Abstract:

This paper presents an innovative pedagogical approach that utilizes digital storytelling to enhance socio-emotional understanding, ethical reflection, and decision-making skills among students. The approach was implemented with 30 secondary school students aged 13–15 at the Junior High School of Ippeios on Lesbos Island, following the Educational–W (Kordaki, 2013) story grammar which emphasizes reflection, emotional engagement, and pedagogical purpose.

Two representative stories were used as educational scenarios: “Martha’s Dilemma”, which explores the conflict of a teenager torn between duty and social acceptance, and “How We Learn to Be”, which focuses on the influence of parental behavior on a child’s emotional development and resilience. These stories served as stimuli for class dialogue, empathy building, and ethical reflection.

The evaluation revealed significant improvements in students’ empathy, self-awareness, and perspective-taking skills. Participants demonstrated greater sensitivity in recognizing emotions, analyzing moral dilemmas, and understanding the emotional consequences of their personal choices.

The findings confirm that digital storytelling constitutes a transformative pedagogical methodology that bridges theoretical knowledge with lived experience, combining creativity with socio-emotional learning. It cultivates digital and emotional literacy, empathy, and reflective thinking—skills that are essential for an inclusive and human-centered education in the digital era.

Keywords:

Digital Storytelling, Socio-Emotional Learning, Empathy, Decision-Making, Secondary Education.