Moral Early Education – The Pedagogy of Classic Stories

This paper reflects on the moral education at preschool age, focusing on the particularities of teaching moral and social values very early. It starts by rendering problematic the social and moral dimensions of education nowadays in a volatile context in which ideals and values need to be redefined. Learning and teaching are considered in relation to age characteristics and purposes of education. It draws on the ideas of Maria Montessori on the absorbent mind and on the discipline and independence issues. The reflective process has its starting point in two research studies conducted with two groups of preschool children which aimed at investigating the preferences for modern or classic stories, the characters children are fond of and the reasons for their attachment. Surprising results determined us to reflect again on how children learn personal, social and moral ways of being and behaving, on the way traditional and alternative education address this area, and finally on the reasons classic stories are regarded as highly effective on teaching moral and social values to very young learners. It concludes that in order to accept and follow moral rules children need to understand them first. Classic stories offer teachers/parents/educators the chance to present these in an attractive manner, without being scholastic or dogmatic. Characteristics of the stories make them respond to children’s psychological needs, turn into effective tools for moral education and tranced time.