Early Childhood Educ J (2013) 41:197–210 DOI 10.1007/s10643-012-0544-7 Storytelling Dramas as a Community Building Activity in an Early Childhood Classroom Cheryl Wright • Marissa L. Diener Jacqueline Lindsay Kemp • Published online: 29 August 2012  Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2012 Abstract Healthy social-emotional development is promoted by building a safe, secure and respectful environment in an early childhood setting with positive and consistent relationships among adults, children, and their peers. This study explored storytelling dramas as an opportunity to build community within the context of one early childhood classroom. The study was a qualitative, interpretive analysis of 20 videotaped storytelling drama sessions containing approximately 100 stories told by children in one preschool classroom over a 6-month period. Videotapes of the 20 storytelling sessions were analyzed for patterns and themes that may represent community building within the context of one preschool classroom. Qualitative methods were used to identify themes that emerged from the videotaped data. Triangulation across investigators, time, and methods enhanced trustworthiness of interpretations. Results showed that the storytelling drama activity provided opportunities to promote community building through four emerging themes: (1) individual roles, (2) group membership, (3) inclusion, and (4) relationship building. Storytelling dramas provide teachers with an easy to implement teaching strategy that builds community and aligns with current early childhood education quality standards and child development theory. Keywords Community building
Storytelling
Drama
Preschool
Early childhood curriculum C. Wright (&)
M. L. Diener
J. L. Kemp University of Utah, 225 South 1400 East, Rm. 228 AEB, Salt Lake City, UT 84112-0080, USA e-mail: cheryl.wright@fcs.utah.edu Introduction Once upon a time there was a gynormous dinosaur that was named Godzilla. And there was a giant Tyranidon named Rodon and Rodon attacked the small monster that was named Padora. And then Godzilla came and then Godzilla did his electronic breath. And the electronic breath exploded through the small monster and then there was a big Earth shake but it wasn’t really. It was an underground monster named Gygon. And Gygon crept through his underground tunnel and all the people were scared of Gygon. The end. This is one of the exciting stories told by a 4-year-old boy in a classroom using Vivian Paley’s (1990) storytelling and drama method. Children in a preschool classroom acted out this story with much delight and enthusiasm. The four boys acting in this story came to life as the ‘‘monster’’ characters by making sound effects, exaggerating movements and facial expressions. The boys enthusiastically adopted their roles while maintaining an awareness of their fellow actors and engaging the audience of classmates. Storytelling dramas are activities in which children act out their own dictated stories and share experiences and ideas as a group (Child Care Collection 1999; Cooper 2009; Nicolopoulou and Cole 2010; Paley 1990). Although most research on sociodramatic play has been conducted in dramatic play centers in which children come and go, and interact in dyads or triads (Barbu 2003; Hartup 1983; Johnson et al. 1997), the present study examined storytelling dramas based on children’s stories in a whole group setting. Research has shown that sociodramatic play in early childhood classrooms increases opportunities for peer interaction and collaboration, fosters healthy social and 123 198 emotional development as children use drama to solve problems, deal with conflict, conquer fears, adopt new perspectives, regulate emotions, and practice self-regulation skills (Curenton 2006; Paley 1990; Piaget and Inhelder 1969; Vygotsky 1933, 1978). Vivian Paley (1990) began using storytelling and dramas as part of her kindergarten classroom curriculum in order to build an inclusive and cooperative classroom community. This activity builds community while integrating literacy, arts, physical motor skills, and social interaction skills (Cooper 2009; Dyson 1994, 2008; Genishi and Dyson 2009; Nicolopoulou et al. 2010; Paley 1990; Rothman 2006; Tallant 1992). Most research on children’s storytelling focuses on narrative structure and/or content of children’s narratives and research-initiated story-stems, with the unit of analysis most often being the stories themselves (Bacigalupa and Wright 2009; Burton 2009; Darling and Groth 2001; Dyson 1994, 2008; Libby and Aries 1989; Nicolopoulou and Richner 2007; McGrath et al. 2004; Tallant 1992; Wang and Leichtman 2000). Little research has examined the drama aspect of the storytelling process. One exception is a study that described the concept of power and identity formation in a classroom of young children through the storytelling and drama (Dyson 1994). Others have described the benefits to children’s development in the storytelling and drama process (Curenton 2006; Dyson 1994; Genishi and Dyson 2009; Rothman 2006), but our review found no studies have focused on classroom community building during the drama activity. Since dramatization is often a motivation for children to tell stories, this research explored the importance of this activity to the children themselves, as they collaborated to dramatize their stories. Storytelling dramas