Fairy Tales in the College Classroom: Essays to Spark Lesson Plan Ideas Across the Curriculum

Educators aspire to teach skills that will expand the way their students think and act, not just in the classroom but throughout their lives. Centered on fairy tales, this pedagogical resource contains educational theories and classroom techniques contributed by scholars from around the world. Each teaching technique provided uses the familiarity of fairy tales as a non-threatening base to explore complex concepts and practices while encouraging students to examine the origins and assumptions of their own society, to expand their worldviews along with their critical thinking, reading, writing, creative, and expressive skills.

This collection of essays is primarily designed for use in post-secondary classes, but it is an invaluable resource for any educator. The book is organized into five parts with two to three essays in each section, each presenting detailed theories and learning goals behind the classroom activities. Practical advice for adapting lessons for various education levels, class lengths, and subjects of coursework is also included. These practices for teaching fairy tales provide a firm foundation for creating lessons that will give students and instructors a greater understanding of our world and the promise of a better future.

Heather Powers is a professor emerita of English at Indiana University of Pennsylvania and has taught writing classes for over 30 years. Her research focuses on transformative works about Harry Potter, Star Trek, and Sherlock Holmes.