Journal of Pedagogical Sociology and Psychology
Teaching death in Türkiye: The theme of death in illustrated children’s books
Hüseyin Öztürk 1 * , Evren Erzen 2
More Detail
1 Faculty of Education, Tokat Gaziosmanpaşa University, Tokat, Türkiye
2 Faculty of Education, Kırşehir Ahi Evran University, Kırşehir, Türkiye
* Corresponding Author
Open Access Full Text (PDF)
ARTICLE INFO

Journal of Pedagogical Sociology and Psychology, 2023 - Volume 5 Issue 3, pp. 28-46
https://doi.org/10.33902/jpsp.202319688

Article Type: Research Article

Published Online: 20 Oct 2023

Views: 380 | Downloads: 228

ABSTRACT
The aim of this study is to determine how the theme of death in preschool children’s literature is perceived by preschool teachers. For this purpose, four children’s books were examined by nine preschool teachers and their opinions were recorded. The research was carried out with a qualitative approach in accordance with the phenomenological research design. The examined books were evaluated in terms of the treatment of the mourning process, the treatment of the concept of death and formal characteristics. The results showed that the preschool teacher’s personal perceptions, prejudices, feelings and thoughts, apart from the scientific criteria, play a significant role in the handling of the books on the subject of death. On the other hand, it was seen that there is no consensus on the transfer of taboo topics such as death by the preschool teachers with correct and scientifically valid methods. For this reason, experimental studies can be planned and effective teaching methods can be developed on the teaching of taboo subjects, especially death, to preschool children. It can be argued that more research is needed to identify the sources of perceptions of teachers who play a leading role in teaching taboo topics to children, and according to the results of this study, they should receive more professional training on teaching taboo topics.
KEYWORDS
death children literature teachers’ opinions death education perception of death
In-text citation: (Öztürk & Erzen, 2023)
Reference: Öztürk, H., & Erzen, E. (2023). Teaching death in Türkiye: The theme of death in illustrated children’s books. Journal of Pedagogical Sociology and Psychology, 5(3), 28-46. https://doi.org/10.33902/jpsp.202319688
In-text citation: (1), (2), (3), etc.
Reference: Öztürk H, Erzen E. Teaching death in Türkiye: The theme of death in illustrated children’s books. Journal of Pedagogical Sociology and Psychology. 2023;5(3), 28-46. https://doi.org/10.33902/jpsp.202319688
In-text citation: (1), (2), (3), etc.
Reference: Öztürk H, Erzen E. Teaching death in Türkiye: The theme of death in illustrated children’s books. Journal of Pedagogical Sociology and Psychology. 2023;5(3):28-46. https://doi.org/10.33902/jpsp.202319688
In-text citation: (Öztürk and Erzen, 2023)
Reference: Öztürk, Hüseyin, and Evren Erzen. "Teaching death in Türkiye: The theme of death in illustrated children’s books". Journal of Pedagogical Sociology and Psychology 2023 5 no. 3 (2023): 28-46. https://doi.org/10.33902/jpsp.202319688
In-text citation: (Öztürk and Erzen, 2023)
Reference: Öztürk, H., and Erzen, E. (2023). Teaching death in Türkiye: The theme of death in illustrated children’s books. Journal of Pedagogical Sociology and Psychology, 5(3), pp. 28-46. https://doi.org/10.33902/jpsp.202319688
In-text citation: (Öztürk and Erzen, 2023)
Reference: Öztürk, Hüseyin et al. "Teaching death in Türkiye: The theme of death in illustrated children’s books". Journal of Pedagogical Sociology and Psychology, vol. 5, no. 3, 2023, pp. 28-46. https://doi.org/10.33902/jpsp.202319688
REFERENCES
  • Agrawal, J. (2019). What do preschool children in India understand about death?: An exploratory study. Omega Journal of Death and Dying, 83(2), 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1177/0030222819852834
  • Alpöge, G. (2015). I miss my grandfather. Kök Publishing.
  • Austin, K., Theakston, A., Lieven, E., & Tomasello, M. (2014). Young children’s understanding of denial. Developmental Psychology, 50(8), 2061–2070. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0037179
  • Öztürk, H. (2022). Problem oriented children’s literature and death theme. TYB Academy, 34, 105–140.
