Exemplary Practices 2008

Bringing Stories to Life

Kim Atkinson walks around the Lansdowne Preschool in Victoria, BC with a clipboard, pen and paper so children can dictate stories to her. The story writing is a daily part of the routine, but the impetus for more extensive documentation came from her participation in a research project out of the University of Victoria, the faculty of Child and Youth Care called 'Investigating Quality'. The purpose of the project is to re-examine and re-think Early Childhood Education. With the goal of making learning visible and being more reflective in her practice, Kim decided to extend the story writing project.

Kim explored the theme of princesses with the group based on a story made up by four, four-year old girls: "One day, there was an evil stepmother and there was a cottage and there were four princesses and there was a castle. They went to their cabinet where they had a treasure and then the evil stepmother tied up the four princesses. They escaped deep into the forest but then the evil stepmother 'go-ed' in her van to get the princesses out of the forest. All of the princesses walked home and went in the princesses' car and drove to the mall. Then the princesses went shopping. After they went shopping, they 'catched up' to the evil stepmother and got her out of the van and throwed her in the garbage. The evil stepmother got out of the garbage, pulled the four princesses and took them to their house and tied them up. They got untied and danced with the prince and then after the ball, they throwed the evil stepmother in the garbage again and lived happily ever after."

Thinking there was more to the notion of princesses, Kim suggested the four girls make puppets and act out the story. As the girls were engaged in this play making, the boys in the group decided the story needed some pirates. The boys joined in the play making adding pirate parts. The activity evolved with more facets such as boats and treasure being added. Kim and the children discussed such concepts as good and evil, and gender with most of the children convinced that pirates are almost always boys not girls.

The children created a pirate anthem that had to be sung at the beginning of the play. They discussed the idea of treasure and what it meant and who should get it. She asked the children to draw pictures of themselves as princesses and pirates and was amazed at the attention to detail that went into the drawings. The group discussed whether pirates were good or bad, whether princesses would fight if they had swords, if pirates wore jewelry like princesses, what the treasure was composed of and what the pirates and princesses would actually do with the treasure. "This has been a fascinating process," says Atkinson. "The documentation has enabled me to look more carefully at the children's thinking, and I shared that information with the parents." The project raised complex questions about the power of the theme of pirates and princesses, gender and role-playing.

She wondered if the medium of the play was an opportunity for the children to take on a role that is commonly understood by them, try it, explore it, absorb the reactions and dialogue derived from it, test it out. "Kids try on identities, and try to make meaning of their world by exploring through their play and their dramatic narratives," she says.

"The children have shown me creativity, sensitivity, humour, courage, immense cooperation and a spirit of willingness to work together, diligence to pursue a project for months, and a feistiness to be heard. I am, as usual, humbled by them."