New Perspectives on Decolonizing Fairy Tales: A Storywork Approach to Teaching the Grimms’ Tradition

This article explores the need to decolonize the teaching of Grimms’ fairy tales by incorporating Indigenous storytelling traditions and methodologies into the curriculum. Fairy tales, and specifically the Grimms’ Kinder- und Hausmärchen (1857), are tied to colonial and nationalistic discourses that offer opportunities to critically re-evaluate the genre. By drawing on Jo-ann Archibald’s Indigenous storywork framework and the concept of Two-Eyed Seeing, the author advocates for pedagogical practices that move beyond Eurocentric narratives to create more inclusive, place-based, and social-justice-oriented learning environments.