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“Now, who’s an Ugly Duckling?”; Using Traditional Stories to Examine Drama in

Education as a Medium to Explore Diversity and Difference in the Irish Primary

Classroom.

By Tríona Stokes, Drama Lecturer, Maynooth University, Ireland: Froebel Department of

Primary and Early Childhood Education

Email: Triona.stokes@nuim.ie

Abstract

Traditional stories, including fairy tales and folk tales, have been used, and continue to be used

for a wide variety of educational purposes. Whilst fairy tales, in particular, are often considered

integral to childhood and the difficult transition therein to adult life (Bettelheim, 1975), they

have been heavily criticised for the values and role models they uphold (Kamentsky, 1992;

Zipes,1995, 1997,2009; Warner,1994, 2000). The writings of Jack Zipes (1995, 2009) and

Marina Warner (1994, 2000) are drawn upon to provide a critical theoretical backdrop to this

paper. Fairy tales, when critically evaluated and used in a pedagogically appropriate manner,

can serve as a rich stimulus for educational drama. Within an Irish primary school context, a

theme reflective of diversity in the classroom is selected and planned through the fictional lens of

Drama. The theme, namely the recognition of difference, is broached using the stimulus of Hans

Christian Andersen’s ‘The Ugly Duckling’ (1843), and explored through Drama in Education

methodologies. Consideration of the three prerequisites for Drama, as outlined by the Irish

Primary School Curriculum is part of the planning focus, namely, content, the creation of a safe

environment and the use of a fictional lens (The Irish Primary Drama Curriculum, 1999). The

writer reflects on her own experience of exploring this scheme of work with junior primary

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classes. Samples of children’s responses are captured and shared, as part of the presentation

within the written paper.

Introduction

Traditional stories, including fairy tales and folk tales, have been used, and continue to be used

for a wide variety of educational purposes. In Irish primary schools, folk tales from Celtic

mythology are currently explored as part of the History curriculum, under the strand, Story.

Celtic mythology, as part of an oral Irish storytelling tradition, dates back from as early as the

sixth century AD although, many of these stories were not recorded in written form until the 12th

century. Although the historical accuracy or facts of these tales is entirely contestable, MacIntyre

argues that they provide a historical memory of the society in which they were written, as well as

successive societies:

“ They depicted a now-transcended or partly transcended moral order whose beliefs

while still partially influential, but which also provided an illuminating contrast to the

present” (1984, p.114).

Before they were written down, Folk tales, and myths and legends in particular, were used to

entertain and celebrate community. Epic battles were lived, won and celebrated, and natural

phenomena explained through story. Marriages and other community events were celebrated

through stories passed down in the oral tradition.Folk tales became separated into distinct genres

with their circulation through the invention of the printing press in the Fifteenth century. The

oral tradition subsumed by a new literary genre. Fairy tales emerged and through their printed

form became widely available to a class level who could afford them and who could access them

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because they could read. The social mores and values of this group were reproduced through

these tales for this audience.

The Conte de Fées, as they were termed, addressed tastes and concerns of French society. Fairy

tales were used then, and some would say still, as a powerful socialising force. In recent decades,

fairy tales, in particular, are often considered integral to childhood and the difficult transition

therein to adult life, with their capacity to soothe and forewarn and forearm us for real life events

and disappointments (Bettelheim, 1975).

Ideologies represented in fairytales have been widely questioned. Some fairy tales have been

told or rewritten adopting feminist and other perspectives. Critical writers of fairy tales include

Marina Warner (1994; 2000), Jack Zipes (1983; 1995) and Kamentsy (1992) have argued the

place of fairy tales in a modern society. Endorsing this view, let us examine this assertion within

the context of the Irish primary classroom for the potential benefit of fairy tales.

The Potential for the use of Fairy Tales in Schools

In recent years, fairy tales have been re-invented, and are sometimes known as ‘revised

fairytales;’ or ‘fractured fairytales.’ This usually involves a new slant on the original tale, which

might for example be told by another character’s perspective. (The True Story of the Three Little

Pigs (1996) by Jon Scieska, is one such example, where the wolf retells the story from his

perspective. Revisiting the fairytale to find out what might have happened subsequently is

another example of revision, e.g. Goldilocks Returns (2008) by Lisa Campbell Ernst.

