Are Children’s Picture Books Concerned with Single-Parent Appropriate to the Turkish Sociocultural Context?

Abstract

This study aimed to explore the opinions of the preservice teachers about the children’s picture books related to single-parent families. A total of 61 preservice teachers majoring in English Language Arts participated, and the data were collected with semi-structured interviews. The data of the research were analyzed using a content analysis method. The trustworthiness of the present study was increased by using peer debriefing and member checking methods. The research findings showed that the preservice teachers who participated in the study liked the children’s picture books, but were not sure whether they were appropriate to read these books to students. In addition, the participants criticized the books in terms of cultural and peritextual features, content and diverse family structures. Most of the participants did not find the books appropriate to the Turkish cultural context and noted that they would not read the books in their future classrooms. More research related to this topic needs to be conducted in order to shed light on the underlying reasons of the results obtained from the present study