  • Erzen, E., & Ozabaci, N. (2023). Effects of personality traits, social support and self-efficacy on predicting university adjustment. Journal of Education, 203(2), 353-366. https://doi.org/10.1177/00220574211025059
  • Aytekin, H. (2008). Death theme in childrens’ literature. Selçuk University Journal of the Institute of Social Sciences, 20, 89–102.
  • Başaran, M., Çelik, N., Abide, F., & Aytar, G. (2021). An analysis of illustrated children’s books in terms of negative elements. Hazi University, Gazi Faculty of Education, 41(2), 1247–1272.
  • Bildik, T. (2013). Death, loss, grief and complicated grief. Ege Journal of Medicine, 52(4), 223–229.
  • Brookshire, J., Scharff, L. F. V., & Moses, L. E. (2002). The influence of illustrations on children’s book preferences and comprehension. Reading Psychology, 23(4), 323–339. https://doi.org/10.1080/713775287
  • Canan, S. (2019). İnsanın fabrika ayarları İFA-1: Beden [Human's factory settings İFA-1: Body]. Tuti Kitap.
  • Clement, L. (2014). Death and the empathic embrace in four contemporary picture books. Bookbird: A Journal of International Children’s Literature, 51(4), 1–10. https://doi.org/10.1353/bkb.2014.0018
  • Cohen, S., & Wills, T. A. (1985). Stress , social support , and the buffering hypothesis. Psychological Bulletin, 98(2), 310–357. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.98.2.310
  • Çolaklar, H. (2019). External structure criteria of pre-school children’s books in Bartın Public Library: Evaluation according to spelling, language, form and content characteristics. Information Management, 2(2), 145–168. https://doi.org/10.33721/by.643555
  • Creswell, J. W. (2007). Qualitative inquiry & research design: Choosing among five approaches. Sage.
  • Delisle, R. G., & Woods, A. S. (1976). Death and dying in children’s literature: An analysis of three selected works. Language Arts, 53(6), 683–688.
  • Dillon, D. H., & Brassard, M. R. (1999). Adolescents and parental aids death: The role of social support. Omega, 39(3), 179–195. https://doi.org/10.2190/MGMR-UB6W-CNYL-3UB0
  • Dunn, E. A. (2011). Talking animals: A literature review of anthropomorphism in children’s books [Unpublished master's thesis]. University of North Carolina, North Carolina.
  • Durmuşoğlu, K., & Ataman, K. (2018). From sacred to secular: A sociological analysis on the changing perception of death. Journal of Theology Faculty of Bülent Ecevit University, 5(1), 123–149.
  • Duval, D. K. T. (2018). Children’s representations of death: A thematic and visual discourse analysis of children’s drawings in a Mexican primary school [Unpublished master's thesis]. Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden.
  • Fraenkel, J. R., Wallen, N. E., & Hyun, H. H. (2012). How to evaluate research in education. The McGraww Hill.
  • Gibson, L. R., & Zaidman, L. M. (1991). Death in children’s literature: Taboo or not taboo? Children’s Literature Association Quarterly, 16(4), 232–234. https://doi.org/10.1353/chq.0.0855
  • Güleç, H., & Gönen, M. (1997). The study of Turkish illustrated story books published between 1974-1993, from the viewpoint of physical aspects. The Journal of Turkish Librarianship, 11(1), 42–53.
  • Gutiérrez, I. T., Menendez, D., Jiang, M. J., Hernandez, I. G., Miller, P., & Rosengren, K. S. (2020). Embracing death: Mexican parent and child perspectives on death. Child Development, 91(2), 491–511. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.13263
  • Hennefield, L., Diana J. Whalen, Wood, G., Chavarria, M. C., & Luby, J. L. (2019). Changing conceptions of death as a function of depression status, suicidal ideation, and media exposure in early childhood. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 58(3), 339–349. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaac.2018.07.909
  • Hest, A. (2018). My old pal, Oscar. Abrams Books.
  • Holmgren, H. (2021). Navigating the gap: Children’s experiences of home and school life following maternal death. Journal of Family Issues, 43(5), 1139–1161. https://doi.org/10.1177/0192513X211022
  • Jalongo, M. R., Dragich, D., Conrad, N. K., & Zhang, A. (2002). Using wordless picture books to support emergent literacy. Early Childhood Education Journal, 29(3), 167–177. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1014584509011
  • Janicki Deverts, D., Cohen, S., & Doyle, W. J. (2017). Dispositional affect moderates the stress-buffering effect of social support on risk for developing the common cold. Journal of Personality, 85(5), 675–686. https://doi.org/10.1111/jopy.12270
  • Karasu, S., & Yalçınkaya Alkar, Ö. (2020). A qualitative investigation on the mourning period that occurs after the loss of pets. Journal of Turkish Veterinary Medic Al Society, 91(2), 86–97. https://doi.org/10.33188/vetheder.646796
  • Kazdin, A. E. (2011). Single case research designs: Methods for clinical and applied settings. Oxford University Press.
