UNESCO (2015) and other development partners are proposed that by 2030, all governments ensure that all learners are taught by qualified, professionally-trained, motivated and well-supported teachers, who use inclusive, gender-responsive and participatory pedagogical approaches to ensure effective learning outcomes (UNESCO Position Paper on Education Post-2015, 2014). Physical education is the most effective means of providing all children and youth with the skills, attitudes, values, knowledge and understanding for lifelong participation in society (The Declaration of Berlin, 2013).

Teachers are a key element in a child’s learning environment (UNICEF, 2013) and the key role teachers play for societal change (Education for Change - Change for Education, 2015).  Teachers are encouraged to choose contents, situations, materials and a methodology to raise awareness and create learning opportunities. Physical education teachers` education underlines the important role of Quality Physical Education in promoting individuals’ rounded development, particularly in terms of inclusive practices, current societal changes related to health, and the importance of encouraging participation in a healthy, active lifestyle (QPE Guidelines for policy makers, UNESCO, 2015). 

Teacher’s quality should be an overall concept that comprises not only knowledge and skills, but also personal qualities - such as respect, care, courage, empathy, and personal values, attitudes, identity, beliefs, etc. – making quite evident the tight link between quality and teacher professional identity (Tateo, 2012). Identity is a socially and culturally constructed self that is formed during the life course by lived experiences and by talking about these experiences with oneself (inner speech) and with others (Swennen, Volman & Essen, 2008). Professional identity as social identity is one of the aspects of individual self-concept that is constructed in the social context through dialogue between self and external reality (Hermans & Dimaggio, 2007). From teacher’s perspective, this can be characterized by the sentence “You teach by who you are” (ICET, 2008). Metaphors is the mental structures reflecting individuals’ self-related beliefs, emotions and thoughts by means of which they understand and act within their worlds (Eren, Tekinarslan, 2013). Metaphors reveal teachers` educational values, beliefs and principles (Gillis, Johnson, 2002) and mirror teachers grow as professionals.

The aim of the study is to explore differences in the metaphors chosen by physical education pre-service and in-service teachers’. 

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