Fairy tales to fairer tales: Generative AI-supported critical multimodal literacy in pre-service preschool teacher education

Abstract

This study investigates how pre-service teachers can use generative artificial intelligence (AI) to retell classic fairy tales in a way that challenges the biases that they frequently contain. A qualitative action research study involving 60 pre-service preschool teachers (46 female and 14 male) was carried out at a public university in Türkiye. Data collection included video recordings of instructional sessions (4 weeks, two lesson hours per week), participants’ fairer tales, and field notes. Drawing on the Critical Multimodal Literacy (CML) framework, the participants used generative AI tools to iteratively reimagine the textual and visual elements of traditional fairy tales. 11 reimagined fairy tales were analyzed under three themes: challenging traditional power dynamics, critiquing societal norms, and promoting non-violent conflict resolution. The findings indicate that the participants engaged in CLM by restructuring dominant representations of gender, identity, and conflict through the use of textual and visual modes. While generative AI supported the production of multimodal texts, participants maintained their agency through processes of prompting, evaluating, redesigning, and revising the outputs, emphasizing AI’s role as a mediational tool rather than an autonomous creator. The findings suggest that AI-supported fairy tale rewriting may provide a pedagogical context that enables pre-service preschool teachers to produce alternative representations of equality and social justice for children.