THERE IS AN OVERWHELMING AMOUNT of research on emotion regulation (e.g. Barblett & Maloney, 2010; Koole, 2010). Much of this work has centred on experimental studies rather than group settings such as childcare centres and kindergartens. In drawing upon cultural-historical concepts, this paper presents a theoretical discussion on how fairytales help children to collectively develop emotion regulation. We specifically explore emotions and cognition during the telling, re-telling, and role-playing of fairytales. It is argued that fairytales can act as a pedagogical framework for helping children become more conscious of emotions as they role play. Cultural-historical theory is used to give a new perspective on both fairytales and emotion regulation.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
AhnH. J. (2005). Child care teachers' strategies in children's socialization of emotion. Early Child Development and Care, 17(5), 49–61.
2.
AmatoP. (1987). Children and families in Australia. The growth of competence.Australia: Prentice Hall.
3.
BarblettL. & MaloneyC. (2010). Complexities of assessing social and emotional competence and wellbeing in young children. Australasian Journal of Early Childhood, 35(2), 13–18.
4.
BakerJ. K., FenningR. M., & CrnicK. A. (2011). Emotion socialization by mothers and fathers: Coherence among behavior and associations with parent attitudes and children's social competence. Social Development, 20(2), 412–430.
5.
BaumerS.FerholtB., & LecusayR. (2005). Promoting narrative competence through adult–child joint pretense: Lessons from the Scandinavian educational practice of playworld. Cognitive Development, 20, 576–590.
6.
BellM. A., & WolfeC. D. (2004). Emotion and cognition: An intricately bound development process. Child Development, 75(2), 366–370.
7.
BettelheimB. (1976). Uses of enchantment: The meaning and importance of fairy tales.New York: Knopf.
8.
BozhovichL. I. (2009). The social situation of child development. Journal of Russian and East European Psychology, 47(4), 59–86.
9.
ColeP. M., BruschiC. J., & TamangB. L. (2002). Cultural differences in children's emotional reactions to difficult situations. Child Development, 73(3), 986–996.
10.
ColeP. M., DennisT. A., Smith-SimonK. E., & CohenL. H. (2009). Preschoolers' emotion regulation strategy understanding: Relations with emotion socialization and child self-regulation. Social Development, 18(2), 324–352.
11.
Community Child Care Co-operative Ltd (NSW). (n.d.). Developmental milestones and the Early Years Learning Framework and the National Quality Standards.Canberra: Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations.
12.
DaviesE., PriestN., DaviesB., SimsM., HarrisonL., & CookD. (2010). Promoting children's social and emotional wellbeing in childcare centres within low socioeconomic areas: Strategies facilitators and challenges. Australasian Journal of Early Childhood, 35(3), 77–86.
13.
De HouwerJ., & HermansD. (2010). Cognition and emotion. Reviews of current research and theories.New York: Psychology Press.
14.
DenhamS. A., BassettH. H., & ZinsserK. (2012). Early childhood teachers as socializers of young children's emotional competence. Early Childhood Education Journal, online, 1 February 2012. doi 10.1007/s10643-012-0504-2
15.
Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations. (2009). Belonging, Being and Becoming. The Early Years Learning Framework for Australia.Canberra, Australia: Commonwealth of Australia.
16.
El'koninovaL. I. (1999/2002). The object orientation of children's play in the context of understanding imaginary space —time in play and in stories. Journal of Russian and East European Psychology, 39(2), March–April, 30–51.
17.
FerholtB. (2010). A synthetic-analytic method for the study of Perezhivanie: Vygotsky's literary analysis applied to Playworlds. In ConneryM. C., John-SteinerV. P. & Marjanovic-ShaneA. (Eds), Vygotsky and creativity. A cultural-historical approach to play, meaning making and the arts (pp. 163–180). New York: Peter Lang.
18.
FleerM. & HammerM. (2013, in press). Emotions in imaginative situations: The valued place of fairytales for supporting emotion regulation. Mind, Culture, Activity.
19.
McLachlanC., FleerM., & EdwardsS. (2013). Early childhood curriculum. Planning, assessment and implementation (2nd edn). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
20.
GabhainnS. N., & SixsmithJ. (2005). Children's understandings of well-being.Dublin, Ireland: National Children's Office, New Oceans.
21.
GalyerK. T., & EvansI. M. (2001). Pretend play and the development of emotion regulation in preschool children. Early Child Development and Care, 166(1), 93–108.
22.
GeanguE., BengaO., StahlD., & StrianoT. (2011). Individual differences in infant resonance to a peer in distress: Self-other awareness and emotion regulation. Social Development, 20(3), 450–470.
23.
