"A Physical Education Teacher Is Like...": Examining Turkish Students Perceptions of Physical Education Teachers Through Metaphor Analysis

Abstract

The aim of this study was to determine middle school students' perceptions of physical education teachers (PETs) through metaphors and drawings. This was a qualitative study in which phenomenology and purposeful sampling were used. The study sample consisted of 200 middle school students in Ordu/Turkey in the 2017-2018 and 2018-2019 academic years. For data collection, participants were asked to fill in the blanks in the statement "The PET is like______ because ______" and to draw a picture reflecting their perceptions of physical education teachers. Data were analyzed using content analysis. The steps of data analysis were naming, elimination, categorization, establishing validity and reliability, calculating the frequencies of metaphors and interpreting the drawings. Expert opinion was also used in the elimination and categorization steps. Participants' metaphors and drawings were grouped under 20 and 13 categories, respectively. Participants mostly generated metaphors under the categories of "PET as an athletic and physical force" (16%), "PET as a good person" (12.5%) and "PET as a guide" (9.5%). Participants mostly drew pictures under the categories of "PET as an athletic and physical force" (18.5%), "PET as a helpful person" (12.5%) and "PET as a good person" (11.5%). Participants' perceptions of PETs did not differ by variables considered.

Ortaokul Öğrencilerinin Beden Eğitimi Öğretmenlerine Yönelik Metaforlarının İncelenmesi

“…Aykaç (2012) found that most secondary school students made very positive drawings to express what they thought about their teachers. Most of our participants also positively portrayed PETs in their drawings, which is consistent with the results reported by Sözen and Korur (2019). Overall, most of our participants had a favorable perception of PETs as they regarded them as caring, funny, talented, hardworking, and strong mentors.…”

“…The second and third categories with the highest number of metaphors were "PETs as sources of information" (7.8%) and "PETs as fun people" (7.8%), respectively. Sözen and Korur (2019) also found that most secondary school students (n = 200) generated metaphors that portrayed PETs as athletic and physically strong (16%) and good people (12.5%) who guided them to the right path (9.5%). In general, research shows that students perceive teachers in a positive fashion (Kalyoncu, 2012).…”

“…There was no significant difference in the frequency of positive and negative metaphors between male and female participants (Table 1), which is consistent with the literature Karaşahinoğlu, 2015;Şengül, Katrancı & Cantımer, 2014). Sözen and Korur (2019) reported that female students generated more negative metaphors than males but that the difference was statistically insignificant. Köksal and Görücü (2015) also found no gender effect on seventh graders' (n = 393) metaphors for a physical education class, which is probably because seventh graders are in a developmental period where gender does not yet affect their perceptions.…”

The Range of the physical Education Importance Perception From the Views of Normal and Gifted Students Views

“…On the other hand, sports activities enable students to improve a comprehensive healthy lifestyle. Moreover, it particularly encourages children to participate effectively in the physical activity (Sozen & Korur, 2019). Besides that, Sports activities play a significant and prominent role in improving students' personality, through improving the self and the self-confidence concept, as well as the concept of preparedness, social responsibility, patience, and bravery (Țifrea et al, 2016).…”

“…While the importance of sports activities from a social point of view is less important. And the results of the (Sozen & Korur, 2019) study showed that sports activities which depend on sports skills that provide students with healthy lifestyles and healthy awareness.…”