A multicultural education approach to Turkish picture books written for Syrian refugee children

Abstract

ABSTRACT Syrian refugees worldwide experience many difficulties, including integrating into the host country. Turkey host most of the Syrian refugees, but limited studies examined Syrian refugees’ transnational experiences in children’s literature. In this study, I have examined the picture books written for Syrian refugee children published in Turkey through a multicultural education framework to highlight how microculture and macroculture relate to each other. The books are produced by Promoting the Integration of Syrian Children into the Turkish Education System (PIKTES), which is supported by European Union (EU). I utilized content analysis and analyzed each book with the relationship between microculture and macroculture. I represented findings under three categories: shared cultural values between microculture and macroculture, decontextualization of Syrian refugee identity, and monistic representation of the social class. I suggested the need for quality picture books for multicultural education and authentic textual spaces for a smooth integration of Syrian refugee children.