European early childhood education research journal
Paginering:
Jaargang 10 (2002) nr. 1 pagina's 85-97
Jaar:
2002
Inhoud:
In a modern society with many possibilities people can get a feeling of insecurity and irresolution. Modern society is characterised by a seemingly unlimited array of possibilities and choices. For some people, however, these ever-widening horizons bring increased feelings of insecurity and irresolution. Here storytelling might be a genuine human way to express experiences in order to understand oneself and others' behaviour (Polkinghorne, 1988). During the last decade storytelling has taken a position in cultural life, as well as in education. Thus in a period of three years a Nordic cultural project - The Storyride Project - supporting children as storytellers was carried out in numerous pre-schools in all of the Nordic countries. Simultaneously with the cultural and developmental work, a Danish research project on children's stories was implemented. Using Sutton-Smith (1981), Maranda & Maranda (1970), and Vladimir Propp's (1968) concepts, 359 stories were analysed, and some typical patterns were described. Not surprisingly, the Danish research showed an association between age and the complexity of the structure of the story. However a large percentage of children as young as 5-7 years were able to tell a genuine story. The research also pointed out some typical gender differences. By reading children's stories, adults gain access to children's world.
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