5 Ways to Cultivate Moral Imagination Through Literature

Stories help us learn what we ought to feel, how we ought to respond to things that are beautiful, and how we ought to respond to evil and hardship. Through a good story, children can imagine themselves in the stories and imagine what must be done. It truly is a safe place to learn where the consequences are not real, but the lessons are. 

To help students develop their affections and learn what they ought to love and to hate, we must allow them to experience and taste the virtues found in literature. Mere instruction is not enough to nurture the virtues. Often we encourage a  student to practice integrity and not to lie, only to find the student succumbs to lying. In these moments, we are overestimating reason and underestimating the affections and imagination. We must activate  the imagination. Through the moral imagination, our students begin to recognize these virtues, not as abstract concepts but as desirable traits.. They come to love these virtues for their inherent beauty and worth. 

The moral imagination is our capacity to transform specific experiences into meaningful metaphors and images because the imagination is capable of grasping truth and goodness. We then use these metaphors and images, which have moved us passionately, to discern moral truths and and empathize with others across time and social boundaries.It does not deal in rules, but in webs of images, memories, experiences, stories, and poetry. A vibrant moral imagination flourishes on the foundation of human experience, a resource that young and inexperienced students often lack. Well-crafted stories serve as a powerful experience substitute. As students immerse themselves in these great stories, the stories transform into truly-lived experiences, shaping their moral compass and fortifying their character.  

How do we practically cultivate the moral imagination within our students? Here are 5 ways that can help you stretch the moral imagination muscle in your classroom:  

1. You must read stories and poems daily and for fun!

You do not need to do a deep analysis of everything you read out loud to your class. More often than not, deep truths cannot be revealed through discursive analysis! These truths must be experienced through the story itself and savored in the immediate moment that unfolds with the impending danger of the quest or the joy of reunion with a love. During my first year of teaching, I selected the fairy tale, The Ugly Duckling, believing it would illustrate the virtue of charity to my students. However, the discussion took an unexpected turn when a student, who truly needed to grasp the lesson of charity, raised his hand and insightfully pointed out that the story was not primarily about kindness, but rather about beauty. It dawned on me that stories serve as powerful catalysts for developing moral sensibilities, often in ways we cannot predict. More importantly, I realized that my students possessed the ability to uncover profound truths without me leading them through a discursive analysis. 

2.  Be mindful of what is being read and listened to inside your classroom.

In our modern world, we have become desensitized to good and evil. Take the movie, “How to Train Your Dragon”. In this kids film, the dragons, at first, are  perceived as fearsome adversaries. However, as the story unfolds, these creatures are revealed to be gentle beings, misunderstood by the Vikings around them. This portrayal stands in stark contrast to the dragons of classic literature, such as the “vile sky-winger” that claimed Beowulf’s life or the impenetrable dragon that Saint George had to slay. This transformation highlights a broader cultural movement and a warning to opening our eyes as educators to helping our students develop a strong moral compass through what they read.  

3. Instead of trying to dissect themes with students, focus on discussing dilemmas.

Dilemmas do not always have clear-cut solutions.  This process activates their moral imagination as they envision various scenarios and consequences, put themselves in different characters’ shoes, and grapple with conflicting values and priorities. There is this wonderful English short story entitled “Mr. Vinegar”. The couple lives in a vinegar bottle, but the wife accidentally destroys their home. Mr. Vinegar then sets out to seek their fortune, but repeatedly makes poor decisions, trading valuable items for less useful ones. Mr. Vinegar is easily swayed by momentary attractions without considering the long-term consequences of his choices. This story is full of predicaments and places to call your students to reflect more deeply on what they would have done if they were Mr. Vinegar or how they would react to Mr. Vinegar if they were Mrs. Vinegar.  

4. Let your students read and reread.

Repetition is good because it signals happiness for a child! Many of my students would read our literature book independently right after we finished in class. I would attempt to encourage them to pick a different book since we just read that one, however, they would just want to keep reading it. However, students enjoy the process of failing, learning, and succeeding alongside the characters through the safety and beauty of the book. Encourage that!  

5. Your students do not always need another moral, but a picture of what is good, and they need to learn to love that good in order to grow in virtue.

This is a necessary truth to grasp in order to lead our students to become people of virtue. Use literature in your classrooms to develop images of goodness, courage, friendship, perseverance, and justice. Then, use these images when talking to students about virtue. In an effort to help my students develop and hold onto these images and metaphors, I often ask them to reflect on the characters in our stories. Who do they want to become like and why? Which characters should they flee from and why? What specific things can they do to become more like a character in a story? I have created a reflection sheet that I often have the students do at the beginning, middle, and end of the school year, but also for a child who is struggling with an aspect of their character and needs to reflect. For example, I ask the student to select a character from literature or history that they admire. They are to explain why they find this character admirable and discuss ways they could emulate that character in their own lives.  

As we introduce the great works of literature to our students, let us see it as an opportunity to clothe our students with hundreds of experiences from the moral imagination that will allow them to navigate through this complex world with clarity, conviction, and virtue.