The Role of Storytelling in Instilling Educational Values During Early Childhood
Abstract
This article highlights the significance of children's stories as an effective educational tool for instilling values during early childhood, particularly given the technological developments that influence children's behavior, daily lives, and capacity to learn educational values (Abdou, 2015). Educational values constitute a fundamental component in building a child's personality, shaping self-concept, and directing behavior, with the home and preschool serving as the primary sources for learning them (Abu-Hussain, 2023). Stories play a pivotal role in socialization, transcending mere entertainment to instill moral and social values through guided reading and accompanying activities in kindergartens and preschools according to the Israeli curriculum (ḤajYaḥya& Abu-Baker, 2024).
The research adopted a qualitative methodology based on analyzing relevant scientific sources, aiming to explore educational values in children's stories and their positive impact on value learning through event representation and following the protagonist's journey (Boyles, 2018). The research concluded that storytelling represents one of the most important means of embedding values in children's minds, whether in traditional or digital formats, with emphasis on the necessity of training teachers to utilize technology to enhance this role (Asik, 2016).
References
Abdou, E. D. (2015). "Confused by multiple deities, ancient Egyptians embraced monotheism": Analysing historical thinking and inclusion in Egyptian history textbooks. Journal of Curriculum Studies, 48(2), 226–251. https://doi.org/10.1080/00220272.2015.1093175
Abdou, E. D. (2017). "Toward embracing multiple perspectives in world history curricula: Interrogating representations of intercultural exchanges between ancient civilizations in Quebec textbooks". Theory & Research in Social Education, 45(3), 378–412.
https://doi.org/10.1080/00933104.2016.1276500
Adrián, J. E., Clemente, R. A., & Villanueva, L. (2007). Mother’s use of cognitive state verbs in picture-book reading and the development of children’s understanding of mind: A longitudinal study. Child Development, 78(4), 1052-1067.
Arikan, G., & Bloom, P. B. (2015). Social values and cross-national differences in attitudes towards welfare. Political Studies, 63(2), 431-448.
Asik, A. (2016). Digital storytelling and its tools for language teaching: Perceptions and reflections of preservice teachers. International Journal of Computer Assisted Language Learning and Teaching (IJCALLT), 6(1), 55-68.
Bar-Tal, D. (2013). Intractable Conflicts: Socio-psychological foundations and dynamics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Boyles, N. (2018). Learning character from characters: Linking literacy and social-emotional learning in the elementary grades is easier than you think. Emotional Leadership, 76(2), 70–74.
Dempster, S., Oliver, A., Sunderland, J., & Thistlethwaite, J. (2016). What has Harry Potter done for me? Children’s reflections on their ‘Potter experience’. Children's Literature in Education, 47(3), 267-282.
Formen, A., & Nuttall, J. (2014). Tensions between discourses of development, religion, and human capital in early childhood education policy texts: The case of Indonesia. International Journal of Early Childhood, 46(1), 15-31.
ḤajYaḥya, A., & Abu-Baker, K. (2024). Children’s literature as a channel for social-emotional learning: Reading Israeli children’s literature written in Arabic and Hebrew. Early Childhood Education Journal, 52, 2065–2078.
Kizel, A. (2016). Pedagogy out of fear of philosophy as a way of pathologizing children. Journal of Unschooling and Alternative Learning, 10, 28-47.
Ningrum, D. S. (2023). The influence of storytelling methods on early childhood moral behavior. Journal of Educational Imagery, 14(2), 105–112.
Author(s) and co-author(s) jointly and severally represent and warrant that the Article is original with the author(s) and does not infringe any copyright or violate any other right of any third parties and that the Article has not been published elsewhere. Author(s) agree to the terms that the IJO Journal will have the full right to remove the published article on any misconduct found in the published article.
