Cinderella used as a multicultural text in elementary school
Cinderella is one of the best-known fairy tales in literature. According to the American Library Association, the tale of Cinderella itself is believed to have originated in China in the ninth century. Many children are familiar with the story before they begin school. However, some children, especially those who speak English as a second language, not familiar with Cinderella. For this reason, perhaps a first early use for Cinderella as a text in the elementary classroom would be to use Cinderella texts from various cultures to show that many different people have the same story. Here are some examples of Cinderella texts from different cultures: Mufaro's Beautiful Daughters by John Steptoe (Africa), The Rough-Faced Girl by David Shannon (Native American), Estrellita de oro/Little Gold Star: A Cinderella Cuento retold in Spanish and English by Joe Hayes (Mexico), Yeh-Shen: A Cinderella Story from China by Ai-Ling Louie (Asia). When using Cinderella as a common text, a graphic or visual organizer would be helpful to help the children follow along with the story.
Cinderella Used as a Common Theme
Teachers can use the text of Cinderella to teach a common theme at the elementary or the secondary level. Depending on the grade level, the themes used can be simple (goodness and kindness over selfishness) or complicated (roles for women). According to the University of Missouri e-themes project, Cinderella can also be used to teach a specific story element, such as plot, conflict, resolution, setting, and characters, because students can compare the similarities and differences among the story elements. Teaching Cinderella in social studies is a good way to compare how different cultures use a story to show their rules and customs. Fairy tales like Cinderella can demonstrate how fairy tales change depending on when they were written. If teachers use Cinderella as a history theme, they could start with Rhodopis from Greece in the first century B.C.E., to Yeh Shen from the ninth century, to Native American tales from the 16th and 17th centuries, to Grimms' tale from the 19th century.
Cinderella and the Role of Women and Men
Teachers could also use Cinderella in middle school, and perhaps high school, to discuss gender roles. In addition to the Cinderella tales mentioned previously, there are versions of Cinderella that have a male for the lead character, according to the American Library Association. Bubba the Cowboy Prince: A Fractured Texas Tale by Helen Ketteman, and Sumorella: A Hawaii Cinderella Story by Sandi Takayama are examples of "Cinderfella" tales. Teachers could use the characters to examine how gender is used in the Cinderella stories. Is the character of "Cinderella" or "Cinderfella" a typical guy or a typical girl? What is a "typical" boy or girl? How do we decide what is typical? How do the illustrations in the stories show the character or the character's intentions? Students could use graphic organizers, or make their own. It also might be helpful to create a class organizer on chart paper for each story and hang them around the room to help the students see the similarities and differences between the Cinderella characters from story to story.
Cinderella in the Larger Context of Teaching
In recent years, some have debated the validity of teaching fairy tales at all in elementary schools. Some teachers have said that teaching Cinderella gives students, especially girls, a false sense that relationships are all about waiting for a prince to come along, and women in fairy tales are shown as beautiful and helpless. Other teachers have said that Cinderella has themes of hope, perseverance, and kindness toward others; and these qualities should be taught in school. Whatever a teacher's personal feelings may be, the story of Cinderella lies within the collective conscience of the West and therefore in the banks of standardized tests. For this reason, if no other, it’s important to make students aware of common fairy tales like Cinderella.