Abstract:

The purpose of the study was to examine the effects of children’s literature on character development among students in Grades 6-8 using a mixed method design. Quasi-experimental design was used to compare the character development before and after students took certain education programs. Students who studied, Thinking Education, Social Studies, Religious Culture and Moral Knowledge programs were in the control group and students who took the literature-based character education were in the experimental group. Interview technique was used to collect data from parents and teachers to enrich the findings from quantitative method. Students in Grades 6-8 studied at four middle schools in Düzce province participated in this research. Results showed that significant character development has been found in the control group (except for 7th graders) who studied literature-based character education. However, no significant character development has been found among students who took Social Studies, Religious Culture and Moral Knowledge programs. Additionally, teachers and parents stated that after the literature-based character education program, students developed positive behaviors both in and out of school related to values including: Love, respect, study, responsibility, patience, tolerance, empathy, honestly, hospitality, cleanness, communication, and observance of social rules. Those results indicate that literature-based character education program is effective in students’ character development and values transfer.

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