Examination of elementary teacher candidates' perception of the concept of philosophy through metaphor analysis

The purpose of this study is to determine the perceptions of elementary teacher candidates with regards to philosophy. For this purpose, metaphors have been utilized as qualitative data collection tools. Metaphors developed by 67 teacher candidates have been subjected to content analysis and separated into 11 categories. Teacher candidates consider philosophy to be important in our lives. Together with this, metaphors developed by teachers demonstrate that there are problems in the perception of the concep of "philosophy". Emphasis should be put on philosophy education in primary education and teacher education. (C) 2012 Published by Elsevier Ltd. Selection and/or peer review under responsibility of Prof. Dr. Huseyin Uzunboylu