How was the Internship? Internship Experience of Secondary Education Students in Tourism

Abstract

This study aims to depict the metaphorical perceptions of students in tourism vocational high schools. Accordingly, we benefited from the qualitative method and employed descriptive research model. The data were collected via an open-ended questionnaire consisted of two questions. The participants of the study are high school students 3rd and 4th grade in Turkey. The questionnaire was distributed to students through 2017- 2018 fall semester and the total sample was 292. The students generated 67 metaphors to Express training experience in total. The metaphors were classified in three themes. These are, namely, positive, negative, and mixed perceptions (perceptions work both ways). The study identified that the majority of the students perceive the training experience with negative qualities. The prominent metaphors were “construction work” and “slavery”.