Author(s): Edip TUT, Kasım KIROÄLU, Gözde BAYRAKTAR
In this study, it is aimed to reveal the perceptions of Syrian and Turkish students studying at state schools in Turkey towards the concepts of teacher and school through metaphors. This study has been conducted with 180 students in total, 90 of which are Syrian and 90 of which are Turkish students studying at the state schools in Turkey. An open-ended form has been created and used as the data collection tool of the study, in which students were asked to complete statements such as ’’A teacher is like a …., because ……’’ and ‘’A school is like a ….., because ……’’. The obtained data were analyzed through content analysis method. The results of the study suggest that the Turkish students produced 87 metaphors for the concept of teacher and 42 metaphors for the concept of school; the Syrian students produced 76 metaphors for the concept of teacher and 41 metaphors for the concept of school. It has been observed that the Turkish students view teachers as a ‘’source of information’’ whereas; the Syrian students view teachers as a member of their family or an individual from their immediate environment. Regarding the concept of school, it can be argued that the perceptions of both student groups are similar to one another. Both the Syrian students and the Turkish students associate school with home and accordingly produced metaphors. Furthermore, the metaphors created by the Turkish students focus on the positive aspects of both school and teachers, whereas; the Syrian students also produced metaphors on the negative aspects of school and teachers. This study is a first and possesses importance in that it reveals the metaphorical perceptions of the Syrian and Turkish elementary school students studying in Turkey towards the concepts of teacher and school and presents a comparison between them.
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