Physical education teachers' opinions and metaphoric perceptions from the gender perspective

The aim of this study is to delineate the viewpoints of physical education teachers regarding physical education lessons from a gender perspective. To achieve this, the attitudes and behaviors of teachers towards their students, their perspectives on sports and school athletes, and student behaviors have been elucidated through physical education teachers' opinions within the lens of gender. Additionally, the study sought to assess the metaphorical perceptions of physical education teachers regarding their female and male students. This qualitative study was designed as a case study employing qualitative research methods. Data were collected through individual interviews, and all analyses were segregated using qualitative data extraction techniques. 16 physical education teachers participated in the research, with 8 from state schools and 8 from private schools. The research employed an interview form composed of semi-structured questions developed by the researcher. In this form, there are 2 sections and 18 questions in total. According to the study's findings, it was observed that physical education teachers generally address their students using non-sexist terms such as kids, my son-daughter, or friends. However, participants noted that during conversations, they often felt compelled to treat female and male students differently in terms of tone, mannerisms, or speech patterns. This discrepancy appeared to stem from gender-based behaviors exhibited by the students. According to the teachers' expressions, currently, there is a trend where females are more inclined towards volleyball, while males show more interest in football. When assessed through a gender perspective, these statements were found to align with stereotypes associated with social role theory. Despite guiding male and female students equally based on their predisposition towards particular sports branches, teachers acknowledged differences in their approach when working with male and female students. Upon examining their descriptions of the ideal athlete image, it was noted that while teachers provided examples relevant to the sports they coached, they also tended to focus on the generic athlete appearance without displaying discriminatory behavior in terms of gender. However, there was a gender-based categorization of sports, distinguishing between those suitable for females and males. Furthermore, the study revealed that physical education teachers employed gender-biased expressions, parallel to the gender schema theory, in the language they used for female and male students based on their metaphorical perceptions. Eventually, although physical education teachers express an egalitarian view behaviorally and intellectually in terms of gender, it has been observed that male and female students feel the need to treat two different genders differently due to their gender-specific characteristics. It was determined that teachers also categorized sports by gender, and when they metaphorically expressed their male and female students, they used sexist concepts parallel to gender schema theory and social role theory.