TA DA!!!!

Well, here it is. It is officially sent in with my application however, I'm not stopping there. I will probably continue to revise it more in order to stretch my writing skills. Please feel free to comment or criticize as it will help me grow in writing!


Fairy Tales in Education

I.
Are fairy tales truly important? Do they have any influence on the human soul? Is it at all efficacious for the successful education of young people? The following essay attempts to answer these questions by considering several arguments for, and several arguments against, the importance of fairy tales in the education of young people. It appears that science is the leading tool of knowledge these days because it deals with facts. Would it not be better to educate our children with facts instead of fiction? There seems to be no danger in teaching a child facts however, there appears to be a danger in educating them in fiction. Science explains what a thing is made of, thereby making us capable of knowing what the thing “is”. Fairy tales on the other hand claim that science is only one way of gaining knowledge. And, that knowledge is incomplete without fairy tales. In fact, science could not stand on its own without the help of fairy tales. Yet fairy tales likewise would be incomplete without science. We have been taught to leave the realm of fairyland behind in our old childish dreams. Perhaps we ought to think differently and should never have left that realm, only incorporate into it other truths.

Science is independent of all imagination and metaphysical dealings. The crux of science is in dealing with the empirical evidence found in nature. Thus, understanding how our physical universe works. Removing the wonder of how a flower blooms and replacing it with the knowledge of how it does bloom, is the job of science. The word science comes from the Latin word Scientia, meaning knowledge. It does not delve into the realm of the imagination where all things appear probable; as in the mind of a child. Science is a realm for practical adults who deal with the laws and hard truths of nature. As Jean Rostand said, “Science has made us gods even before we are worthy of being men”. To remain in the realm of fairy tales is to lack growth and maturity in truth. Because science revolves around truth, it would be foolish of one to esteem fairy tales (which contain solely fiction) above the laws and physical workings of nature. If at the very least, fairy tales cultivate a child’s imagination giving him/her a false perception of reality and perhaps worse a prejudice against science. By no means can science explain the workings of all things at the present but the progress of science has been so incredible, it will only be a matter of time. What was once thought a miracle in the sky will soon be found to be a mere working of hydrogen and oxygen molecules in a certain pattern.

With these present and future tools of science, we will be able to more adequately educate our children. In science, we will fill the minds of our young people with truths, rather than ideas which are not cohesive with the actual world. Wouldn’t it be more advantageous to educate our kids with the facts of life rather than the imagination of some author? To expose and cultivate a fictitious mind set in our children would be to fail that generation; making them incapable to lead when their time comes. What people want are intelligent leaders, capable of making good decisions. Not leaders who daydream about fairies. One must ask themselves, “Where would our country be if our leaders only considered the impossibilities of fairy land as war tactics?” Our country would be lost to dictators such as Hitler and Stalin, if we did not use the tools of science and reason. To say that our children need to be immersed in fairy tales and educated in them is only a recipe of destruction for the future of the world.


II.
On the other hand, fairy tales are the very tools by which the incredible power of our imagination is awakened. Without the imagination, science cannot exist. New discoveries in science will cease to be made, thus, science will no longer flourish. Therefore fairy tales are an extremely important faculty in the education of young people.

III.
The notion that fairy tales are the exact opposite and completely separate from the realm of science, is very misleading because it is the very purpose of a fairy tale to stir the imagination of a child. George MacDonald once said, “It (a fairy tale) is there, not so much to convey a meaning but to awaken one.” Without the imagination, science could not exist. How did scientists come to know all of the laws and facts that we know today? It was through a process of observation. However, scientist did not know before-hand whether or not this form of observation would produce results. The process by which he hoped to observe cannot be explained through a certain law he was following but only by his imagination. Certainly it was his intellect that concluded the results but it was his imagination that produced the ability to find the results. Novalis said, “The imagination is the stuff of the intellect”, meaning that it is not the intellect which is the highest tool by which things are discovered. It is the imagination that searches out and the intellect that investigates. For example, the imagination could be thought of as the navigator and the intellect as its hireling. What the imagination discovers the intellect investigates; making the unknown discovery of the imagination known. The very heart of a scientific inventor is his imagination. To stunt the growth of a young child’s imagination is the same as abandoning any further great discoveries in science and leaving humanity hopelessly caught in a torpid circle of stagnation. This would ultimately amount to the fear that most people have concerning fairy tales; a false perception of reality.

However, what they fail to realize is that by limiting or completely ignoring the need for an imagination is to give just as false a reality, because exploiting previously discovered truths is not where a better understanding of reality is found. Certainly this is not to say that those discovered truths ought not to be searched out, but rather to say it is better to cultivate great discoverers than exploiters. Genius is not found in the exploitation of an idea but in the discovery of it. Plato was not a philosophical genius because he elaborated on philosophical truths (although that was part of it) but because he discovered those truths. Just as Thomas Edison is not famous for exploiting the use of the light bulb but rather he invented it.

Therefore, would it not be best to educate our children in the art of invention rather than exploitation? By protecting a child from fairy tales for fear of a false perception, one will only lead them into that same fear but by a different route. Thus an education in both disciplines is the only safe guard against this common and most probable fear. For to educate a child solely in the art of science, is like giving somebody half the pieces of a puzzle. And, in the same way it is dangerous to do so, because when that half of the puzzle is put together the person will have a false idea (however, not completely void of truth) of what the picture of the puzzle is supposed to represent. For example; beauty cannot be found wholly in scientific terms because there is an element to beauty which cannot be explained by its physical attributes. Just as the power of music, cannot be defined by the notes in a scale. Science certainly helps in revealing a part of beauty but it does not give the entire picture. In consequence, without the entire picture, it is much more probable one will twist and distort the truth.

However, this is not the only reason why fairy tales must be an important part of education but also because it is one of the most efficacious ways a child learns. As Chesterton said, “I knew the magic bean stalk before I had tasted beans; I was sure of the man in the moon before I was certain of the moon.” A child is more likely, and often does, retain a story much better than facts stated in a text book. They may not know it but they often hold to the truths conveyed in fairy tales as well. And this is the power of a fairy tale; that too often people don’t realize the moral truths or falsities of which they ignorantly adopt. Therefore, it is a powerful position to be the author of a fairy tale; one that ought not be taken lightly. Thus it is important, that as teachers and educators, we immerse children in good fairy tales, ones that are beautiful and true, that they may grow up having adopted virtuous morals. It would be a wicked act indeed, to write a story of a good man doing bad deeds and a bad man doing good deeds. The world would be a much better place if there were greater story tellers and inventors.

In addition, fairy tales are important if only for this reason; they do not confine a thing to what it is made of. In his book “The Voyage of the Dawn Treader,” C.S. Lewis portrays this aspect of fairy tales in his character Romandu. Romandu is a retired star slowly getting younger everyday that he might return, “And once more tread the great dance”. But Eustace, in his ignorance, explains to him that in his world stars are only big balls of gas. In response, Romandu explains that is not what a star is, but only what it is made of. Surely it is good to know what makes up the physical attributes of the world but to allow that to be the definition of what a thing is, can only lead to a complete disregard for all that is good and beautiful in the world.

Perhaps it would be best to return to the days of our childhood where all things were wonderful and new. Where science was important and yet not the tool with which all wisdom is found. Stars were amazing because we did not know who they were. And it was to this childish wonder that Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven." If the main concern for not educating our young people in fairy tales is a false perception of reality then we ought to realize educating them solely in science will bring about the same fear.