Abstract:

The aim of this study is to determine the perceptions of middle school students towards solidarity through metaphors. The research group of the study consists of 260 middle school students who are studying at a middle school located in the city center of Kutahya province in 2017-2018 academic year. The study purposing to reveal the metaphors of middle school students towards solidarity has been carried out by using qualitative research, was designed as a basic qualitative research. In the research where participation depended on voluntariness, 56 survey forms which were out-of-purpose were left out of assessment and the analyses were performed with 204 valid forms. According to the findings obtained, 73 different metaphors towards the concept of solidarity were produced by the students. The metaphors produced were categorized under 4 themes and 2 sub-themes. These are respectively: 1. Share Dependent Solidarity, 2. Cooperation Dependent Solidarity, 3. Solidarity as Fraternity (a. Solidarity as National Fraternity, b. Solidarity as a Community), Solidarity as a Complementary Element (Unity). At the end of the study, it has been concluded that 78.4% of the students are able to explain the concept of solidarity by metaphors and the theme in which the largest number of metaphors were produced is cooperation dependent solidarity.

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