are hypothesized to be an important avenue for building classroom community (Dyson 1994; Paley 1990; Nicolopoulou and Cole 2010; Rothman 2006). Story dramas allow children to represent their ideas, feelings, and conflict resolution theories, as well as relate to other children’s stories (Curenton 2006; Paley 1990). These are many of the important skills needed to form a community (Epstein 2009; Nicolopoulou et al. 2010). The National Association for the Education of Young Children’s (NAEYC) position statement identifies the components of high quality early childhood education. One of the major components is creating a caring community of learners. NAEYC identifies the role of community as ‘‘providing a physical, emotional, and cognitive environment conducive to the development and learning of all children’’ (Copple and Bredekamp 2009). The NAEYC position statement guided the concept of early childhood community throughout this project. The statement includes the idea that valuing children through active participation or observation develops community in the classroom. The classroom community provides opportunities for children 123 Early Childhood Educ J (2013) 41:197–210 to work together collaboratively. Additionally, every person in the community, including the teacher, has a sense of responsibility and accountability to the group. And lastly, the importance of providing an environment that is safe and secure for all children is emphasized (Copple and Bredekamp 2009). It is important to study activities that promote classroom community building because a sense of community helps children establish many prosocial behaviors through peer social interaction (Epstein 2009; Siegler et al. 2006). These skills include learning to negotiate and problem solve, being an active participant, resolving conflicts, paying attention to others, respecting others, and feeling a sense of responsibility to the group (Copple and Bredekamp 2009; Epstein 2009). Early childhood experiences provide the foundation for appropriate group interactions (Epstein 2009; Nicolopoulou et al. 2010). Early childhood group dynamics tend to be dyadic or triadic, and fairly unstable during the preschool period (Barbu 2003; Hartup 1983; Johnson et al. 1997). As opposed to a small group activity, large group activities may require more advanced interpersonal skills (Barbu 2003). Pretend play in the preschool settings involves negotiation and distribution of roles, and certain children may be rejected or ignored due to a lack of appropriate interaction skills (Coie et al. 1990; Hartup 1983; Johnson et al. 1997). In pretend play preschoolers begin to segregate their play and may have trouble relating to the opposite gender’s themes and ideas (Barbu 2003; Hartup 1983; Johnson et al. 1997). Storytelling dramas give the children the opportunity to experiment with nontraditional gender roles and learn to relate to one another’s stories (Child Care Collection 1999; Paley 1990). Children tell stories that are similar to one another in order to show understanding of each other’s experiences (Child Care Collection 1999; Paley 1990). This study explored storytelling dramas as a community building experience for preschool children, using an interpretive methodology in order to explore the question, ‘‘How does the process of storytelling dramas influence group social interaction and community dynamics?’’ Observing children interacting in their natural setting provides insight into the group dynamics in a classroom community. Other researchers have found rich results with similar methodology (Engel 2005; Erwin and Guintini 2000; Dyson 1994, 2008; Lash 2008). Method The present study included 20 videotaped episodes that comprised 100 storytelling dramas in one preschool classroom at a laboratory school in a large Western university. The videotaping occurred from October 2007 to Early Childhood Educ J (2013) 41:197–210 April 2008. Each storytelling session included an average of 5 dramatized stories (M = 5.15). The storytelling sessions were videotaped over a six-month time period, beginning one month into the school year. Videotapes of the 20 storytelling sessions were analyzed for patterns and themes that may represent community building within the context of one preschool classroom. Participants and Data Collection The NAEYC accredited early childhood program, which was the setting for this study, had an enrollment of 140 children age 2–6 years in six part-time classes. The program offers halfday preschool programs and has a very stable student and teacher population. The philosophy of the program includes learning through play and social interaction based on social constructivist learning theory, and focuses on attending to individual developmental needs of the children (DeVries et al. 2002). Parents were informed of the storytelling research project through letters that were distributed to families and follow-up email correspondence. The videotaped data were collected in one preschool classroom containing 22 children composed of 13 boys and 9 girls, ages 3.9–5.3 years old (M = 4.7 years, SD = 0.4). The names of the children and teachers observed have been changed in order to maintain confidentiality. Most families were middle class from the surrounding community. Although most families were middle class, the center strived to provide an inclusive setting for all children. Children