TEACHING FAIRY TALES

IN OPTIONAL CLASSES
LUCRARE METODICO-STIINTIFICA PENTRU OBTINEREA
GRADULUI DIDACTIC I, ANUL 2012
AUTOR: DRAGUSANU CARMEN
SCOALA PROFESIONALA ING. GH. PANCULESCU
VALENII DE MUNTE

THE MAGIC OF FAIRY TALES

It is said that someone once asked Albert Einstein what kind of reading
texts should be given to aspiring scientists and he reportedly cried out, Why,
fairy tales, of course. The logic of this unexpected answer is that fantasyhighly needed in order to become a great scientist/ inventor- is the most
valuable attribute of the human mind and fairy tales are the best tools in
diligently nurturing mans inventive skills from earliest childhood.
Fairy tales are magical. They take readers and listeners to make-believe time
and places with such magical elements as a fairy godmother who can turn a
pumpkin into a regal coach or a beautiful princess whose kiss breaks an evil
spell and transforms a frog back into a prince. But the magic is also to be
found in the telling, hearing, and reading of fairy tales. In spite of knowing
exactly the outcome of classic tales even before they are read or told, both
adults and children still- as if by magic- anxiously wait for the wicked to be
punished, the vulnerable to be rescued, and the good and kind to live
happily ever after.
Children are naturally captive to the power of story in all forms. They are
magnetically drawn to narrative patterns that order the chaotic universe in
which they seek to survive and gain some control. Hopefully, most teachers
who teach literature and parents alike are aware of how rewarding it is for
students to explore the worlds great fairy tales. Fairy tales activate
imagination. They are wonderfully rich literature for developing the
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creativity and imagination of youth.

There are no limits to the kinds and numbers of imaginative products

students may create in response to their interactions with fairy tales. They
may be read over and over and serve as the springboard for completely
different teaching aims related to the ages and maturity of students.

Creative teachers can introduce to students virtually any content or process through fairy
tales. Familiar fairy tales can be revisited and employed both in the home and in schools
as a means to introduce and teach important new skills such as creative and productive
thinking, critical thinking and creative problem solving to students of all ages.
Fairy tales provide a shared cultural background. There exists an almost universal
knowledge of fairy tales. Students do not have to endeavour in research in a new content
area to participate in class activities. They can focus solely on the process skills to be
learnt. Most students are fairy tale literate; thus, no one student or group of students is
particularly advantaged due to their previous knowledge. Fairy tales serve as a gold mine
as the content base for teaching all kinds of new reading, writing, and thinking skills and
processes.
The world- renowned psychologist Bruno Bettelheim talks about the way fairy tales
impose on a child a moral education which subtly, and by implication only, conveys to him the
advantages of moral behaviour, not through abstract ethical concepts but through that which seems
tangibly right and therefore meaningful to him.
Beyond the messages of strength and survival that folktales provide, there is a sense of
order they bring to our own selves according to individual understanding. We can see
ourselves as heroes or helpers, project the faces of the villains and victims we know onto
those of the tales. From the logic of cause and effect to the expansion of a narrative
vocabulary to fit new situations, teaching fairy tales contributes to coherence in childrens
learning and in their lives.

TOWARDS A DEFINITION OF
THE FAIRY TALE

A technical definition of fairy tales from yourDictionary.com says that they

are a fanciful tale of legendary deeds and creatures, usually intended for children.
A fanciful tale is the first part of a fairy tale's definition. According to
yourDictionary.com, fanciful relates to being unreal and in the
imagination. Therefore, a fairy tale would be considered a fictional piece of
work. It may have similarities to reality, but it is a made-up story.
Despite being called fairy tales, these stories frequently do not have the
creature called a fairy in them. Instead, a fairy tale often hasdragons,
elves,gnomes, trolls, giants, witches, or other imaginary animals or
people. The sense "stories about fairies" is too narrow () for fairy-stories are
not in normal English usage stories about fairies or elves, but stories about Fairy,
that is Farie, the realm or state in which fairies have their being. Faerie contains
many things besides elves and fays, and besides dwarfs, witches, trolls, giants, or
dragons: it holds the seas, the sun, the moon, the sky; and the earth, and all things
that are in it: tree and bird, water and stone, wine and bread, and ourselves, mortal
men, when we are enchanted (J. R. R.Tolkien).
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THE FOLKLORE ORIGIN OF

