Abstract:

The purpose of this research is to determine the metaforic perceptions of tourism high school students towards the stage concept. For this purpose, the quality research method has been applied in the research and the illustrative research model has been adopted. As a data collection tool, two open end questions are used. The research work group consists of 3rd and 4th-class students from all high schools that provide tourism education in Turkey. The research was conducted throughout the 2017–2018 educational year and was conducted with the participation of 292 students studying in tourism high schools. According to the research, students produced 67 metaphors to express the concept of internship. The metaphors created by the students are gathered in three topics. These are negative, positive and both positive and negative perceptions. The study found that students perceived their internship experiences primarily negatively. Among these negative metaphors were the highlighted metaphors of "activity and slavery". As a result, students have associated their internship experience, which is believed to create a change of skills, knowledge and attitude for themselves, primarily with slavery and practicality.