Storytelling as A Pedagogical Tool for Moral Development in Rural Children
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.48165/IJEE.2026.62206Keywords:
Rural, Pre-adolescents, Extension pedagogy, Moral development, Age, Gender.Abstract
The research carried out in 2025, examined the effectiveness of storytelling as an educational intervention for enhancing moral values among rural children. A pre-intervention-to-post intervention assessment design was used. The sample included 60 students aged 10 to 12 years studying in rural primary schools in Bhaniyana village, Jaisalmer district, Rajasthan. The Moral Values Scale developed by Gupta and Singh (2016) was administered before and after a six-week storytelling programme. The programme consisted of twelve sessions based on culturally relevant moral stories highlighting honesty, empathy, fairness, cooperation, and responsibility. Each session included story narration followed by structured discussion and reflection activities that encouraged children to connect moral ideas with real-life experiences. The findings showed a significant increase in mean scores across all moral dimensions lying, dishonesty, stealing, and cheating after the intervention. Repeated measures ANOVA indicated significant effects of intervention and age, while gender differences were statistically nonsignificant. Correlation analysis revealed a positive association between age and moral value enhancement. The study suggests that story narration may function as an effective and culturally responsive strategy for moral education and could be integrated into rural extension and educational initiatives aimed at promoting value-based learning and holistic development.Downloads
References
Adnyani, N. K. S., & Landrawan, I. W. (2022). Moral education in primary schools with a storytelling approach. Cendekia: Jurnal Pendidikan dan Pembelajaran, 15(2), 285–301. https://doi.org/10.30957/cendekia.v15i2.728
Arya, M., & Vig, D. (2023). Impact of Anganwadi workers’ soft skills on Anganwadi children’s developmental milestones. Indian Journal of Extension Education, 59(3), 118–121. https://doi.org/10.48165/IJEE.2023.59322
Bandura, A. (1977). Social learning theory. Prentice-Hall.
Chan, H. H., Kwong, H. Y. C., Shu, G. L. F., Ting, C. Y., & Lai, F. H. (2021). Effects of experiential learning programmes on adolescent prosocial behaviour, empathy, and subjective well-being: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Frontiers in Psychology, 12, Article 709699. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.709699
Dey, T. (2015). Folk tales of North East India: A relook for environmental studies classroom transaction. Pedagogy of Learning, 3(2), 14–27.
Ding, X. P., Cheng, J. K. T., Cheng, Q., & Heyman, G. D. (2023). An assessment of when moral stories promote children’s honesty. Applied Developmental Science, 28(3), 292–301. https://doi.org/10.1080/10888691.2023.2195182
Du, J., Liang, Y., Guo, D., & Xiao, Y. (2024). The relationship between theory of mind and moral sensitivity among Chinese preschool children: The mediating role of empathy. BMC Psychology, 12, Article 112. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40359-024-01600-4
Eisenberg, N., Spinrad, T. L., & Knafo, A. (2015). Prosocial development. In R. M. Lerner & M. E. Lamb (Eds.), Handbook of child psychology and developmental science (7th ed., Vol. 3, pp. 610–658). John Wiley & Sons. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118963418.childpsy315
Gasser, L., Dammert, Y., & Murphy, P. K. (2022). How do children socially learn from narrative fiction: Getting the lesson, simulating social worlds, or dialogic inquiry? Educational Psychology Review, 34(3), 1445–1468. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-022-09667-4
Government of India. (2020). National education policy 2020. Ministry of Education.
Halimah, L., Arifin, R. R. M., Yuliariatiningsih, M. S., Abdillah, F., & Sutini, A. (2020). Storytelling through “Wayang Golek” puppet show: Practical ways in incorporating character education in early childhood. Cogent Education, 7(1), Article 1794495. https://doi.org/10.1080/2331186X.2020.1794495
Ibrahim, S. M., Sobhy, O. A., El-Maghraby, R. M., & Hamouda, N. H. (2025). Efficacy of an oral narrative language intervention program (ONLIP) on children with hearing impairment: A randomized controlled trial. The Egyptian Journal of Otolaryngology, 41, Article 56.
