Perceptions of pre-service teachers about teacher professional ethics course through metaphors

Abstract

The aim of this study is to determine the perceptions of pre-service teachers towards teacher professional ethics course. The research was carried out with 138 pre-service teachers attending pedagogical formation training certificate program a public university in Turkey. In the study, a phenomenological method was used within the scope of qualitative research model. A semi-structured form with open-ended questions was used as a data collection tool to reveal pre-service teachers' perceptions of teacher professional ethics course. In this form, the pre-service teachers were asked to complete the sentence "the teacher professional ethics course is like ......; because ......". The results obtained from the pre-service teachers' responses were analyzed using content analysis technique. Based on these metaphors and the content analysis, the validity-reliability of the categories were shared with 3 faculty members who specialize in the field of metaphors and category lists. After expert opinions, non-overlapping metaphors were determined and the final shape was given. As a result of the research, it was found out that the pre-service teachers mostly expressed the compass and light metaphors from the metaphors they produced for the teacher professional ethics course. Based on their, “the course guiding students” category is the most commonly expressed metaphor among the categories formed in common characteristics. According to the pre-service teachers, teacher professional ethics course guides people in the right direction. As a result of the research, it was noted that pre-service teachers were able to express their own specific attitude and in-depth thinking abilities to express their perceptions about the subject.