The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of storytelling on the moral integrity of preschool children. The research method was experimental and pre-test and post-test with control group were used. The statistical population of the study included all preschool children in the city of Nourabad in 1401-1402. In order to do this research, two classes of preschool children (one class with 24 children in the experimental group and the other class with 21 children in the control group) were selected using random sampling method. The tool used in the research was a Children's Moral Integrity Scale (CMIS). After translating the original version of the instrument, the face validity of the scale was assessed by experts in the field of training and ethics education and its reliability was determined using Cronbach's alpha (α = 0.82). The obtained data were analyzed by using covariance analysis. The results of the study showed that the mean of the variable of the preschool children's moral integrity and the subscales of of empathy, respect, and courage were more than the control group but there is no meaningful difference between the two experimental and control groups in the mean subscale of honesty (p<0/05). Therefore, storytelling can be considered as an effective teaching method in teaching moral values ​​and moral integrity of preschool children.
Keywords: storytelling, moral integrity, preschool children, empathy, honesty, respect and courage.
 
Introduction
Moral integrity is a virtue and main for peaceful life and coexistence and a necessary thing in all aspects of human life (personal and professional). Researchers describe moral integrity as "honesty, reliability, integrity and integrity of moral character" and "objectivity, impartiality and loyalty in adhering to moral norms" and also moral integrity as the capacity to perform principled behavior even when there is a conflict between values. Betawi (2018) acknowledges that moral integrity in early childhood has four dimensions of empathy, honesty, respect and courage. They note that the family (parents' educational methods and children's role models from them) and schools (using different methods such as modeling, exams and evaluations, providing guidance and counseling services, curriculum, modeling the role of managers and school teachers) can play an important role in the development of children's principles, values ​​and moral integrity, among them, teaching methods such as storytelling methods such as using children's literature and storytelling play a significant role in childhood moral education has Researchers claim that stories help to convey the moral values ​​that young children should acquire through images, parables and frequent repetition of values. Moral stories can form mental images in children's minds and allow children to mentally draw experiences and see images in their heads. These images, parables help young children to process information and learn instructions better than listening. If the content of the story is related to the child's life, the child can easily understand the content of the story. and depict it. They believe that all kinds of moral, religious, social, cultural, etc. values ​​can be instilled in children through stories or legends. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of storytelling on the moral integrity of preschool children.
Materials & Methods
 The research method was experimental and a pre-test and post-test design was used with a control group. The statistical population of the research included all preschool children in Noorabad city in 1402-1401. In order to conduct this research, two classes of preschool children (one class with 24 children in the experimental group and the other class with 21 children in the control group) were selected using random sampling method. The tool used in this research was Children's Moral Integrity Scale (CMIS) (Betawi, 2018). This scale has 48 items and four subscales of empathy (12 items), honesty (11 items), and respect (15 items). It measures moral courage (10 items). Scale items are scored on a Likert scale from 1 to 5 (never, rarely, sometimes, and often). After translating the original version of the instrument, the face validity of the scale was assessed by experts in the field of training and ethics education and its reliability was determined using Cronbach's alpha (α = 0.82). In order to analyze data from descriptive statistics (mean and standard deviation, minimum and maximum scores). ) and inferential statistics (analysis of covariance test) were used in spss 28. It should be noted that the significance level of the statements was investigated (a = 0.5).
Discussion & Results
Due to the existence of an independent variable and several dependent variables and the adjustment of the pre-test effect, the statistical test of multivariate analysis was used Levine's test was used. The values ​​of the F statistic, which shows the value of Levin's test to check the homogeneity of variances of the experimental and control groups, and in the moral integrity of children (f (43.1), p=0.932) and none of the components of empathy (f, (43,1) (p=0.293)), honesty (f (43,1) (p=0.797), respect (f (43,1) (p=0.338), moral courage (f, (43,1) (p=0.180) were not significant (p < 0.05). According to this result, the assumption of equality of variances of the two experimental and control groups in the effectiveness of storytelling on the moral integrity of preschool children and its components was confirmed. In addition, the results of the multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA) showed the difference between the control and experimental groups in the moral integrity of children. And the difference between the scores of the two groups shows that storytelling had an effect on children's moral integrity. Also, the results of the research showed that the mean of the pre-school children's moral integrity variable and the subscales of empathy, respect, and courage were higher than the control group, but there was no significant difference between the experimental and control groups in the mean of the honesty subscale (p<0.05).
Conclusion
The results obtained from the research indicate the effect of storytelling on the moral integrity of children under the scales of empathy, respect and courage. Past researches show that the use of story-telling method, in addition to expanding the vocabulary, creating an opportunity to practice spoken language and develop language skills for children, causes the transfer of moral values ​​and its application in daily life. Children often prefer storytelling methods to do their homework. In this method, the child must listen, pay attention to the story and absorb the content of the story. In fact, storytelling encourages children to explore their own thoughts and feelings, helps them to respect the ideas of others, and encourages children to think about different points of view. Researchers explain that children learn moral attitudes from stories and also through argumentative conversations with peers or adults, they understand how to justify their own interpretation, listen to the ideas of others with respect, Critically examine the arguments of others and be aware of alternative situations and better justifications. Also, the inclusion of moral stories in the curriculum at the preschool level through the introduction of the education of characters based on the country's culture is very effective on the moral integrity values ​​of children and has play a significant role in instilling moral values ​​such as respect and empathy, politeness, honesty, responsibility and courage.