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A university review that recommends ‘adapting’ fairytales to be more multicultural has suggested rewriting one classic as ‘The Ghanaian Goldilocks’.
And it also wants to get children to question the plots of other fables – and bizarrely suggested asking if Rapunzel could have ‘built a zip line using her hair to escape’.
The review, by University of South Australia researcher and teacher Glenn Saxby, says teachers can use classic stories like Rapunzel and The Princess And The Pea to educate children on science, maths and technology.
But the review also added that more ‘multicultural fairy tales’ should be introduced because so many children are from families with parents born outside of Australia.
It mentioned several ‘multicultural’ fairy tales that could be taught in Australian classrooms including The Ghanaian Goldilocks, Adelita: A Mexican Cinderella Story and The Three Little Javelinas (instead of the Three Little Pigs).Â
A university review that recommends ‘adapting’ fairytales to be more multicultural has suggested rewriting one classic as ‘The Ghanaian Goldilocks’ (pictured, UK TV star Michaela Strachan as Golidlocks in a pantomime version of the fairytale)
A review of fairy tales suggests classic fairy tales like Rapunzel (pictured) and the Princess and the Pea should be adapted to help teach gender studies, maths and science
‘[Three Little Javelinas] not only encourages students to think critically but is a celebration of cultural diversity, and includes a female character that outsmarts the nefarious villain,’ Mr Saxby wrote.
Fairytales in schools can also help children understand changing gender roles and remain important for teaching values like kindness and cooperation, it says.Â
‘Fairytales can easily be adapted in the primary school to teach a range of subjects,’ the review says.
They have many benefits, it adds, ‘from understanding the structure of a compelling tale, to teaching literacy or even science, technology, engineering and mathematics’Â and understanding gender stereotypes.’
The research also said educators ‘need to be cautious’ because fairy tales often contain ‘outdated, gender-ignorant’ messages and because ‘gender equity has not yet been achieved in fairy tale literature’.
An example is asking students ‘Could have Rapunzel built a zip line using her hair to escape her tower prison?’
The research also said educators ‘need to be cautious’ because fairy tales often contain ‘outdated, gender-ignorant’ messages and because ‘gender equity has not yet been achieved in fairy tale literature’
It recommended teachers encourage students to ‘challenge stereotypical gender representations’.
This includes questioning how traditional fairy tale roles such as ‘victim heroes’ (such as princesses) and ‘seeker heroes’ (including princes) compare with the roles of women and men around them in reality.
It noted it was important to remind children that female characters can be portrayed as ‘strong and intelligent characters rather than being passive participants’.Â
‘A teacher does need to consider how they will discuss these traditional fairy tales with twenty-first-century students to provide a fair and balanced view of gender roles in modern Australian society’.
But the research also said fairy tales remain useful tools for teaching ‘across several subject areas of the curriculum’ and because ‘they can help explain complex issues to children’.
Government guidelines on reading fairy tales to children suggest asking kids whether the ending was ‘fair’
Fairy tales are also valuable tools to teach children good values such as empathy, kindness, ethics, and cooperation.Â
‘Incorporating a range of fairy tales in an inclusive and thoughtful way allows teachers a valuable opportunity to teach multiple skills and subjects in the contemporary classroom.
‘From Little Red Riding Hood to the Ugly Duckling, fairy tales have long been read to children across the ages.Â
‘Yet despite criticisms of being outdated and sexist, new research shows that fairy tales still hold an important place in primary education.’
Fairytales are taught in Australian primary schools and the Australian government also suggests parents read them at home.
The advice to parents is they ask children questions such as ‘did you think the ending was fair?’
Government advice says reading fairytales is useful to teach children language, characters and ‘plot structure’.
When you reach the end of the fairy tale and everyone is living happily ever after, you can ask your child questions such as whether the ending of a story was ‘fair’?
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