Using Digital Storytelling to Help First-Grade Students' Adjustment to School

Abstract

When coming to school for the first time, children might face a number of adjustment problems. The study presents the results of a project which used digital storytelling for helping first-grade primary school students during this transitional period. It was examined whether, through the development of the digital stories, students could understand how the school functions and whether this process helped them to change their attitudes and behaviors, thus achieving a smoother adaptation to the school environment. Students’ active participation and behavioral modeling to enhance positive behaviors provided the theoretical basis. Due to the students' young age, their teachers functioned as their "hands", executing their instructions when developing the stories. At the same time, however, they indirectly guided them to certain key-points that had to be highlighted, without openly lecturing them. Observations and interviews with the classes' teachers and with the students that presented significant adaptation problems were used for data collection purposes. The results are considered satisfactory. Adaptation issues ceased to pose a significant problem and the overall classes' climate was improved. Finally, due to the project's short duration, it can be applied relatively easily, without altering the school’s timetable.

Keywords

• Digital storytelling, School readiness, School adjustment, Modeling, Constructivism

References

1. Akers, R. L. (1977). Deviant behavior: A social learning approach (2nd ed.). Belmont: Wadsworth.
2. Braun, V. & Clarke, V. (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3(2), 77-101. doi: 10.1191/1478088706qp063oa
3. Bronfenbrenner, U. (1979). The ecology of human development. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
4. Brooker, L. (2008). Supporting transitions in the early years. Maidenhead: Open University Press.
5. Carlton, M. P. & Winsler, A. (1999). School readiness: The need for a paradigm shift. School Psychology Review, 28(3), 338-352.
6. Cohen, L., Manion, L., & Morrison, K. (2007). Research methods in education (6th ed.). Abingdon, England: Routledge.
7. Cotton, D. R. E., Stokes, A., & Cotton, P. A. (2010). Using observational methods to research student experience. Journal of Geography in Higher Education, 34(3), 463-473. doi: 10.1080/03098265.2010.501541
8. Coventry, M. (2008). Cross-currents of pedagogy and technology: A forum on digital storytelling and cultural critique: Introduction. Arts and Humanities in Higher Education, 7(2), 165-170. doi: 10.1177/1474022208088646