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There are eight stock characters, including heroes and villains, from which one can construct a

fairy tale (Zipes, 1995). From Cinderella to Snow White, it could be argued the majority of

female characters in fairy tales are portrayed as benign. Benign female characters have limited

agency and those who do often have agency hold evil roles such as witches or evil stepmothers.

The exception might be the benevolent yet omnipotent fairy godmother character.

Barthes (1957) encourages us to become critical readers of myth, so that we can read them

critically and re-position or re-write them for new meaning. By encouraging a revisionist

approach to fairy tales, children can be encouraged to critique the construction of plot and

character and re-imagine the tale differently. In so doing they might alter the levels of agency of

characters, with reference to age, ethnicity, gender, etc. Drama in Education provides an ideal

avenue for children to be enabled to become critical readers, and indeed writers, of fairy tales,

due to its open-ended, process-orientated nature.

Drama’s ‘as if’ nature allows for the children, as participants in the drama, to step into these tales

and re-present them by adding their interpretations and including additional character

perspectives etc. They may retell the story through a character’s eyes or approach and resolve

dilemmas differently by renegotiating the story’s end through drama. For example, new contexts

can be created through the use of additional languages in the re-telling, musical backdrops

created or chosen by the participants and the use of movement and dance to resituate the fairy

tale. In this manner, different cultural identities and traditions are being mixed and melted,

created a collage of colour and culture, celebrating diversity and difference.

The group gains ownership of the dramatic exploration of the fairy tale presented they have co-

constructed and presented, so that the principles of democracy and giving equal voice to all

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participants are honoured. Through such a re-imagining of fairy tales, children are enabled to

critique the literary canon presented to them by western culture and understand that the stories

can be owned by all in that they can be reclaimed to represent a group or individual’s negotiated

interpretation of it. To expound an example of Drama in Education’s potential for the re-

presentation of fairy tales, we are going to draw on the prolific fairy tale writer, Hans Christian

Andersen (1835-1875).

Hans Christian Andersen

The Danish writer’s best known tales from his collection of 156 tales include The Tinderbox

(1835), The Princess and the Pea, Thumbelina, The Little Mermaid (1837) and The Ugly

Duckling (1843). Lesser known fairy tales of Andersen’s include The Steadfast Tin Soldier

(1838), The Nightingale (1843), The Red Shoes (1845) and The Shadow (1847). Dominant

themes within the fairy tales of Andersen include survival of the fittest and bourgeois notions of

the self-made man. Tales such as The Princess and the Pea (1837) embody the dreams of social

rise and individual happiness which further a powerful, all-encompassing bourgeois selection

process. Zipes (1983) argues that there are strains of Social Darwinism built into Andersen’s

stories. In a story like The Little Mermaid (1837), the fittest is not always the strongest but the

chosen protagonist who proves him or herself worthy of serving a dominant value system,

succeeds due to his or her own innate talents and ability.

To analyse Andersen’s place in history would demand a close examination of the context in

which he lived and wrote. The nineteenth century was a period in which interest in race and

biology became very strong. Social Darwinism came to the fore as Darwin and Spencer

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elaborated their theories at this time. There was gradual recognition by the dominant voices that

fantasy could be employed through fairy tales, for the utilitarian needs of the bourgeoisie. To this

end, Andersen’s work proved most useful.

Andersen had ambivalent feelings towards his own proletarian background. At that time

Denmark’s tightly- knit bureaucratic feudal structure was undergoing rapid change towards An

emergent dominant bourgeois class. In Danish society it was almost impossible to break through

class barriers and Andersen succeeded in this regard and as such was subject to much scrutiny.

When he arrived in Copenhagen in 1819, was corrected for his use of language and manners and

was sent to elite private schools in the 1820s to receive a formal and classical education where

Shakespeare, Irving and Scott all shaped his ideal of individualism.

