PRE-SERVICE TEACHERS' PERCEPTIONS OF "ADMINISTRATION" AND "SCHOOL PRINCIPAL" REFLECTED THROUGH METAPHORS

This study aims to present pre-service teachers’ perceptions of “administration” and “school principal” reflected through metaphors; a purpose based on the fact that although they are trained in educational administration with only one course at university, pre-service teachers who are trained in the faculties of education constitute the group with the highest potential for becoming educational administrators in Turkish education system. The study group is the 4th grade (senior) university students who were chosen by means of criterion sampling method and who study at Preschool Teaching, Primary School Teaching, Social Sciences Teaching, Science Teaching, Music Teaching, Art Teaching, Psychological Counseling and Guidance programs at Adnan Menderes University. The criteria were the students’ year of education and the course of Turkish Education System and School Management they take during their higher education. In this study which is based on phenomenology research design, a written form was used as the data collection tool aiming the perception of pre-service students for administration and school principal through metaphors. After the content analysis of the data gathered through written forms, it has been found out that pre-service students have mostly positive perceptions of administration and school principal concepts and administration is perceived to a more authoritarian structure while school principal and administration are considered equal in terms of responsibility.