9. Danby, S., Ewing, L., & Thorpe, K. (2011). The novice researcher: Interviewing children. Qualitative Enquiry, 17(1), 74-84. 10.1177/1077800410389754
10. Dockett, S. & Perry, B. (2013). Trends and tensions: Australian and international research about starting school. International Journal of Early Years Education, 1-15. doi: 10.1080/09669760.2013.832943
11. Dockett, S. & Perry, B. (2011). "How 'bout we have a celebration?": Advice from children on starting school. European Early Childhood Education Research Journal, 19(3), 373-386.
12. Dockett, S. & Perry, B. (2009). Readiness for school: A relational construct. Australasian Journal of Early Childhood, 34(1), 20-25.
13. Drosinou, M., Markakis, E., Michaelidou, M., Tsagaraki, I., Tsiamalos, V. & Christakis, Κ. (2009). Δραστηριότητες μαθησιακής ετοιμότητας [Learning readiness activities]. Athens: Οργανισμός Εκδόσεως Διδακτικών Βιβλίων.
14. Einarsdottir, J. (2013). Transition from preschool to primary school in Iceland from the perspectives of children. In K. Margetts & A. Kienig (Eds.), International perspectives on transition to school: Reconceptualising beliefs, policy and practice (pp. 67-78). Abingdon, England: Routledge.
15. Ertmer, P. A. & Newby, T. J. (2013). Behaviorism, cognitivism, constructivism: Comparing critical features from an instructional design perspective. Performance Improvement Quarterly, 26(2), 43-71. doi: 10.1002/piq.21143
16. Fabian, H. (2013). Towards successful transitions. In K. Margetts & A. Kienig (Eds.), International perspectives on transition to school: Reconceptualising beliefs, policy and practice (pp. 45-55). Abingdon, England: Routledge.
17. Fabian, H. (2007). Informing transitions. In A. Dunlop & H. Fabian (Eds.), Informing transitions in the early years: Research, policy and practice (pp. 3-20). Maidenhead, England: Open University Press.
18. Fabian, H. & Dunlop, A-W.A. (2007). The first days at school. In J. Moyles (Ed.), Beginning teaching, beginning learning (3rd ed.) Maidenhead, England: Open University Press.
19. Genette, G. (1998). Die erzšhlung, vol. 2. Wilhelm Fink Verlag-München.
20. Gersie, A. (1992). Earthtales: Storytelling in times of change. London: Green Print.
21. Gesell Institute of Human Development (1982). A gift of time… A developmental point of view. New Haven, CN: Author.
22. Hagan, W. J. (2007). Case studies from the new entrant classroom: Children's developing repertoires of participation. New Zealand Research in Early Childhood Education Journal, 10, 95-104.
23. Hartley, C., Rogers, P., Smith, J., Peters, S., & Carr, M. (2012). Crossing the border: A community negotiates the transition from early childhood to primary school. Wellington, New Zealand: NZCER.
24. Koutsouvanou, Ε. & Gialamas, V. (1998). Δεξιότητες προαναγνωστικής ετοιμότητας παιδιών προσχολικής ηλικίας [Pro-reading readiness skills of children in preschool age]. Σύγχρονη Εκπαίδευση, 10 2.
25. Landis, J. R. & Koch, G. G. (1977). The measurement of observer agreement for categorical data. Biometrics 33, 159-174.
26. Lathem, S.A. (2005). Learning communities and digital storytelling: New media for ancient tradition. Proceedings of Society for Information Technology & Teacher Education International Conference 2005 (pp. 2286-2291). Chesapeake, VA: AACE.
27. Lemelin, J., Boivin, M., Forget-Dubois, N., Dionne, G., Seguin, J. R., Brendgen M., … Pérusse D. (2007). The genetic-environmental etiology of cognitive school readiness and later academic achievement in early childhood. Child Development, 78(6), 1855–1869. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-8624.2007.01103.x
28. Maag, J. W. (1999). Behavior management: From theoretical implications to practical applications. Boston, MA: Wadsworth.
29. Margetts, K. (2013). What new children need to know. In K. Margetts & A. Kienig (Eds.), International perspectives on transition to school: Reconceptualising beliefs, policy and practice (pp. 79-97). Abingdon, Britain: Routledge.
30. Margetts, K. & Phatudi, N. C. (2013). Transition of children from preschool and home contexts to grade 1 in two township primary schools in South Africa. European Early Childhood Education Research Journal, 21(1), 39-52. doi: 10.1080/1350293X.2012. 760341
31. Matthews, R. C. (1977). Semantic judgments as encoding operations: The effects of attention to particular semantic categories on the usefulness of interterm relations in recall. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Learning and Memory, 3, 160-173. doi: 10.1037/0278-7393.3.2.160
32. May, T. (2011). Social research: Issues, methods and process. Maidenhead, England: McGraw Hill.
33. Mirkil, M. (2010). "I want to play when I go to school": Children's views on the transition to school from kindergarten. Australasian Journal of Early Childhood, 35(3), 134-139.
34. Niesel, R. & Griebel, W. (2007). Enhancing the competence of transition systems through co- construction. In A. Dunlop & H. Fabian (Eds.), Informing transitions in the early years: research, policy and practice (pp. 21-32). Maidenhead, England: Open University Press.
35. Ohler, J. (2006). The world of digital storytelling. Educational Leadership, 63, 44-47.
36. Papagiorgis, K. (1983). Ο παντογνώστης αφηγητής [The omniscient narrator]. Το Δένδρο, 32, 38-39.
37. Piaget, J. (1997). The moral judgement of the child. Simon and Schuster.
38. Regan, B. (2008). Why we need to teach 21th century skills and how to do it. Multimedia & Internet @ Schools, 15(4), 10-13.
39. Robin, B. (2008). The effective uses of digital storytelling as a teaching and learning tool. Handbook of research on teaching literacy through the communicative and visual arts. New York: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
40. Robin, B. (2006). The educational uses of digital storytelling. Proceedings of Society for Information Technology & Teacher Education International Conference (Vol. 2006, No. 1, 709-716).
41. Rogers, B. (2003). Behaviour recovery: Practical programs for challenging behaviour and children with emotional behaviour disorders in mainstream schools. Australian Council for Educational Research.
42. Rogoff, B. (2003). The cultural nature of human development. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
43. Rogoff, B., Paradise, R., Arauz, M. B., Chavez, M. C., & Angelillo, C. (2003). Firsthand learning through intent participation. Annual Review of Psychology, 54, 175-203.
44. Semali, L. (2003). Ways with visual languages: Making the case for critical media literacy. Clearing House, 76 (6), 271-277.
45. Smith, P. J. (2012). Children as teachers: Creating opportunities for children to share expertise with their peers. New Zealand Journal in Early Childhood Education, 15, 84- 101. doi: 10.1080/00098650309602018
46. Tucker, G. (2006). First person singular: The power of digital storytelling. Screen Education, 42, 54-58.
47. White, G. & & Sharp, C. (2007). "It is different...because you are getting older and growing up." How children make sense of the transition to year one. European Early Childhood Education Research Journal, 15(1), 87-102.
48. Vygotsky, l. (1978). Interaction between learning and development. In M. Gauvain & M. Cole (Eds.), Readings on the development of children (pp. 29-36). New York: Freeman and co.
49. Zafiropoulou, M. & Kalantzi-Azizi A. (2011). Σχολική προσαρμογή. Πρόληψη και αντιμετώπιση δυσκολιών [Adjusting to school. Prevention and dealing with difficulties]. Athens: Πεδίο.
50. Zirpoli, T. J. (2008). Behavior management: Applications for teachers. Prentice Hall.
51. Correspondence: Emmanuel Fokides, Lecturer, Department of Primary School Education,
52. University of the Aegean, Rhodes, Greece