THE FAIRY TALE

The most famous fairy tales worldwide were- almost with no exception- initially the
product of folklore. Since they circulated orally at the start, there are no exact and
established versions, no identifiable authors and no fixed titles. We have many versions
of the same story coming not only from different narrators, but from different societies
and cultures. With so much diversity associated with folk fairy tales, it seems an almost
impossible task to define this genre precisely. Eventually the genre is characterized by
strict adherence to some basic structures.
Folklorists have called these conformities of fairy tales to a certain structure specific to
each kind of story tale types. They describe a basic story, such as Snow White, that is told
in different ways in oral tradition.
The plot outline is regarded as the defining feature of a tale type; the different versions
of it are a product of oral transmission. A fairy tale is defined as the sum of its versions. From
the coinciding events or episodes in texts that apparently tell the same basic story, a plot outline
for that tale is deduced. (S. S. Jones)
What accounts for the appeal and popularity over centuries of these famous tales? Each
narrator could dramatically alter any story they relate, still the backbone of the tale
remains unchanged because of its perennial appeal and significance to audiences of all
types- different ages, social backgrounds, various cultures, etc. Having been
remembered and retold over and over again demonstrates that it has touched peoples
lives. It must be considered worthy of repetition because it is loved and appreciated for
telling us things about ourselves that we need to hear and through which we can learn
how to cope with the vagaries of life.

ATTEMPTS TO CLASSIFY FAIRY

TALES

The earliest attempts to classify fairy tales worked inductively, by listing

other versions that seemed to resemble the known tales, primarily those of
the Grimm brothers.
Antti Arne and Stith Thompson identify the essential episodes, which they
call action traits, of the major folk fairy tales and list many of the collected
versions for each tale. Thompsons companion text, The Folktale (1946),
provides useful and more readable summaries of almost every significant
fairy tale circulating in Europe.
In The Morphology of the Fairy Tale, Vladimir Propp outlines 31 basic
functions that constitute the formation of a paradigmatic wonder tale. By
functions, Propp meant the fundamental and constant components of a tale
that are the acts of a character and necessary for driving the action forward.
There is no narrative without any characters. Propps characters are defined
in terms of particular actions assigned to that character by the narrative.
Propp identified seven constantly reccuring dramatis personae: the hero, the
major character; the helper, who supports the hero in his or her quest; the
villain, in stark opposition to the hero; the false hero, who may even be
mistaken initially for the real hero; the donor, who gives the hero
something special; the dispatcher, who sends the hero on the mission; the
princess and the princesss father, who may dispatch the hero on his
mission to save the princess.
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ESSENTIAL QUALITIES OF THE

FAIRY TALE

We regard folk tales as engaging fictions expressing our deepest dreams and fears.
Their concern with growing up, getting married and settling down speak directly to
our most individual needs. The ordinary protagonists of folk tales remind us of
ourselves, and their questions and quests are on a very personal level the same as
ours.
Furthermore, although the events which occur in fairy tales are often unusual and
most improbable, they are always presented as ordinary, something that could
happen to you or me. Even the most remarkable encounters are related in casual,
everyday ways in folk tales.
Many scholars have designated fantasy as one essential characteristic of the fairy tale.
Fairy tales are filled with fantastic happenings; they involve lots of interactions with
the magical and the marvelous. Furthermore, generally this magical element in fairy
tales serves to affirm the moral propriety of the universe. When the magical agents
come to assist or rescue the protagonist, morality is being asserted.
The focus of fairy tales is on journeys of self-discovery, recognition, confrontation and
dissolving of internal anxieties and desires. The objective is personal achievement,
generally domestic satisfaction and settling.
The happy ending, that is the successful resolution of a dilemma that the protagonist
has to face, is essential to the plot of the fairy tale. Fairy tales always reward the
deserving and punish the wrongdoers. Fairy tales are optimistic, no matter how
terrifyingly serious some features of the story may be.
Another quality of the fairy tale is that the audience is encouraged to identify
strongly with the central character, who is generally presented clearly as the one and
only raw model to be followed.
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THE THEMATIC STRUCTURE

OF FAIRY TALES

We can categorize these fairy tale themes into three major categories of human
experience: the psychology of the individual, the social aspects of life related
with community interaction and the cosmic dimension of existence in relation
with the whole universe. Thus fairy tales tell us first about our own feelings
and psyche, instructs us on how to conform to societys expectations and offer
us spiritual guidance about how to relate our tiny selves to the comprehensive
cosmos.
Most of the psychological themes underlying fairy tales involve the concerns of
young people, which is not surprising given the general orientation toward
young protagonists of most fairy stories. They frequently depict the feeling or
attitudes of the protagonists toward parents, siblings or prospective mates.
In addition to psychological instruction, fairy tales often inculcate social values.
They promote marriage and the patriarchal family structure as dominant
cultural institutions. They assign roles and behaviour patterns appropriate for
each gender and for each age group. They encourage industry and moral
virtues as ways of securing material and financial success.
Finally, fairy tales offer guidance about the spiritual side of human existence.
They indicate the presence of supernatural powers or forces in the world that
are reflections of a higher law.