Throughout his writing, Andersen mixed popular folk language and or linguistic forms with

classical speech in creating his tales. This is said to have been in an attempt to unify an identity

which dominant discourse kept dissociating (Zipes, 1983). Andersen’s autobiographical work,

‘The Fairytale of my Life’ poignantly explores a practice of self-denial which was cultivated as

individualism.

‘The Ugly Duckling’ as a Stimulus for Drama in Education

It is Andersen’s story of The Ugly Duckling (1843) which is explored here as a stimulus for

Drama in Education. In an attempt to revise the story in its representation, the infant class

involved in the re-telling are invited to step into the webbed feet of the ugly duckling and embark

on his journey with him. The themes of inclusion and difference are of central concern and are

woven throughout the choice of methodology and discussion in the dramatisation.

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In order to teach Drama in Education, the prerequisites for teaching drama, as outlined in the

Irish Primary Curriculum (1999) must be consulted. The prerequisites for teaching drama in the

primary classroom include content, the fictional lens and a safe environment. The content chosen

for the drama derives from the age-appropriate fairy tale, The Ugly Duckling (1843), with which

most children will already be familiar. As outlined above, the themes to be explored include

difference and inclusion with opportunities to integrate with Strand Unit, Myself and Others in

the Social Personal Health Education curriculum.

The fictional lens in this instance constitutes the children primarily in role collectively, as the

little grey duckling, having left home, embarking on an adventure. The teacher will adopt

different roles to support the children’s work in drama, including a nasty cat and the duckling at

different points. Considerations for the creation of a safe environment include the physical,

psychological and emotional safety of participants. In this instance, a circular space for the

children to work in is cleared. The children are invited to embody the hero as well as the nasty

character and de-role from each before reflecting on the experience through talk and discussion,

as well as the art form. The rationale for inviting the children to embody both the hero and villain

is to provide a practical means of exploring representations of self and other. In so doing, the

children can use the art form to explore and represent ‘other’ in the ‘no-penalty zone of drama’

(Heathcote in Johnson and O’Neill, 1984, p. 130). The inherent tension in playing the ‘baddie’

make this a highly complex skill and transition for the children to make, who empathise greatly

with the duckling at this point.

Each of the sub-strand units at Infant level will be explored throughout this scheme of work,

namely, Exploring and Making Drama, Cooperating and Communicating in Making Drama and

Reflecting on Drama:

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1. ‘To develop the ability to play in role as an integral part of the action’

2. ‘Experience how the fictional past and the desired fictional future influence the present

dramatic action’

3. ‘Experience the relationship between story, theme and life experience’.

4. ‘Develop the ability, out of role, to co-operate and communicate in helping to shape the

drama’.

(Drama: Arts Education. Primary School Curriculum, 1999 pp. 14-17)

To introduce the story, the participants are retold the beginning of the story, up to and including

the moment when the duckling decides to leave home. The involvement of the participants in

retelling the story is sought from the very beginning, as the group are invited to decide three to

four items the duckling brought with him. Children’s imaginative engagement is sought and

commended here, and no suggestion rejected. Children may effectively modernise the story

setting at this juncture, by choosing for the duckling to bring a mobile phone, for example.

To build the fictional context, the participants are invited to enter the aesthetic space in pairs and

sculpt the duckling at various moments in the initial section of the story. This offers participants

an opportunity to explore the emotional content of the story, with a view to developing empathy

with the duckling’s plight and understand how he or she would have felt when he left home. A

discussion to reflect on the advisability of leaving home without telling anyone is used as a

follow-up.

The participants then embark on a representation of the physical journey of the duckling through

as the group travel around the aesthetic space in a circle to the backdrop of teacher narration.

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This is followed by a further narrated sequence where the participants collectively mime settling

down as the duckling for the night, eating the food he has brought along first. An opportunity to

improvise emerges as the problem of a nasty cat approaching the duckling ensues. It is vital that

the children are given a clear brief not to let the duckling stay when they go into role as the nasty

cats. The facilitator, meanwhile, adopts the role of the frightened duckling, ending the

improvisation by pretending to run away. The children must be fully ‘de-roled’ at this point and

given an opportunity to reflect on the experience.

