Navigating Narrative and Analysis: Students' Mediation of Historical Content through Storytelling

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Bibliographic Details
Title: Navigating Narrative and Analysis: Students' Mediation of Historical Content through Storytelling
Language: English
Authors: Björn Kindenberg (ORCID 0000-0002-8067-7382)
Source: Language and Education. 2025 39(1):91-110.
Availability: Routledge. Available from: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 530 Walnut Street Suite 850, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Tel: 800-354-1420; Tel: 215-625-8900; Fax: 215-207-0050; Web site: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals
Peer Reviewed: Y
Page Count: 20
Publication Date: 2025
Document Type: Journal Articles
Reports - Research
Education Level: Secondary Education
Descriptors: Secondary School Students, Story Telling, History, Comprehension, Writing Assignments, Language Usage, Creative Writing, Student Writing Models, Literary Genres
DOI: 10.1080/09500782.2024.2362907
ISSN: 0950-0782
1747-7581
Abstract: This study delves into the complex relationship between storytelling and historical understanding. Focused on how lower-secondary students employ narrative discourse in writing, it examines the extent to which their storytelling aids or limits historical comprehension. Drawing on systemic-functional linguistics and history education theories, the study highlights that while narratives might encourage personalized perspective-taking, thus potentially undermining objective historical analysis, they also reveal a more complex interplay between narrative form and historical insight than previously recognized. Through a comparative evaluation of student texts, it explores how certain types of narratives--descriptive, evocative, and emotive--interact with different foci of historical understanding. The analysis underscores the challenge of integrating broader historical analysis within personal narratives but also showcases successful examples of this integration. The article proposes strategies for educators to leverage storytelling more effectively, emphasizing the need for linguistic scaffolding to enhance students' historical narratives.
Abstractor: As Provided
Entry Date: 2025
Accession Number: EJ1455652
Database: ERIC
Description
Abstract:This study delves into the complex relationship between storytelling and historical understanding. Focused on how lower-secondary students employ narrative discourse in writing, it examines the extent to which their storytelling aids or limits historical comprehension. Drawing on systemic-functional linguistics and history education theories, the study highlights that while narratives might encourage personalized perspective-taking, thus potentially undermining objective historical analysis, they also reveal a more complex interplay between narrative form and historical insight than previously recognized. Through a comparative evaluation of student texts, it explores how certain types of narratives--descriptive, evocative, and emotive--interact with different foci of historical understanding. The analysis underscores the challenge of integrating broader historical analysis within personal narratives but also showcases successful examples of this integration. The article proposes strategies for educators to leverage storytelling more effectively, emphasizing the need for linguistic scaffolding to enhance students' historical narratives.
ISSN:0950-0782
1747-7581
DOI:10.1080/09500782.2024.2362907