METAPHORIC PERCEPTIONS OF 7TH GRADE STUDENTS ABOUT THE CONCEPT OF “CITIZEN”: THE CASE OF DIYARBAKIR PROVINCE

The objective of the present study was to determine the perceptions of 7th grade junior high school students about the concept of "citizen" through metaphors. The study is a descriptive study, since it aimed to present a situation as is. The mixed research method was used in the study. The study group included 150 students attending the 7th grade in 4 junior high schools in 3 districts in the Diyarbakir urban center during the 2016-2017 academic year fall semester. In the study, data were collected with forms that included fill-in-the-blanks such as “'Citizen' is like ............, because…….” and a survey form that included open ended questions about student demographics. The qualitative dimension of the data obtained in the study was analyzed by content analysis method. The quantitative dimension of the personal data on the students was analyzed with SPSS 21 software (frequencies, percentages and arithmetic mean). Chi-square test was conducted to determine whether the metaphors developed by the students on the concept of citizen differed based on the "household income" variable. Study findings demonstrated that students produced 59 valid metaphors on the concept of "citizen". Most perceptions in the concept of "citizen" concentrated on the "fraternity" metaphor. These metaphors were then grouped under seven conceptual categories, which were examined based on their common characteristics. The categories were as follows: protection, meronymy, solidarity, diversity, representation, governance, and negative statements. It was determined that there was no statistically significant difference between the identified metaphors based on the " household income" variable.