The methaphorical descriptions of elementary school students and their teachers about success, failure and fear of success and of failure

This research aims to explicit the metaphorical descriptions of elementary school students and their teachers about success, failure, and fear of success and of failure. In this research with qualitative methodology, the phenomenological design was used. The data were obtained from the teachers teaching in four elementary schools in Kütahya and from their students in the 2019-2020 academic year. The study group consisted of eight elementary school teachers and 48 elementary school fourth grade students. The Teacher Interview Schedule and the Student Interview Schedule were developed by the researcher to collect the data. Semi-structured interview schedules developed based on the literature were finalized by being subjected to expert review and pilot study. In order to collect data, focus group interviews were conducted with students and individual interviews with teachers, and all interviews were audiotaped. Content analysis was performed to analyze the data obtained through interviews. As a result of the research, elementary school teachers attributed the meanings of "happiness", "responsibility" and "attention" to the phenomenon of success, while elementary school students attributed the meanings of "the result of effort", "happiness" and "persistence" to the phenomenon of success. It was understood that elementary school teachers attributed the meanings of "avoidance of responsibility" and "the reason for the loss of vitality" to the phenomenon of failure, while elementary school students attributed the meanings of "academic inadequacy", "the cause of fear", "feeling incomplete", "the result of disinterest / irresponsibility", and "the cause of unhappiness". According to elementary school teachers, the fear of success meant "not wanting to be more successful", "the result of high expectations", "the result of wrong parental attitudes", and "a non-existent feeling", while according to elementary school students, it meant "the worry about making mistakes", "the fear of being abandoned and being alone", "a non-existent feeling", and "a painful feeling". Elementary school teachers and students interpreted the fear of failure as "the cause of the inferiority complex" and "the fear of failing and of keeping failing". Psychosocial support attracted more attention among elementary school teachers' suggestions for overcoming the fear of success and of failure. Keywords: Success, failure, fear of success, fear of failure, metaphorical description, elementary school