Exploring Nature Worldviews in Environment-themed Children's Books Across Cultures

Date

2024-6-24

Author

Üzüm, Sabiha
Başer, Ceren

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The current study aimed to examine whether the cultural context in which children's storybooks were written, along with the environmental themes they addressed, can predict the worldview towards nature conveyed by these storybooks. With this aim, 33 children's storybooks concerning environment were published in Turkiye for three- to six-year-old children and analyzed. In the analysis, the storybooks are deductively coded by two researchers in terms of the country they originally published, the environmental themes they carried on, and the worldview towards nature they conveyed. The data was analyzed employing binary logistic regression analysis. The study revealed that the worldview towards nature that the storybooks conveyed was related to the culture they had originally written. In that, the children's storybooks, initially written in individualistic cultures, conveyed a more anthropocentric worldview towards nature. In contrast, the storybooks from collectivistic cultures conveyed a more non-anthropocentric worldview towards nature. Moreover, it was revealed that the storybooks concerned biodiversity were the most common theme focused in children's storybooks; therefore, more likely to provide insight into worldviews towards nature than the other environmental themes concerned in children's storybooks. Thus, diversifying the environmental themes discussed and including more non-anthropocentric worldviews in children’s storybooks from countries with an individualist culture may contribute to children's recognition and understanding of nature and environmental problems, and respect for the integrity of nature as a part of it.Keywords:children’s storybooks, culture, environment, worldview towards natureIntroduction

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https://hdl.handle.net/11511/109623

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Department of Elementary and Early Childhood Education, Conference / Seminar