Prospective Teachers’ Metaphorical Perceptions of "School, Teacher, Principal and Superintendent"

Abstract

Research on prospective teachers' perceptions and descriptions of the essential education concepts helps to determine their educational viewpoint before starting the profession. In this study, it is aimed to reveal and analyse the metaphorical perceptions of prospective teachers about the concepts of school, teacher, principal, and superintendent. The study is planned in a basic qualitative research design. Participants of the study were 95 students attending to Selcuk University in the 2021-2022 academic year. Participants were recruited by using convenience sampling. Data were collected by using an open-ended questionnaire form and were analysed by content analysis technique. A total of 358 metaphors related to the concepts of school, teacher, principal, and superintendent were produced by teacher candidates. Of these, 91 were related to schools, 103 to teachers, 89 to principals and 75 to superintendents. Findings showed that the metaphors reflect both positive and negative perceptions about the concepts. Prospective teachers often used positive metaphors for the concept of school, teacher, and principal. However, it was noted that the metaphors reflecting negative connotations for the concept of superintendent were relatively more.