Metaphors of special education and classroom teachers about teaching professi̇on and students

In this study, it is aimed to determine what the metaphorical perceptions of special education and classroom teachers are towards the concepts of profession and their students. The research was organized in the case study pattern, which is one of the qualitative research techniques. The universe of the research consists of all classroom and special education teachers working in public schools affiliated to the Ministry of National Education in the 2020-2021 academic year. The study group consists of classroom and special education teachers working in the provinces of Amasya and Tokat, selected from this universe. While obtaining the study group of the research, criterion sampling, which is one of the non-random sampling methods, which is included in the purposive sampling method and which meets certain predetermined criteria, is studied. Valid answers given by 324 classroom teachers and 45 special education teachers were used in the study. A structured metaphor form developed by the researcher was used as a data collection tool. In the form, "My job is similar/like to .......... because;..........." and "Student is similar to .......... because they were asked to complete the statements according to their own thoughts. Content analysis was applied to the data obtained from a total of 369 valid responses. The data were interpreted by turning them into themes, codes and frequency tables. As a result; It has been observed that primary school teachers prefer the categories of "Teacher as a guide" at least, "Teaching as a student-dependent profession", and "Student as a recipient of information" and at least "Student as a person who is trained and shaped" about their students. According to the answers given by special education teachers, the results are; Regarding their profession, the category of "Teacher as a guide" was the most preferred category, while the least preferred categories were "Teaching as a valuable profession", "Teaching as a student-dependent profession" and "Teaching as a profession of sacrifice".It has been observed that special education teachers prefer the category of "Student as a valuable asset"At least, it was seen that he preferred the categories of "Student as a reflector of knowledge", "Student as a recipient of knowledge", "Student as a person who is trained and shaped." While the category most preferred by classroom and special education teachers regarding their professions is common, there is a similarity in the category they prefer least. In the categories obtained in the results of the metaphors about their students, it was concluded that while there was no similarity in the most preferred category, there were similarities in the least preferred categories. Keywords: Metaphor, Classroom teaching, Special education, Perception of occupation, Student