A study on social studies teachers' perceptions of metaphors concerning digital privacy

This study aims to determine social studies teachers' metaphorical perceptions of the digital privacy. 150 social studies teachers took part in this study, which was structured in a qualitative research. A survey form developed by the researcher was used to collect the data, and content analysis was used to analyze the data. In addition, MAXQDA 2022, one of the qualitative research software programs, was used to prevent data loss and concretize the findings. It was determined that the social studies teachers who participated in the study produced metaphorical connection between digital privacy and home, private life, and confidentiality in their metaphors. It was found that the participants' perceptions of digital privacy were primarily related to the main category of "space and place." When the metaphors produced by the participants regarding digital privacy are examined from a gender perspective, it is seen that women associate digital privacy with the main categories of "freedom" and "confidentiality", while male participants associate it with the "private sphere". In this respect, we can say that female participants care more about "confidentiality" compared to men. The metaphors produced indicated a different tendency according to their marital status. While single participants produced metaphors such as "treasure, memory, temple", married participants produced metaphors expressing "responsibility and obligation". In addition, married participants also associated metaphors involving privacy and security. It was determined that the metaphors produced by the social studies teachers were related to the main categories of space and place, objects and belongings, and life, regardless of age level. It has been observed that privacy, especially the main category, is given more importance at various age levels. When the metaphors produced by the participants are examined in terms of education level, a differentiation can be noted. While undergraduate participants produced metaphors about individual life, the metaphors produced by graduate-level participants were mostly related to the concept of secrecy.