ABSTRACT
Stories are important in all cultures. People have always used stories to render the vast heterogeneity of experience meaningful, to explain the behaviour of the physical universe and to describe human nature and society. They are the most potent means by which perceptions, values and attitudes are transmitted from one generation to the next. All teachers know the power of stories as educational tools. They are vivid, enjoyable, easily understood, memorable and compelling. They appeal to people of all ages, but for children who have not yet achieved the ability to reason abstractly they provide images to think with. Our most basic concepts, such as time and causation, are embedded in the stories told to children from infancy onwards, and for this reason we feel there is truth in the shape of stories even when we know their content is fantasy. A story which begins with ‘once upon a time’ and ends with ‘and they lived happily ever after’ implies things about time and change, about cause and effect, and human relationships, regardless of where it is set or who the characters are, and it asserts an essential optimism: problems can be solved, things will turn out well, happiness is achievable. That many, perhaps most, people in our society cling stubbornly to a belief in the shape of this tale, despite the disappointments and uncertainties of life as it is lived, attests to the power of stories.
