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The aim of this paper is to propose a research tool in the field of education--the "metaphorical collage." This tool facilitates the understanding of concepts and processes in education through the analysis of metaphors in collage works that include pictorial images and verbal images. We believe the "metaphorical collage" to be an important research tool that enables both researcher and research participant to understand children's worldview in regards to concepts in the field of education. The collage permits the use of expressive language in order to describe the question under investigation. The researcher has the ability to interpret the meaning of the events in which people are involved, and he is also capable of evaluating their educational significance. It is the researcher who is equipped with the requisite ability, sensitivity, and experience for conducting research by means of the "metaphorical collage." With the help of the collage, the educational situation is grasped, and its meaning is interpreted.

This research was designed to examine how early-childhood educators pursuing their graduate degrees perceive the concept of happiness, as conveyed in visual representations. The research methodology combines qualitative and quantitative paradigms using the metaphoric collage, a tool used to analyze visual and verbal aspects. The research population included 32 students from various locations in Israel. The findings revealed that the concept of happiness is perceived as love, spirituality and emotions. In their collages, approximately half of the participants represent happiness as a list of separate and fragmented components such as children, health etc., while others attempted to find connections and relations in order to achieve a more profound view of happiness. Although the majority of the participants experience happiness as something intangible, they did not perceive academic studies and learning processes as a component of happiness.