A Phenomenological Study: Students' Thinking on Wolf Cult in Turkish Culture

Abstract

Wolves have become a terrifying and hazardous symbol animal of wildlife, particularly in America, Europe and Scandinavian countries. Western-originated narratives and cartoons about wolves affect students' perception of wolves. In recent years, studies have been focused on the importance of wolves on the ecosystem and efforts have been made to determine the students' perception of wolves and to turn them into positive direction with the education system. Our mission in this study is to determine the perceptions of children in the Turkish world on wolves. To this end, the Turkish World is divided into three main regions. The first region covers Anatolia and its surroundings, Turkey, Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, the area inhabited by Caucasus, Balkans, Syria, Iran and Iraqi Turks. The second region contains the area inhabited by Tatar, Bashkir, Chuvash, Uzbek, Kazakh, Kyrgyz, Turkmen and Uyghur Turks. The third and last region has been identified the area where the Altai, Tuva, Khakas, Yakut, Shor and Teleut Turks live. Qualitative data were collected from a total of 200 students from all three regions. Also, it has been seen that epics and folk beliefs about wolf which have a significant place in Turkish mythology have been effective in developing the positive attitude of students towards wolves.