An analysis of middle school students' perceptions of enviromentally friendly schools through their drawings

In this study, it was aimed to describe the mental perceptions of the middle school students participating in the study about the concept of environmentally friendly school by asking them to design environmentally friendly schools in their dreams. In line with this purpose, the study seeks to answer the question "How the mental perceptions of are middle school students about the concept of environmentally friendly school and how did they reflect it on their drawings?". In determining the study group of this study, in which phenomenology (phenomenology) design, one of the qualitative research methods, was used, maximum diversity sampling, one of the purposeful sampling methods, was used. The study was conducted in the 2024-2025 academic year with secondary school students studying in public schools in different geographical regions (Central Anatolia Region, Black Sea Region, Marmara Region, Southeastern Anatolia Region, Mediterranean Region, Eastern Anatolia Region). The study group consisted of 303 students (163 female, 140 male). In the study, the drawings created by the students constituting the study group about "environmentally friendly school" and their expressions about their drawings were used as data collection tools. The students' drawings and their expressions explaining their drawings were analyzed by content analysis. In the light of the findings obtained as a result of the research, students' ideas about the concept of environmentally friendly school were categorized under nine themes. These themes are waste management, energy, saving, air, water, sound, food, environment and school design. As a result of the study, it was also determined that students made creative designs, preferred environmentally friendly behaviors and reflected more local environmental problems in their drawings. It is thought that this study will complete the gap in the related literature and shed light on future studies.