Intercultural sensitivity and interactive reading

The aim of this research is to develop the intercultural sensitivity levels of teacher candidates from different cultures through interactive readings using picture books themed on migration and intercultural sensitivity. The data in this research, in which a phenomenological research design was used, was obtained in the 2022-2023 academic year through the European Union Project coded Erasmus+ 2022-1-TR01-KA210-YOU-000081735. Within the scope of the study, workshops were conducted in line with experiential learning with 15 participants, who are teacher candidates studying for a bachelor's, master's, or doctoral degree in elementary education. Participants included 4 from Turkey, 6 from Greece, and 5 from Spain. Five picture books themed on migration and intercultural sensitivity were used in the interactive reading workshops, which lasted one week. The implementation was carried out by the researcher. Data were collected using the "Intercultural Sensitivity" scale developed by Wang and Zhou (2016) and participants' reflective journals. The research results indicate that vocalizing picture books themed on migration and intercultural sensitivity through the method of interactive reading positively influenced the teacher candidates' levels of intercultural sensitivity. The results show that interactive reading workshops conducted with picture books themed on migration and intercultural sensitivity are an effective tool for teacher candidates to understand and empathize with those different from themselves.