Gimenez-DasiM., QuintanillaL., AriasL., & DanielM. (2009). Thinking emotions: A proposal for early childhood education. Critical and Creative Thinking, 17(2), 127–151.
24.
HakkarainenP. (2004). Narrative learning in the fifth dimension. Outlines: Critical Social Studies, 6(1), 5–20.
25.
HalberstadtA. G., & LozadaF. T. (2011). Emotion development in infancy through the lens of culture. Emotion Review, 3(2), 158–168.
26.
HolodynskiM. (2009). Milestones and mechanisms of emotional development. In Rottger-RosslerB. & MarkowitschH. J. (Eds), Emotion as bio-cultural processes (pp. 139–163). New York: Springer Science+Business Media.
27.
HolodynskiM., & FriedlmeierW. (2006). Development of emotions and emotion regulation. Kluwer International Series in Outreach Scholarship. New York: Springer Science+Business Media.
28.
IakovlevaE. L. (1997/2003). Emotional mechanisms underlying personal and creative development. Journal of Russian and East European Psychology, 41(6), 92–100.
29.
KooleS. L. (2010). The psychology of emotion regulation: An integrative review. In De HouwerJ. & HermansD. (Eds), Cognition and emotion. Reviews of current research and theories (pp. 128–167). New York: Psychology Press.
30.
KravtsovaE. E. (2006). The concept of age-specific new psychological formations in contemporary developmental psychology. Journal of Russian and East European Psychology, 9(6), 6–18.
31.
KravtsovaE. E. (2008). Zone of potential development and subject positioning. Paper presented at Vygotsky symposium, Monash University, Peninsula campus, 17 December 2008.
32.
LindqvistG. (1995). The aesthetics of play: A didactic study of play and culture in preschools. Uppsala, Sweden: Uppsala University.
33.
Ministry of Education, New Zealand. (2007). The New Zealand Curriculum.Wellington: Learning Media.
34.
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). (2006). Starting strong II. Early childhood education and care.Paris: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
35.
RainioA. P. (2008). From resistance to involvement: Examining agency and control in a Playworld activity. Mind, Culture and Activity, 15(2), 115–140.
36.
Siraj-BlatchfordI. (2007). Creativity, communication and collaboration: The identification of pedagogic progression in sustained shared thinking. Asia Pacific Journal of Research in Early Childhood Education, 36(2), 3–23.
37.
SmagorinskyP. (2011). Vygotsky's stage theory: The psychology of art and the actor under the direction of Perezhivanie. Mind, Culture and Activity, 18(4), 319–341.
38.
SumsionJ., BarnesS., CheesemanS., HarrisonL., KennedyA. M., & StonehouseA. (2009). Insider perspectives on developing Belonging, Being and Becoming: The Early Years Learning Framework for Australia. Australasian Journal of Early Childhood, 34(4), 4–13.
39.
VallottonC. D., & AyoubC. C. (2010). Symbols build communication and thought: The role of gestures and words in the development of engagements, skills and social-emotional concepts during toddlerhood. Social Development, 19(3), 601–629.
40.
VygotskyL. S. (1925/1971). The psychology of art.Cambridge, UK: MIT Press (original work published in 1925).
41.
VygotskyL. S. (1930/2004). Imagination and creativity in childhood. Journal of Russian and East European Psychology, 42(1), 7–97.
42.
VygotskyL. S. (1933/1966). Play and its role in the mental development of the child. Voprosy psikhologii [Psychology], 12(6), 62–76.
43.
VygotskyL. S. (1933/1999). The teaching about emotions: Historical–psychological studies. In HallM. J. & RieberR. W. (Eds, English translation), Scientific legacy. The collected works of L.S. Vygotsky, vol. 6 (pp. 69–235). New York: Plenum Press.
44.
VygotskyL. S. (1934/1987). Problems of general psychology. The collected works of L.S. Vygotsky, vol. 1, MinickN., RieberR. W. & CartonA. S. (Eds, English translation). New York: Plenum Press.
45.
VygotskyL. (1994). The problem of environment. In van der VeerR. & ValsinerJ. (Eds), The Vygotsky reader (pp. 338–354). Oxford: Blackwell Publishers.
46.
WarrenH. K., DomitrovichC. E., & GreenbergM. T. (2011). Examining the link between preschool social-emotional competence and first grade academic achievement: The role of attention skills. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 26(2), 182–191.
47.
ZaporozhetsA. V. (1986/2002). Toward the question of the genesis, function, and structure of emotional processes in the child. Journal of Russian and East European Psychology, 40(2), 45–66.
48.
ZaporozhetsA. V. (1994/2005). L. S. Vygotsky's role in the development of the concept of emotion. Digest. International Scientific Journal Cultural-historical Psychology, 1-2, 32–33.
