The Metaphors of Teacher Candidates on Distance Learning

Abstract

This study aims to determine the metaphoric perceptions of candidate teachers of special education and candidate teachers of other departments on distance education. The phenemology pattern, which is a qualitative research method, was used for the study. The study group consists of 150 candidate teachers of special education and 150 candidate teachers of other departments, which is a total of 300 teacher candidates. The data of the research was collected using Google forms. In order to collect data for the study, the teacher candidates participating in the study were asked to complete the following sentences:‘Distance education is like ……………. because ………….’ The content analysis technique was used for analysing the data obtained. As a result of the analysis made, the metaphors created by teacher candidates in both groups on distance education were studied under different categories such as ‘living things-non living things, abstract-concrete metaphors, entertainment and needs’. The data obtained in the study reveals that candidate teachers of special education and candidate teachers of other departments have negative metaphors concerning distance learning, and they have created metaphors such as cold tea, homesickness, effort in vain and sin for distance education.