool for explorations of student and e

FAQs

What is the main purpose of the study?

The study examines implicit models of reading that drive curriculum and instruction in adult and postsecondary developmental reading contexts.

How were participants’ views of reading gathered and analyzed?

Forty-six professionals completed an online survey that prompted metaphor descriptions, which were then analyzed using metaphor analysis procedures to identify conceptual metaphor categories.

What key finding emerged from comparing readerly and teacherly identities?

The results indicated meaningful differences in participants’ conceptualizations of their readerly identities compared to their teacherly identities.

Oct 15, 2026

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