Alternative Fairy Tales

3 min read:

Once upon a time…  An archetypal story opening that promises a sense of security in knowing that there will be a happily ever after, but…

What if Cinderella didn’t go to the ball; instead, she fixed the prince’s aircraft because her true love was STEM?

What if Belle’s love of reading enabled her to defeat an evil crone and so enable a whole community to rediscover the joys of learning?

What if…Rapunzel saved the Prince?

The new variations of Fairy Tales promote the idea that Fairy Tales are not fixed and so neither are children’s minds.

Girls’ and boys’ brains develop in response to their experiences and so experience shapes our brains (Rycroft-Smith, 2019). This concept is defined as neuroplasticity. Rippon (2019) further develops this concept by illustrating the brain as mouldable plastic, therefore the brain is not a fixed entity.

Diversifying the narrative in our classrooms is essential to enable impactful and constant renewal of archetypal narratives – archetypal narratives that can be argued as limiting a young learner’s perception of their potential.

In 2017, the BBC broadcast the series No More Boys and Girls – Can Our Kids Go Gender Free? Through the social experiment, many observations were made identifying how gender as a societal construct limits children’s perceptions of themselves.

Cheeky chappie Riley insists that men are better because “they’re stronger and they’ve got more jobs”, while Kara free-associates what she connects with being a girl: “pretty, lipstick, dresses, lovehearts”. But this has a darker side. One girl already thinks of herself as “ugly”; Riley thinks it isn’t okay to cry if you’re a boy. They’re seven years old. Abdelmoneim is measured and persuasive about the implications for when they become adults. Such rigid stereotypes of masculinity and femininity, in which men repress their emotions and women think they’re worthless, are what’s really harmful, not daring to ask interesting questions about why we think and act the way we do.

Watch an episode of the series ‘No More Boys and Girls – Can Our Kids Go Gender Free?’

Read The Guardian’s review.

So can the concept of neuroplasticity frame our teaching?

Robert Munsch’s much loved Paper Bag Princess (1980) sees Elizabeth bravely outwit the dragon to save Prince Ronald. However, Ronald is not accepting of Elizabeth’s appearance and is dismissive of her courage and character. Consequently, Elizabeth decides to save herself and skip into the sunset.

Interstellar Cinderella is another example of a reimagined fairy tale, further dismantling the idea happily ever after is marriage. After helping the Prince fix his space vehicle, he offers her marriage as a thank you. Interstellar Cinderella chooses her dream job instead, following her passion – possibly her true love.

Reflections

• Fairy tales are not fixed – neither are learners’ minds. Neuroplasticity can be used as a teaching tool.
• Do you have fairy tales that reimagine the archetypal story arc in your classroom?
• What is the impact of sharing a re-imagined fairy tale?

Here are some alternative fairy tales that Kiran recommends:

• Interstellar Cinderella – Deborah Underwood
• Reading Beauty – Deborah Underwood
• Paper bag princess – Robert Munsch
• Raven Child and the Snow Witch – Linda Sunderland
• Zog – Julia Donaldson
• Izzy Gizmo – Pip Jones