Distance Education During the Covid-19 Pandemic: Metaphorical Beliefs of Turkish Teachers

Abstract

This is one of the first studies to look at beliefs through metaphors created by teacher working at Turkish schools about the concept of “distance education during Covid-19 pandemic”. The study sample consisted of 120 teachers who were currently working in 27 different provinces of Turkey. Participants were recruited using convenience sampling. The current study utilizes an interpretative phenomenological approach to gain insights into distance education period. The data were collected through a semi-structured form and qualitative content analysis was used to analyze the data. Teachers produced 44 different metaphors (85 in total). These metaphors were grouped under categories according to common qualities. The conceptual categories were ranked based on their frequency. The findings indicated that the categories for distance education were “Distance education as one-way activity, distance education as a simulation, distance education as temporary service, distance education bad experience, distance education as a survivor, distance education as a vain activity, distance education as transition, distance education as mutual activity.” The following suggestions are based on the results: Teachers’ metaphoric perceptions of distance education should be used to develop better policies to implement during emergency times. Possible causes of negative metaphors should be addressed to reform distance education policies. To investigate the principles of distant education, future studies should employ diverse research methodologies and recruit larger groups of participants from other places. Future studies should focus on mainly students’ perceptions or other stakeholders to attain larger audiences.