Abstract:
The purposes of this study were: (1) to develop model tales using principles of persuasive communication and principles of tale development to enhance generosity behaviors in early childhood pupils; (2) to assess the effectiveness of the developed tales on the generosity behaviors of early childhood pupils. For the second objective, two hypotheses were formulated: (1) the tales constructed to enhance the generosity behaviors were effective; (2) the mean score on the generosity behaviors after the implementation of the tales was higher than that before the use of the materials. The research is a pre-experimental (one group pretest and posttest design). The subjects chosen for this study were 36 male and female pupils of a Kindergarten Level 2 class, aged 5  6 years old. The research instruments were two tale books, constructed by the researcher. The tale books were based on the principles of persuasive communication and principles of tale construction. The tales aimed at enhancing the ethical behaviors of generosity in children in early childhood pupils. The tales constructed were also to establish the value of generosity and to encourage sharing among others of kindergarten pupils. The books of tales were published in printed and electronic formats. Early childhood childrens parents were also surveyed through the internet to find out the effectiveness of the tales constructed. The effectiveness criteria of the tales were set at a level of 80/80. After the tales were constructed, they were tested and revised until the effectiveness reached the expected criteria level. The tales were implemented in a kindergarten classroom for 10 weeks. The pretest was given to the subjects before the experiment to measure their level of generosity. The tales were told to the subjects by the classroom teacher. After the experiment the posttest was given to measure the subjects scores on generosity. A dependent sample t-test was used to determine the difference between the mean scores of generosity of the subjects before and after the treatment. The results of the study were: (1) The effectiveness of the tales constructed was 86.11/84.25, which was higher than the expected criteria. It was found that the tales had clear objectives, correct content, suitable background, beautiful layout and illustrations. The presentation techniques were suitable and interesting. The characters in the two tales were divided clearly into two opposite character traits  good and bad ones. Fear was the motivation used in the tales. The tales also included words and phrases that motivated students to participate in the story telling such as cries of characters. The characters were interesting and they were good models for pupils to follow. The parents who were surveyed through the internet revealed positive opinions. They agreed that the tales had suitable content, illustrations, and characters. The parents who participated in the study also agreed that the tales were interesting and motivating. Early childhood children listened to the tales attentively. (2) The mean score of the posttest was significantly higher than that of the pretest at the significant level of .05. This indicated that the tales constructed could change the ethical behavior of generosity of the subjects. The data from observation also revealed that after the implementation of the first tale the subjects showed generous behavior towards teachers and classmates. Some pupils imitated the behaviors of characters in the tales they had listened to. Based on the research results, it is recommended that schools, teachers, and parents to use tales to develop the ethical behaviors of generosity. Developing and selecting suitable tales are important. Tales can be used to develop the ethical behavior of generosity of kindergarten pupils and also to lessen undesired behaviors