Kaßecker, A., Misch, A., Paulus, M., Christner, N., & Pletti, C. (2025). Children’s moral self-concept relates to moral judgment, but not to arousal. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 252, 106172. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jecp.2024.106172
Kucirkova, N. (2019). How could children’s storybooks promote empathy? A conceptual framework based on developmental psychology and literary theory. Frontiers in Psychology, 10, Article 121. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00121
Kumari, R. (2025). Use of folk tales in classroom pedagogy: A study of multilingual schools in Karnataka. International Journal of Research in Humanities and Social Sciences, 5(4), 88–95.
Lickona, T. (2009). Educating for character: How our schools can teach respect and responsibility. Bantam Books.
Monika, & Dube, S. (2025). Digital shift: How increased digital exposure is reshaping adolescents’ lifestyle. Indian Journal of Extension Education, 61(3), 75–79. https://doi.org/10.48165/ijee.2025.61314
National Council of Educational Research and Training. (2012). Education for values in schools: A framework. NCERT.
Rahiem, M. D. (2021). Storytelling in early childhood education: Time to go digital. International Journal of Child Care and Education Policy, 15(1), Article 4. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40723-021-00081-x
Rahiem, M. D. H., Abdullah, N. S. M., Krauss, S. E., & Rahim, H. (2020). Moral education through dramatized storytelling: Insights and observations from Indonesia kindergarten teachers. International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research, 19(3), 475–490. https://doi.org/10.26803/ijlter.19.3.26
Ramamurthy, C., Armstrong, G., Andriessen, K., & Zuo, P. (2024). The impact of storytelling on building resilience in children: A systematic review. Journal of Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing, 31(4), 525–542. https://doi.org/10.1111/jpm.13008
Sarangapani, P. M., Bawane, J., Goyal, K., Ramchand, M., Rathish, A., Bellappa, A., & Jayaram, K. A. (2023). The right teacher for every child: State of teachers, teaching and teacher education for India (SOTTTER 2023). Tata Institute of Social Sciences.
Thebar, S., & Upadhyay, V. K. (2023). Enhancing student character through value-based learning in Rajasthan. ShodhKosh: Journal of Visual and Performing Arts, 4(2), 2145–2148. https://doi.org/10.29121/shodhkosh.v4.i2.2023.3345
Thebar, S., & Upadhyay, V. K. (2024). Rajasthan’s path to moral development: A study of value-based education in schools. ShodhKosh: Journal of Visual and Performing Arts, 5(5), 1501–1505. https://doi.org/10.29121/shodhkosh.v5.i5.2024.3343
Turiel, E. (2024). Looking back and moving forward: Historical lessons for current research on moral development. Human Development, 68(3), 103–120. https://doi.org/10.1159/000539407
Turiel, E., & Banas, K. A. (2020). The development of moral and social judgments: Social contexts and processes of coordination. Eurasian Journal of Educational Research, 85, 23–44. https://doi.org/10.14689/ejer.2020.85.2
UNICEF. (2021). Comprehensive life skills framework: Social and emotional learning for children and adolescents. UNICEF South Asia.
Wainryb, C. (2005). Moral development in culture: Diversity, tolerance, and justice. In M. Killen & J. G. Smetana (Eds.), Handbook of moral development (pp. 211–240). Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Yabe, M., Oshima, S., Eifuku, S., Taira, M., Kobayashi, K., Yabe, H., & Niwa, S. (2018). Effects of storytelling on the childhood brain: Near-infrared spectroscopic comparison with the effects of picture book reading. Fukushima Journal of Medical Science, 64(3), 125–132. https://doi.org/10.5387/fms.2018-11
Yadav, M., & Dube, S. (2025). Effect of digital devices and parental regulations on adolescents’ achievement motivation: A quantitative study. Indian Journal of Extension Education, 61(2), 67–72. https://doi.org/10.48165/IJEE.2025.61213
Zuffianò, A., Basili, E., Sette, S., Gerbino, M., Kanacri, B. P. L., & Pastorelli, C. (2023). Prosocial development across the lifespan. In T. Malti & M. Davidov (Eds.), The Cambridge handbook of prosociality: Development, mechanisms, promotion (pp. 189–206). Cambridge University Press.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

