PEDAGOGICAL DOCUMENTION
What is a Learning Story?
Learning Stories
5. Create learning stories about what children have experienced through narratives
A learning story is a pedagogical tool for documenting the construction of a child’s learning process. Margaret Carr is a professor at the University of Waikato in New Zealand, who wrote a book on learning stories which was published by SAGE in 2001. In the book, the author discusses the latest findings from her research projects, providing evidence that Learning Stories construct students identities in early childhood settings. The book makes connections between “social-cultural approaches, pedagogy and assessment and narrative inquiry”.
Chapters explore how Learning Stories:
" help make connections with families"
" support the inclusion of children and family voices"
" tell us stories about babies"
" allow children to dictate their own stories"
" can be used to revisit children's learning journeys"
" can contribute to teaching and learning wisdom"
http://www.sagepub.com/booksProdDesc.nav?prodId=Book235143
"Wendy Lee at the Early Childhood Ireland Global Gathering"
Learning Stories use “story telling” to capture and document a child’s learning process. This tool is different from observations, such as, anecdotal records, as it provides a holistic representation of what the child can do, instead of what he/she is unable to do. Learning stories do not focus on specific skills and steps to meet predetermined outcomes. As stated,“In observations you describe exactly what the child does such as ‘Robert, picked up the pencil with his left hand using a palmer grasp and began to write the first letter of his name..’ With a learning story, it differs as you write it like a story. “Robert was eager to begin to write his name...”
Learning Stories can be used as an assessment tool, to understand and interpret a child’s learning during the experience. This will assist the educators when evaluating and planning future experiences based on the child’s interest and strengths.
http://www.aussiechildcarenetwork.com/wiki/How_to_Write_a_Learning_Story
This image is a visual example of a Learning Story, which provides the reader with thoughtful and reflective insight on the learning experience. Learning Stories are reflective windows into a child’s learning process, as they describe experiences that cause teachers to stop for a minute and question specific events or situations. They also can be used to inform curriculum decisions, as assessment tools, as engaging documentation and can be shared with parents and families (Technology Rich Inquiry Based Research, 20130).
Image retrieved from > http://tecribresearch.wordpress.com/2013/04/24/documentation-and-assessment-the-power-of-a-learning-story-10/
Diane Kashin and Louise Jupp share their insight on: "what makes a good learning story?"
1. A protagonist: The primary principal in Reggio Emilia Schools is that children are, “strong, powerful and competent from birth. Rinaldi (1998) has described the cornerstone of the Reggio experience, based on practice, theory, and research, as ‘the image of the child as rich in resources, strong, and competent. The emphasis is placed on seeing the children as unique individuals with rights rather than simply needs’ (p. 114)”. Children are protagonists and have the rights to explore, discover, collaborate and construct knowledge from their experiences with others.
http://earlychildhood.educ.ubc.ca/community/research-practice-reggio-emilia
In the learning story above, Jane is the protagonist, as she is the central character who spent time measuring the garden vegetables with a piece of wire. Learning Stories exemplify the child’s/childrens learning as it progresses, by documenting verbal language, interactions, photographs, etc., which are representations of their thinking.
2. Action: All good stories have some kind of adventurous journey or rising action that builds the climax. When documenting a Learning Story, educators should consider writing about moments that consumed their mind with curiosity and amazement rather than trying to discover a “learning moment” that signifies a predetermined developmental outcome. The idea is to document moments of the learning experience and then afterwards, attempt to situate the event/s into the learning framework. The narrative above is only one part of a document that identifies examples of the Continuum of Development from the Ontario Early Learning Framework. The images below are screen shots from the larger document of “Learning Stories for Portfolios”.
Image retrieved from > http://tecribresearch.wordpress.com/2013/04/24/documentation-and-assessment-the-power-of-a-learning-story-10/
Please go to: http://tecribresearch.files.wordpress.com/2013/04/learning-stories-for-portfolios.pdf
and retrieve the full document
Please go to: http://tecribresearch.files.wordpress.com/2013/04/learning-stories-for-portfolios.pdf
and retrieve the full document!
3. An antagonist: This type of character is known to provide conflict in a story, however, in a Learning Story an antagonist is not necessarily perceived in a negative way. This character might be referred to as another child, or when looking at the Learning story, it is capability of the paintbrush.
http://fictionwriting.about.com/od/glossary/g/antagonist.htm
Go to: http://tecribresearch.wordpress.com/2013/04/24/documentation-and-assessment-the-power-of-a-learning-story-10/ to retrieve full document
4. Conflict: This is not the type of conflict in a story that creates arguments, more so a situation that leads to the outcome of a challenge. For instance, in the Learning Story the two children face difficulties when they are indoors for an extended period of time, as they are anxious to explore the outdoors
5. Resolution: The resolution occurs at the end of the Learning Story. It describes what is learned after the characters resolve the conflict. For instance, in the first Learning Story, Jenna and Mark use their negotiation skills to create a strategy on how to harvest the beans. The resolution for the second Learning Story with Jane, concluded that she selected a successful tool to measure the vegetables for her soup. When discussing the resolution for Maria’s Learning Story, it was revealed that the paint brush helped her represent the “growing garden of grapes”. Lastly, Sam and Teddy who are the two children in the garden, established a “sense of self and pride” when working together to remove the weeds.
http://www.learner.org/interactives/story/resolution.html
Example of Learning Stories