MORAL FORMATION
THROUGH FAIRY TALES

Mere instruction in morality is not sufficient to nourish our childrens moral

sense. Instead, what we need is a compelling vision of the goodness that
surrounds us presented in a way that is attractive and stirs the imagination.
Good moral education should appeal to both the cognitive and the affective
dimensions of human nature. Stories are an irreplaceable source for this kind of
moral education.
The great fairy tales attractively depict character and virtue. In them, virtues are
unequivocally positive, whereas wickedness and deception are also clear-cut evil
and negative. These stories make us face the naked truth about ourselves while
forcing us to consider which of the two categories of moral attitude we should
adopt, while also strongly recommending the right path of moral living.
Fairy tales- of all childrens literature- most often avoid didacticism whereas
supplying the imagination with an important symbolic load of information about
the workings of our universe and of peoples fate in the world. By portraying
wonderful and frightening worlds in which ugly beasts are transformed into
handsome princes, evil people are turned to stones and good persons back to
flesh, fairy tales remind us of moral truths whose ultimate claims to permanence
we would not think of questioning. Fairy tales say plainly that virtue and vice are
opposites and not just a matter of subjective perception or degree.

PSYCHOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF
STORY TELLING

Mircea Eliade describes fairy tales as models for human behaviour [that,] by that very fact, give
meaning and value to life. He suggests that myths and fairy tales were derived from initiation
rites, so that an inadequate self is reborn on a higher plane of existence.
Freud believed that fairy tales and dreams stem from the same place. Fairy tales may
provoke, just like dreams, windows into the unconscious, which is then scrutinized.
Carl Jungs collective unconscious is revealed through archetypes and symbols found
everywhere in fairy tales. He considers that one of the reasons why fairy tales appeal to
children is that they are in a stage of their development not very far from the deep layers of
the collective unconscious. He also says that each fairy tale character represents a different
aspect of personality that we all share.
Perhaps the best known psychologist to tackle fairy tales is Bruno Bettelheim, who believed
that nothing can be as enriching and satisfying as the folk fairy tales, which entertain,
arouse curiosity, stimulate imagination, develop the intellect, clarify emotions, depict lifes
hardships, while at the same time suggesting solutions for these inherent difficulties. Each
fairy tale is like a magic mirror which reflects some aspects of our inner world and suggests
the steps required by our transition from childhood to adulthood. He notices that They
speak about [the childs] inner pressures in a way that the child unconsciously understands, andwithout belittling the most serious inner struggles which growing up entails- offer examples of both
temporary and permanent solutions to pressing difficulties. The underlying meanings should not be
explained to children, who will come to terms with them in their own time.

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THE LITERARY FAIRY TALE

Our conception of the fairy tale recognizes three major forms:

1. indigenous oral versions,
2. collected and variously edited versions in print,
3. original, single-author fairy tales that are not drawn from oral tradition
but that closely resemble that narrative genre.
An important form of the fairy tale is that produced by literary authors,
such as Hans Christian Andersen, Washington Irving, John Ruskin, Charles
Dickens, Oscar Wilde and Carlo Collodi in the nineteenth century, and L.
Frank Baum, Antoine de Saint-Exupery, E. B. White, T. H. White and J. R. R.
Tolkien in the twentieth, who have used the fairy tale model to create
original stories that imitate the oral genre. These authors employ in their
narratives the generic characteristics of an ordinary hero or heroine who is
engaged on a quest and who encounters marvelous or fantastic phenomena
or events that are taken seriously, and who ultimately triumphs in his or
her quest. They each depict a protagonists exploration of magical worlds
and the spiritual and personal enlightenment that derive from the enlarged
sense of the world promoted by these explorations.