The next episode chosen in the dramatic exploration of the story follows the version of the story

that suggests that the little duckling sought shelter in a farmhouse. Children’s problem-solving

skills and cognitive engagement is sought as they are invited to figure out a way for the tiny

duckling to gain access to the farmhouse. Once this hurdle is overcome, the participants are then

invited to become the children of the farmhouse, rather than the farmer or his wife, and assist the

duckling as Teacher-in- Role. Subsequently the pupils are invited to map, plan and improvise the

duckling’s exit from the farm. Participants can decide what happens next through open-ended

methodologies such as small group scenes or whole group improvisation with a democratically

agreed narrative structure. It is imperative the message of hope written as the end of the story is

called upon to facilitate a loyal interpretation of the text. Reflecting on the story can be

facilitated through writing; image work, talk and discussion and or visual art.

Observations and Conclusions

Pupil prior knowledge of this well-known tale must be acknowledged as a planning

consideration for such a scheme of work in drama. Particularly, at the opening of the drama

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workshop, where the story is initially introduced, it is highly likely that one or more participants

will announce that he or she knows the story. Rather than deny pupil prior knowledge of the

story, it is recommended that it is acknowledged and built on. The facilitator is effectively asking

that the pupils, who know the story, now effectively enter it. The difference is that through

drama, the participants can be empowered to change the story through their interaction with it

and representations of it.

Creative and imaginative contributions are accepted, even if they do not fit within the original

story genre. As mentioned earlier, all suggestions of what the duckling should pack are accepted.

If this includes a modern contribution, such as an electronic game or foodstuff a duckling would

not eat, so be it! In accepting such contributions, children are being given ownership of the story

and having their voice heard. Similarly, imaginative solutions to the problems encountered along

the way should be accepted and teased out for their satisfactory development by the group, where

possible. The art form of drama means that we can imagine and mime far more than we can do

as ourselves, in our physical form, be us small children or awkward adults.

The use of Hans Christian Andersen’s 168 year old story in a modern infant classroom proves

very useful as a stimulus for drama in a Development and intercultural Education context. As

outlined above the methods used are intended to maximise the contributions of the group, so that

their retelling of the story is particular to them. The themes selected determine the methodologies

employed and lead the development of ideas through discussion. Once the story is effectively

owned by the group through their dramatisation, the structure, plot and essence of it are deemed

as highly suitable for work with an infant Irish class, as part of the curricular programme.

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List of References

Barthes, R. (1957) Mythologies. London: Jonathon Cape Ltd.

Bettelheim, B. (1975) The Uses of Enchantment. The Meaning and Importance of Fairy Tales.

London: Penguin.

Johnson, L. and O’ Neill, C. (eds.) (1984) Collected Writings on Education and Drama by

Dorothy Heathcote. Chicago: Northwestern University Press.

Kamenetsky, C. (1992) The Brothers Grimm and their Critics. Ohio University Press.

MacIntyre, A. (1984) (2nd

ed.) After Virtue: A Study in Moral Theory. University of Notre Dame

Press.

NCCA (1999) Arts Education: The Drama Curriculum. Dublin: The Government Stationery

Office.

Tatar, M. (1992) Off with their Heads! Fairy Tales and the Culture of Childhood. New Jersey:

Princeton University Press.

Warner,M. ( 1994) From the Beast to the Blonde. London: Chatto and Windus.

Warner, M. ( 2000) (2nd

ed.) No Go the Bogeyman: Scaring, Lulling and Making Mock. London:

Vintage, Random House.

Zipes, J. (1983) Fairy Tales and the Art of Subversion. The Classical Genre for Children and teh

Process of Civilisation. New York: Routledge.

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Zipes, J. (1995) Creative Storytelling. Building Community, Shaping Minds. New York:

Routledge.

Zipes, J. (2009) Relentless Progress. New York: Routledge.