Metaphorical perceptions of prospective EFL teachers related to Turkish education system

This study aims to determine prospective teachers' perceptions on the basic concepts of the education system in terms of its inputs, processes and outputs through metaphors. Phenomenological analysis was used. The participants were senior students from Gaziantep University, English Language Teaching (ELT) department and pedagogic formation program students from the English Language and Literature (ELL) department. The data were collected by asking about metaphorical perceptions related to the concepts of student, parent, school, school principal, curriculum, teaching materials, principles and methods of teaching, assessment and evaluation, ethics, class management, success and graduate students. Content analysis was employed for analysis. Teacher candidates produced 528 valid metaphors related to 13 concepts of education system. Out of these, 269 metaphors were positive, 109 were negative and 150 were related to basic features of education system. While 34 prospective teachers from ELL department produced 338 metaphors, 18 prospective teachers from ELT department produced 190 metaphors. The perceptions of teacher candidates in both groups were similar in terms of teacher, student, parent, school principal, teaching materials, ethics, and success. While ELL department students identified the concepts of school and graduate more positively, ELT department students described curriculum and classroom management more positively.