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METHODOLOGICAL ASPECTS

The great potential of literature as a context for pleasurable as well as useful

language practice lies in its intrinsic appeal to youthful creativity, its inclusion of all
the four basic language skills and, furthermore, in its widen scope for collaborative
engagement among the students, in addition to individual interaction with the texts.
Language teaching and language learning must involve more than just literature; the
important thing is that, when specimens of literature are presented as components
of an English teaching course, they should be subordinated to the actual purpose of
using literature in that situation, which is providing an interesting context for
authentic language use. But the value of the texts as literature should not be
downgraded.
The sort of literature presented to students for engagement and enjoyment should be
graded according to their age and their level of English knowledge.
The main purpose of including literature in the English curriculum is to use its
potential for generating interesting classroom interaction and discussion in the
language. Any piece of literature, be it a story, a play, a drama, or an essay can lead
to lively discussion among the students when it is well handled by a knowledgeable
teacher. The most sensible approach is to ensure first the students understanding of
the facts that the story contains through asking specific questions (Who? What?
When? Where? etc.), followed by inferential work which enables the students to
grasp the point/ view/ argument/ theme that the separate facts build up to.

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When selecting the literary texts to be used in language classes, the language
teacher should take into account needs, motivation, interests, cultural background
and language level of the students.

Using literature instead of a communicative textbook (conversational English)

changes the learning approach from learning how to say into learning how to
mean (grammar versus creative thinking). Conversation-based English programs
tend to provide lessons that focus on formulas used in contextual situations so
there is little allowance for independent thought and adaptation of language by
naturally speaking. On the other hand, literature-based programs focus on personal
interpretation of the language so students begin to experiment with the language
and incorporate this into their everyday speech and vocabulary.
Even though many of the classic fairy tales well-known throughout the world have
not been written by English speaking authors, their fame and appeal has provided
excellent translations in English which can definitely compete with many other
noteworthy types of authentic literature.
Fairy tales provide an enlarged background vision on life itself rather than on a
particular social or regional background; the cultural enrichment attached to the use
of fairy tales in the English class is so broad that it acquires universal status.
Besides cultural enrichment, fairy tales used as a tool to teach English obviously
provides language enrichment as well. Literature provides learners with a wide
range of individual lexical or syntactic items. Students become familiar with many
features of the written language, reading a substantial and contextualized body of
text. They learn about the syntax and discourse functions of sentences, the variety of
possible structures, different ways of connecting ideas, which develop and enrich
their own writing skills.

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EFL teachers use stories to supplement their materials or to create autonomous units
of work that constitute mini-syllabuses. In this way, a story provides the starting
points for developing a wide range of related language and learning activities
involving children personally, creatively and actively in an all round curriculum
approach.

Fairy tales, as we have already seen so far, are complex carriers of deep meaning and
contributes extensively to coherence in childrens learning and in their lives; as a
consequence, the personal development model is the best and most often used when
studying fairy tales in class. Even small children can think of a lesson to be learnt
from fairy tales, for example that you should always follow your mothers advice
after reading Little Red Riding Hood.
The question of the level of language that your piece of literature incorporates is
always an important one. Obviously a teacher would not want to use a text that is
completely beyond their learners power of understanding. However, the immediate
difficulty with vocabulary in a text might not be an obstacle to its comprehension.
Learners can be trained to infer meaning of difficult words from context. The
selection of a text must be given careful thought, but also the treatment of the text by
the teacher (this means think about the tasks you set for a reading of a piece of
literature, not just the text itself.)
Comprehension asks for a series of cognitive processes and activities including word
decoding, lexical access, syntactic processing, inference generation, reading
strategies (e.g., self-explanation), and post-reading activities (e.g., summarization,
question asking and answering, argumentation). These contribute to a readers
ability to connect the meaning of multiple sentences into a coherently connected
mental representation of the overall meaning of text.

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The inclusion of short fiction in the ESL/EFL curriculum offers the

following educational benefits :

makes the students reading task easier due to being simple and short when
compared with the other literary genres,
enlarges the readers worldviews about different cultures and different groups of
people,
motivates learners to read due to being (semi)authentic material,
offers a world of wonders and a world of mystery,
gives students the chance to use their creativity,
promotes critical thinking skills,
facilitates teaching a foreign culture (i.e. serves as a valuable instrument in
attaining cultural knowledge of the selected community),
makes students feel comfortable and free,
helps students coming from various backgrounds communicate with each other
because of its universal language,
helps students to go beyond the surface meaning and dive into underlying
meanings,
acts as a perfect vehicle to help students understand their own positions as well as
the positions of the others by transferring this newly-acquired knowledge to their
own world.

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