Perceptions of Primary School Teacher Candidates towards the Turkish Education System, School, Teacher, and Student: A Metaphor Analysis

Abstract

This study aimed to determine the perceptions of primary school teacher candidates about the Turkish education system, school, teacher, and student concepts by means of metaphors. The study group consisted of 82 primary school teacher candidates enrolled in the senior class of a university in the Black Sea Region in Turkey in 2018. The study data were collected using a questionnaire which involved gap filling questions aiming to determine the metaphors for the Turkish education system, school, teacher, and student. Findings indicated that the majority of the primary school teacher candidates had a negative perception of the Turkish education system. More than half of the negative metaphors that the participants used were about the unceasing change of the system. Primary school teacher candidates' perceptions of the school concept were mostly positive. The participants saw school as a home that educates and shapes people. Nevertheless, a considerable number of the participants considered school like an oppressive and uniformizing prison, where they would not like to be. Majority of the primary school teacher candidates had positive perceptions of the teacher concept. Nonetheless, there were neutral and negative perceptions as well. The participants mostly emphasized the educating and shaping characteristics of the teacher concept in their descriptions. Although primary school teacher candidates’ perceptions of student were generally positive, a student description, in which student was seen passive in the learning process and highlighted as an entity that can be shaped, stood out.