Storytelling as an imperative to build morals, ethics, character, and a capacity for kindness in Children

Abstract

Storytelling is touted as an extremely effective medium of communication and selling one’s viewpoint to others. There is a surfeit of resources advocating and teaching storytelling techniques. It is believed that the narrative is an effective and easier way help sell products and services, attract investors, build organizational brands, cultivate social correctness, build inter-cultural understanding, run advertising campaign and express entrepreneurial frames. However, the dilemma or predicament of communicating the truth in organizations is frequently between truth-speak and ‘telling a good story or ‘spinning a clever yarn’. Selling ideas, marketing products, obtaining buy-ins from investors can involve ‘stretching the truth’. Recognizing the axiology of this cultural malaise on one hand and exploring the positive influence that emotional learning through stories can have on the moral, ethical, and character development needs of children, this paper sees an imperative to posit storytelling as a dominant, pedagogic tools to build morals, ethics, character, and capacity for kindness in children.