Speakers

Mr Abdo Mohamed Zaki Al-Zaraa
Member of Qatr Al-Nada Editorial Board, General Organization of Cultural Palaces

Biography

Mr. Abdo is a poet and an author for children, a member of the Editorial Board of Qatr Al-Nada Magazine, and a member of the Child Culture Committee at the Supreme Council of Culture. He won the State Award for children's poetry in 2003, and the Full-Time Grant in the field of children's literature for four consecutive years from 1998 to 2001. He has published nineteen books on poetry, stories, and plays for children, and his plays were performed on the National Theater for Children and the Mass Culture Theater. He represented Egypt in many international conferences; most recently "Sharjah Reading Festival for Children 2015". He was honored by the President at the Science Festival in 2005, and by the National Theater for Children in the celebrations of 6^th of October victory in 2015 for the play "Planet Sika", produced by the theater.

Abdo.alzraa@yahoo.com

 

 

Presentation Abstract

Role of Folk Tales in Child Rearing and Education

Folk Tales
This traditional element, or the traditional adage, is considered one of the folklore that has a special position in the Egyptian communities, particularly in the rural community, represented in its habits, arts, and daily inherited experiences. The house is a place that is considered the official forum for storytelling, as it has always been in the near and distant past. The tale was the only mean that gathers the family every night before going to sleep, especially for children and babies. The tale was considered the scientific material that children learn or received at an early age. The mother, father, or grandmother, is the teacher, tutor, and educator; and the house is a school, an institute, a college, and a university.

Hence, a folk tale is a real rooting of the Egyptian personality, because it includes his psychological, intellectual, and ideological temperament. This personality is featured from habits and behaviors acquired from his parents’ experiences from earlier generations, extended to the current generation.  Dr. Fatima Hussein says in her book, "The Egyptian Character," that the most prominent qualities evident in the folk tales are heroism, magnanimity, courage, generosity, defending the nation or the community, and protecting the weak and women. These qualities that are highlighted by folk tales, are perceived by the local communities.

Folk tales also represent almost all aspirations and wishes of the narrator. They identify similarities with his personality, his upbringing, and his love to the land, which he found himself living on, feeding from its resources, and drinking from its water.