EXAMINATION OF LESSONS OF CLASS TEACHERS ON PHYSICAL EDUCATION AND THE CONCEPT OF PLAY

Classroom teachers are the most important people who lay the foundation for education and prepare students for life during their school years. The curriculum requires that class teachers provide 1 (one) hour of physical activity every weekday as part of physical education and games classes. Our study was conducted with the aim of investigating classroom teachers’ perceptions of physical education and play lessons and the concept of play. The qualitative research method was used for the study. The study group was formed by teachers teaching in Bandırma district in Balikesir province in the school year 2021-2022. In the study, classroom teachers said, “Teaching sports and games... It is like...” and “The game is like... because...” collected through the metaphor form asking them to complete their expressions. The data were analyzed using the content analysis method. As a result of the analysis, 53 metaphors for physical education and play and 41 metaphors for the concept of play were produced. In the study of metaphors used by classroom teachers for the perception of physical education and play, the factors of “expectation and desire”, “rule”, “health, entertainment and comfort”, “physical agility”, “freedom” and “basic life” were categorized into themes. When metaphors for play perceptions were examined, they were categorized into themes such as “recreation factor,” “education factor,” “life/basic life factor,” “freedom factor,” “comfort factor,” and “health factor.” The study found that positive metaphors emerged when examining physical education and play metaphors and teachers’ concept of play.