  • Kenyon, B. L. (2001). Current research in children’s conceptions of death: A critical review. OMEGA - Journal of Death and Dying, 43(1), 63–91. https://doi.org/10.2190/0x2b-b1n9-a579-dvk1
  • Kim, M. (2002). Korean kindergarten teachers’ attitudes toward death and death education for young children [Unpublished doctoral dissertation]. Teachers College, Columbia University, Columbia.
  • Kırcalı, E. (2020). The predictors of grief: Past experiences, emotion regulation, resilience, social support and coping skills (Publication no. 613097). [Master’s thesis, Baskent University]. Council of Higher Education Thesis Center.
  • Koçin, A. (2003). The reality of death it’s effect on Turkish culture and Anatolion Turkish poetry. Uludağ University Faculty of Arts and Sciences Journal of Social Sciences, 5, 135–160.
  • Koocher, G. P. (1973). Childhood, death, and cognitive development. Developmental Psychology, 9(3), 369–375. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0034917
  • Körükçü, Ö. (2012). An analysis of preschool education illustrated children’s books in terms of necessary qualities. Trakya University Journal of Social Science, 14(2), 243–254.
  • Kwaśniewska-Paszta, S. M. (2022). Death in children’s literature against the background of selected child and childhood discourses. Society Register, 6(2), 109–132. www.orcid.org/10.14746/sr.2022.6.2.06
  • Lee, J. S., Kim, E. Y., Choi, Y., & Koo, J. H. (2014). Cultural variances in composition of biological and supernatural concepts of death: A content analysis of children’s literature. Death Studies, 38(8), 538–545. https://doi.org/10.1080/07481187.2014.899653
  • Markell, K. A. (2010). Educating children about death-related issues. In C. Corr & D. Balk (Eds.), Children’s encounters with death, bereavement, and coping (pp. 239–3010). Springer.
  • Martinčeková, L., Jiang, M. J., Adams, J. D., Menendez, D., Hernandez, I. G., Barber, G., & Rosengren, K. S. (2018). Do you remember being told what happened to grandma? The role of early socialization on later coping with death. Death Studies, 44(2), 78–88. https://doi.org/10.1080/07481187.2018.1522386
  • Ministry of National Education [MoNE]. (2021). Milli Eğitim istatistikleri: örgün eğitim 2020/2021 [National Education statistics: formal education 2020/2021]. Author.
  • Moore, J., & Moore, C. (2010). Talking to children about death-related issues. In C. A. Corr & D. E. Balk (Eds.), Children’s encounters with death, bereavement, and coping (pp. 278–292). Springer.
  • Moore-Mallinos, J. (2008). I remember. B.E.S Publishing.
  • Moss, J. P. (1972). Death in children’s literature. Elementary English, 49(4), 530–532.
  • Neuman, L. W. (2011). Social research methods: Qualitative and quantitative approaches. Allyn & Bacon.
  • Nicholson, J. I., & Pearson, Q. M. (2003). Helping children cope with fears: Using children’s literature in classroom guidance. Professional School Counseling, 7(1), 15–19.
  • Ninon, M. (1993). Violence in children’s literature today (ED399935). ERIC.
  • Özkan, S. (2015, May). Okulöncesi dönemde çocukta ölüm kavramı ve yas döneminde öğretmen yaklaşımı [The concept of death in children in the preschool period and the teacher's approach during the mourning period]. Paper presented at the 3rd International Interdisciplinary Intervention Congress in Early Childhood. Hacettepe University, Ankara.
