The Interface between Critical Thinking Strategies and Moral Development

Fables can be excellent windows into the worlds of animals and human beings for children. Moreover, they are fun to read, discuss, envisage and personalize via storytelling. There have been many fable theorists who have reflected on the definition of fable and its different functions. John Locke recommended fables to teach language at a time when social concern was growing, particularly in education. In the same way, the fabulist La Fontaine also alluded to the instructive aspect or value of fables. Fables are kinds of instruction disguised under the allegory of an action with the purpose of moral teaching. One of the best known theories of moral development is associated with Lawrence Kohlberg (1971), and it suggests how art might lead to moral development. L. Kohlberg claims that there is empirical evidence which shows that there are universal ontogenetic trends towards the development of morality. He explicitly rejects views that moral development is the result of either teaching or maturation. He also argues that empirical studies have failed to confirm the findings of psychoanalytic schools; there are no correlations between parental modes of handling infantile drives and later behavior and attitudes. He holds, instead, that moral development is primarily the result of the interaction between the individual and their social environment, where role taking is of central importance. The aim of this paper is to show how Aesop’s fables are used to enhance critical thinking strategies and to promote moral development.