Educational and Family Values in the Fairy Tale “Stribor’s Forest”– Promoting Altruism and Moral Development in Students

Abstract

As one of the most renowned Croatian writers, Ivana Brlić Mažuranić is significant for the development of children’s literature. In the fairy tale “Forest of Stribor,” the author depicts the unconditional love of a mother for her son, a love that persists despite life’s challenges. The mother is willing to sacrifice herself for her son, even when he treats her unjustly. The author’s works abound with educational values that are relevant even today, in the era of globalization, internationalization, technological advancements, artificial intelligence, communication networks, and unfortunately, the atrophy of universal values. The aim of this study is to analyze the pedagogical aspects of educational values, especially family values, in the literary work/ fairy tale “Forest of Stribor” by Ivana Brlić Mažuranić. By applying qualitative research approach and employing interviews as a research instrument, an attempt was made to determine the understanding of the fairy tale and family values from the perspective of fourth-grade students in an elementary school in Osijek. The analysis of the research results will shape and determine the understanding of family values from the students’ perspective as well as the development of students’ morals and altruism in order to gain a clearer insight into how education was approached in the Croatian cultural context at the time of the fairy tale’s creation and into the author’s own value system.