Pre-Service Preschool Teachers' Views and Metaphorical Perceptions Towards Distance Education in The Covid-19 Pandemic Process

Abstract

The Covid-19 pandemic process, in which some courses are given online, and some courses are given remotely, have undoubtedly deeply affected pre-service preschool teachers as well as other students. In this sense, the findings of studies that determine the views and perceptions of all stakeholders affected by the distance education system are still of great importance in terms of taking measures to change these perceptions. The focus of this study is on pre-service preschool teachers. The main difference that distinguishes the current study from other studies is that it aims to comprehensively understand the perspectives of pre-service preschool teachers by addressing their metaphorical perceptions and views on distance education. In this study, phenomenology design was used. The study group of the research consisted of 150 pre-service teachers studying at Afyon Kocatepe University-Türkiye, Department of Early Childhood Education in the fall semester of the 2020-2021 academic year. Content analysis technique was used to analyze the views and metaphorical perceptions of pre-service preschool teachers towards distance education in the Covid-19 pandemic process. As a result, while most of the pre-service teachers used negative metaphors to describe the compulsory distance education process due to the pandemic, fewer pre-service teachers used positive metaphors. Considering the results of the findings obtained in the study, it is recommended to increase the efficiency of education by including practices that increase intrinsic motivation in order to prevent the loss of motivation of faculty members and students in order to increase the efficiency in the distance education process.