Motivation levels of gifted students and their metaphorical perceptions of school

Abstract

The aim of this study is to analyze the school motivation levels of gifted students and their metaphorical perception of school. For this purpose, quantitative and qualitative approach was used as the mixed method. The sample for both methods consisted of 96 gifted students at secondary school level. For quantitative data, School Motivation Scale was used and the students were also asked to form their metaphors about school as the qualitative data collection tool. Based on the descriptive statistics of School Motivation Scale, scores which indicated +/-1 standard deviation from mean and the metaphors of these students were compared depending on their motivation levels. The metaphors formed were collected under three main headings; positive metaphors, negative metaphors and neutral metaphors. According to the results, students who had high school motivation score stated mostly positive metaphors about school. The students who had low school motivation score tend to state mostly negative metaphors. Key words: Gifted students, Metaphor, mixed method, school motivation.