Abstract:

The aim of this qualitative study is to examine and interpret Turkish pre-service teachers’ perceptions of social entrepreneurship through metaphors. Answers to the questions “How do pre-service teachers perceive and express social entrepreneurship through metaphors?” and “Under which conceptual categories could the metaphors be collected” were sought accordingly. The study group consisted of 130 pre-service teachers at Necmettin Erbakan Üniversitesi Ahmet Keleşoğlu Eğitim Fakültesi (Faculty of Education), Konya, Türkiye. Data were collected through semi-structured, individual interviews and were analysed by qualitative content analysis. 66 metaphors in relation to social entrepreneurship were categorized as ‘Personal characteristics’, ‘Social and solidarity characteristics’, ‘Innovative characteristics’, ‘Working, producing and functional characteristics’ and ‘Other’. Additionally, 57 positive features related to How to Become a Social Entrepreneur were classified into 4 categories: "Having Affective Characteristics", "Skills Needed as a Social Entrepreneur", "Social Relations, Social Environment and Team Building", "Entrepreneurial Process Planning and Implementation".

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