  • Panagiotaki, G., Hopkins, M., Nobes, G., Ward, E., & Griffiths, D. (2018). Children’s and adults’ understanding of death: Cognitive, parental, and experiential influences. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 166, 96–115. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jecp.2017.07.014
  • Panagiotaki, G., Nobes, G., Ashraf, A., & Aubby, H. (2015). British and Pakistani children’s understanding of death: Cultural and developmental influences. British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 33(1), 31–44. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjdp.12064
  • Paul, S. (2019). Is death taboo for children? Developing death ambivalence as a theoretical framework to understand children’s relationship with death, dying and bereavement. Children & Society, 33, 556-571. https://doi.org/10.1111/chso.12352
  • Pehlivan, Y. (2022). Representation of the concept of death as form and content in animation cinema. (Unpublished master thesis). Anadolu University, Eskişehir.
  • Poling, D. A., & Hupp, J. M. (2008). Death sentences: A content analysis of children’s death literature. Journal of Genetic Psychology, 169(2), 165–176. https://doi.org/10.3200/GNTP.169.2.165-176
  • Raveis, V. H., Siegel, K., & Karus, D. (1999). Children’s psychological distress following the death of a parent. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 28(2), 165–180. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1021697230387
  • Rodríguez Herrero, P., de la Herrán Gascón, A., Pérez-Bonet, G., & Sánchez-Huete, J. C. (2022). What do teachers think of death education? Death Studies, 46(6), 1518–1528. https://doi.org/10.1080/07481187.2020.1817176
  • Sadler, D. (1991). “Grandpa died last night”: Children’s books about the death of grandparents. Children’s Literature Association Quarterly, 16(4), 246–250. https://doi.org/10.1353/chq.0.0802
  • Sak, R. (2020). Preschoolers’ difficult questions and their teachers’ responses. Early Childhood Education Journal, 48(1), 59–70. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10643-019-00977-x
  • Schrank, F. A. (1982). Bibliotherapy as an elementary school counseling tool. Elementary School Guidance and Counseling, 16(3), 218–227.
  • Seçkin, Ş., & Hasanoğlu, A. (2016). Çocukta rezilyans [Resilience in child]. Remzi.
  • Sevinç, G. (2019). Death and bibliotherapy: Content analysis of books to be used with pre-school children. Turkish Psychological Counseling and Guidance Journal, 9(55), 1213–1246.
  • Sezer, S., & Saya, P. (2009). Death concept from developmental view. Dicle University Journal of Ziya Gökalp Faculty of Education, 13(13), 151–165.
  • Speece, M. W., & Brent, S. B. (1984). Children’s understanding of death: A review of three components of a death concept. Child Development, 55(5), 1671–1686.
  • Stylianou, P., & Zembylas, M. (2018). Dealing with the concepts of “Grief” and “Grieving” in the classroom: Children’s perceptions, emotions, and behavior. Omega (United States), 77(3), 240–266. https://doi.org/10.1177/0030222815626717
  • Swenson, E. J. (1979). The treatment of death in children’s literature. Elementary English, 49(3), 401–404.
  • Tahta, F., Tahta, K., & Dernek, S. (2015). The systems and games that have been established to understand the anxiety of death relatives children. Hacettepe University Faculty of Health Sciences Journal, 1(1), 1–9.
  • Tanhan, F., & Arı İnci, F. (2009). Death education. Pegem Akademi.
  • Testoni, I., Mauchigna, L., Marinoni, G. L., Zamperini, A., Bucuță, M., & Dima, G. (2019). Solastalgia’s mourning and the slowly evolving effect of asbestos pollution: A qualitative study in Italy. Heliyon, 5(12), e03024. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2019.e03024
  • Tümlü, C. (2013). The examination of 5 to 12 years old children’s expressions of their death perceptions (Publication no. 350923). [Master’s thesis, İnönü University]. Council of Higher Education Thesis Center.
  • Walker, M. E., & Jones, J. (1986). When children die: Death in current children’s literature and its use in a library. Bulletin of the Medical Library Association, 74(1), 16–168.
  • Wang, X. (2022). Methods od eloborating the death theme of children’s literature under cognitive psychology. Psychiatria Danubina, 34, 405–406.
  • Weisberg, D. S., & Richert, R. A. (2022). How, when, and what do young children learn from fictional stories? Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 221, 105445. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jecp.2022.105445
  • Williams, N. (2018). Indigo was our class pet : An exploration of death in children’s literature [Unpublished master's thesis]. Bank Street College of Education, New York.
  • Wiseman, A. M. (2013). Summer’s end and sad goodbyes: Children’s picturebooks about death and dying. Children’s Literature in Education, 44(1), 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10583-012-9174-3
  • Yılmaz, M. (2016). The old elephant and the lyrebird. Panama Publishing.
LICENSE
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.