Abstract
<p>The aim of this cross-sectional study is investigate to what extent acquainted prospective Turkish teachers are with qualified works of children’s literature. A convenience sample of 146 university students studying at the Turkish teaching department at a university in the Central Black Sea Region completed a questionnaire to determine the qualified works of children’s literature about which the students knew. Firstly, books which were assessed as quality by students for primary and secondary school pupils were classified using frequencies and percentages. In the second stage of the analysis, appropriate books suiting the definition of quality books for children were selected according to Çer’s (2016a, 2016b) suggestions, and the foreknowledge levels of each student for quality books were determined. The Mann-Whitney U test and the Kruskal-Wallis H test were performed to examine gender and grade level differences in foreknowledge levels. Results of this study showed that the level of foreknowledge of Turkish prospective teachers about quality books for children for primary and secondary school students was quite low. Additionally, being female and grade level is associated with qualified works of children’s literature which the students knew. Such that, female prospective teachers significantly more acquainted with quality books for secondary school than males and the junior and senior students were significantly more acquainted with books for primary school than the freshmen and sophomore students. Senior students were also significantly more acquainted with books for secondary school than the freshmen, sophomore and junior students.</p>
Highlights
Works of children’s literature should present the reality of human beings and life to children with verbal and visual themes of artistic quality, which activate children’s worlds of emotion and ideas by an approach appropriate for their language development and their comprehension levels and which prioritizes their needs
This study showed that Turkish teacher candidates are not acquainted with appropriate books of literary quality for the developmental level of children at either the primary school level or secondary school level
The fact that the books that prospective teachers are acquainted with for primary and secondary school levels are Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Keloglan’s Tales, Gin Ali, Jokes of Nasreddin Hodja ve, La Fontaine’s Tales, ile Falaka [Bastinado], Kaşağı [Curry], Dede Korkut’s Stories, and Pollyanna shows that the teacher candidates are not well acquainted with quality books appropriate for the children’s developmental level, and ıt may indicate the educational problem in institutions training teachers, as well as the fact that children are always expected to read Turkish and world classics
Summary
Works of children’s literature should present the reality of human beings and life to children with verbal and visual themes of artistic quality, which activate children’s worlds of emotion and ideas by an approach appropriate for their language development and their comprehension levels and which prioritizes their needs. Considering the basic functions of these works, such as instilling in children the desire for and habit of reading, opening the gates of the world of literature by making them gain sensitivity and awareness for language, they are necessary instruments for children’s developmental processes. Works of children’s literature should give child readers the opportunity for learning about life and themselves and discerning the nature of humanity They should learn to use their senses to understand the aesthetic sides of visual qualities and language (Çer, 2016b, 2016c) because quality texts are supposed to render their lives meaningful by helping children develop emotionally and improve their thinking skills by presenting a visual and verbal world. They should learn to evolve socially; discern human relationships; and develop their experiences
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