with special needs had priority enrollment in the program. Because of this program goal, there was great diversity in children’s developmental levels within the classroom. Children varied substantially in speech and language skills, emotional regulation, self-regulation, attention, and social interaction skills. Teachers and assistants in the classroom were trained in Vivian Paley’s storytelling method. Teachers collected stories from children individually during learning centers and assisted children in dramatizing the stories as part of the weekly preschool curriculum. All teachers in the classroom held a bachelor’s degree in early childhood education. The researchers involved in this study were three graduate students and two faculty members; none of the researchers had a formal role or position in the center. Two of the graduate students were primarily responsible for the videotaping and one graduate student and the faculty members analyzed the data. Although previous research has focused on the content of the stories and the storytelling process (Bacigalupa and Wright 2009), the present study focused on the drama process itself. Storytelling Process The storytelling procedure was based on Vivian Paley’s storytelling and story-acting process (Child Care Collection 199 1999; Paley 1990). The process used by the teachers is described in greater detail elsewhere (Wright et al. 2008). The only materials needed were writing instruments in this easy to implement activity (drama props are not necessary). The process included storytelling as an optional activity during learning centers. Although children were not required to tell a story, all but two chose to do so over the course of the study. The teacher wrote the story down, exactly as the child dictated, and then reread it aloud to the child. Once children had written stories during the learning centers, the class acted out the stories on the same day during whole group time. A child’s story was read aloud to the class; the author then chose which role he/she would like to play, and chose classmates for other roles. Next, the children acted out the story as the teacher read it aloud. The storytelling drama session held at the end of the day typically lasted from 20 to 30 min. Data Analysis and Trustworthiness The purpose of this study was to analyze the classroom community in the context of a preschool learning environment. This interpretive study used qualitative methods to analyze group interactions of children during storytelling dramas in the context of a preschool classroom (Corbin and Strauss 1987; Geertz 1973; Yanow and Schwartz-Shea 2006). This analysis strategy allowed the researchers to explore group dynamics in children’s natural learning environment. The qualitative methods used included systematic observation and note-taking of video recording, revisiting written documents, interviewing, journal and memo writing (Berg 2004; Charmaz 2006; Corbin and Strauss 1987; Galbraith 2007; Maxwell 1996). The unit of analysis was the group of children within one preschool classroom. Story drama sessions, versus individual story dramas, were observed in order to capture community interactions in this activity. To identify patterns grounded in the data, detailed field notes were taken during video observations. Themes were not identified prior to the analysis; rather they emerged from the data. After each observation of videotapes, memos were written interpreting patterns that emerged in order to capture the detail and richness of the children’s interactions in the moment of observation (Charmaz 2006; Corbin and Strauss 1987; Gaure and Walsh 1998). Observations of the videotaped dramas occurred until a point of saturation was reached, and no more patterns emerged. Journal writing was also done throughout the observation of the videotapes in order to deepen the analytical thought process, assist in asking necessary process and descriptive questions about the data, and finally to assist in the process of reflection (Berg 2004; Janesick 1999; Maxwell 1996). Once patterns and themes were determined; webbing and 123 200 clustering were used to developed typologies of observations to organize data for further interpretation (Berg 2004; Charmaz 2006). Repetition of the observation and interpretive process occurred to ensure the results were grounded in the data. In order to ensure the trustworthiness of the data, a number of steps were taken (Berg 2004; Yanow and Schwartz-Shea 2006). First, the observation notes were read by two other researchers and discussed at weekly meetings. This provided multiple perspectives and decreased researcher bias that might occur with only one researcher identifying emerging patterns. Second, the videotapes were recorded over a 6-month period, which allowed observations of changes or patterns over time. Consistent and repetitious emergence of themes over this time period provided increased trustworthiness to the interpretations. The third portion of triangulation was to interview the lead teacher in order to confirm or disconfirm patterns identified and add further detail to interpretation of the storytelling dramas from the perspective of an active participant. Because of the timing of the research process, the semistructured teacher interviews were held one year after filming of the data. This allowed for a check of the interpretations and provided teacher perspectives and insights. The interview questions were open-ended in order to provide flexibility in responses (Erwin and Guintini 2000). Sample questions included ‘‘What is your role in the storytelling dramas?’’ and ‘‘Why do you include storytelling dramas in your class?’’. Results Four major themes emerged from the data of storytelling dramas. The themes align with community building and included: (1) Individual Roles (2) Group Membership (3) Inclusion and (4) Relationship Building. Narratives from the videotapes were used to support the themes discussed and these narratives are the primary data source. Unless otherwise noted, all quotes come from the video transcriptions. The teacher quotes were derived from the teacher interview. Individual Roles Every child in the class participated in the storytelling activity during the school year. Twenty of 22 children told and directed stories or volunteered to act in the stories throughout the six month period. All children observed as members of the audience and most (20) participated in the enactment of the storytelling drama. The roles of storyteller, audience, and actor provided children with many opportunities to participate observe others and contribute to 123 Early Childhood Educ J (2013) 41:197–210 the community. ‘‘By observing and participating in the community, children learn about themselves…and also how to develop positive, constructive relationships with other people’’ (Copple and Bredekamp 2009, p. 16). Storyteller As storyteller and director, children in the class participated in a leadership role. The teacher reflected on leadership as an important skill gained through storytelling. Because the activity was based on the children’s own stories, the children were more comfortable leading their peers in the activity and were provided with the opportunity to scaffold each other’s leadership skills. For example, Caleb was a child with strong leadership skills, who actively engaged in the storytelling dramas, and had the unique ability to engage many children in his stories. Caleb participated at an intense level, trying to discuss roles, characters and who would do what before the teacher even had the chance to read his story aloud. Taking the initiative to decide who would be in his story, modeling how they might act out the character, and at times, trying to rephrase the story, Caleb modeled leadership skills to his peers. Participation of the storyteller and leadership skills in the storytelling drama activity evolved throughout the year. Another child, D. J., told a story at the beginning of the year, but chose only to have it read aloud, not acted out. The teacher respected D. J.’s wishes, and he still gained the valuable experience of participating by sitting in front of the audience while his story was read. Later in the year, D. J. became an active participant in the storytelling dramas as an actor and eventually also had his stories acted out by his classmates. Several months after the activity had been implemented in the classroom, another reserved child, Lee, felt very comfortable in directing his peers, ‘‘put on your helmet!’’ when the story stated to put on clothing. Although children varied in their frequency of participation and leading the audience and actors as a storyteller, the dramas led to more and more children telling stories and directing stories as the year went on. The teacher described, ‘‘As the year went on children would wait as long as 45 min during learning centers to tell a story, motivated by the opportunity to act it out.’’ Children frequently stated they wanted their story to be told, ‘‘Hey, I really, really, really want to do my story!’’ or ‘‘Is it my story’s turn yet?’’ This provided evidence that children felt comfortable, secure, and valued in their ideas as a storyteller and as leaders in the drama activity. Audience Members As the audience, children spent time watching and listening to their classmates’ stories. The teacher explained the Early Childhood Educ J (2013) 41:197–210 important role of the audience and often reminded children, ‘‘Remember, it is your turn to be the audience and listen to your friends’ stories.’’ The child audience observed and engaged in positive interactions with other audience members, teachers, author and actors by laughing, patting each other on the back, giving suggestions, and smiling at each other. The storytelling dramas were an interactive and engaging activity and most children were able to self-regulate and focus their attention on the activity. Storytelling dramas provided opportunities for children to practice selfregulation skills and be a responsible member of a group by participating as an audience member. There were times when some children were distracted, and the teacher or other children had to guide the children’s attention back to the activity. The teacher assisted in developing self-regulation skills. The following is an example of classmates holding other children responsible with reminders: During the role selection process, there were two girls in the circle with a boy in-between who began to converse. The boy attempted to interact with the girl on the one side by leaning in front of her face and talking to her. She responded by leaning forward and back in an attempt to continue to watch the activity and avoid the boy. The teacher reminded the boy it was time to watch and listen to the story. He focused on the storyteller selecting characters, but the girl who was once paying attention was now talking to the girl next to her. The boy leaned over and reminded the girl, ‘‘You have to listen to the story!’’ She responded with, ‘‘NO!’’ She then leaned forward, falling off mat, but the boy tried to regulate her behavior, ‘‘Get back on your mat’’. The teachers began to clap at the end of the story and the boy quickly turned around to face the stage. Conversations such as this one occurred often among the audience members, with children reminding and directing other children in the audience. This exemplifies community building in the audience in which the children began to hold one another accountable to the group’s well being and showed respect for the storyteller and actors. It is important to note that when the audience was talking to one another during dramas, it did not necessarily mean they were disengaged. A pattern emerged that when children talked among themselves, they were discussing ideas and characters from the story. Providing a context for children to talk to their peers about the activity and to collaborate in order to build on each other’s ideas is a community building strategy (Copple and Bredekamp 2009). The following examples provide evidence of moments when audience members first appeared to be uninterested in the activity, but on closer observation, the 201 children’s actions were developmentally appropriate in the ebb and flow of engagement, attention, and discussion: Becca told a story about princesses, including Jasmine, and one monster. Becca’s story was read aloud and she began selecting actors. While sitting in the audience, Aaron and Amy discussed some of the characters. Aaron stated several times, ‘‘I wanna be the monster’’ and Amy responded, ‘‘No monsters are in it.’’ Aaron repeats, ‘‘I wanna be the monster’’ and again Amy said, ‘‘No monsters are in it, no monsters.’’ Aaron responded, ‘‘Just one monster’’ with his pointer finger up, showing the number one. Amy went on to discuss, ‘‘…it (the monster) was Jasmine.’’ Although on first observation it appeared that Aaron and Amy were not paying attention to the activity, they were actually engaged in a discussion about the story characters. Another example of children appearing disengaged, tired, or distracted was during Eric’s story. Several boys were lying on their stomachs, head in hands. They at first appeared to be disengaged when the story was being read aloud, but once the teacher requested that Eric choose five saber tooth tigers, all four boys quickly and enthusiastically raised their hands. At first glance none of these boys seemed interested in the activity, story, or characters but, in fact, immediately volunteered to participate as tigers. As audience members, the children were engaged and showed interest. The opportunity to observe and discuss the stories, as audience members, allowed children to interact at their own pace and in a meaningful way with other classmates. After observing the videotapes and reviewing observational notes, two boys were identified who never participated as storytellers or actors over the 6-month period as described below: One of the boys, Ansel, who did not participate as a storyteller or actor, was an engaged and interested audience member. He watched the activity intently and continually followed storytellers and actors as they moved around the stage or selected characters. His gaze also shifted to the teacher whenever she would speak. At one point he also interacted with the girl sitting next to him as she sat back down from acting. He smiled and talked to her for a few minutes about the story and drama. He then went back to watching children act, smiled, and appeared to enjoy watching his peers. Ansel showed little fidgeting throughout the drama session. Thus, although Ansel did not appear as an actor or storyteller, his role as an audience member enabled him to 123 202 interact with and learn from his peers within the classroom community. The teacher remarked that Ansel—who was also the youngest child in the class—did participate in the storytelling dramas as an actor and storyteller the following school year. This specific case demonstrated that storytelling drama activity is a process, where some children may take longer to develop self-confidence in acting and telling stories. Reflection with the teacher confirmed that two boys did not participate as actors or storytellers, but she also noted the importance of the audience members and their role. She noted, ‘‘The audience is just as important as the kids participating (as actors and storyteller). They are still a part of it [the activity], even though they are not acting because even kids that do not act out will still show appreciation at the end and say, ‘oh good job’.’’ As audience members the children were observed collaborating on ideas, learning to be accountable to the community group, and valuing other’s ideas. Actor As actors, children build community through having a sense of ownership in the stories, being active participants, and working collaboratively in a group. Children showed their active engagement by volunteering for roles with enthusiasm and excitement in their voices, such as ‘‘I wanna be the ghost!’’ At times they also pointed each other out; for example, one child said to the teacher, ‘‘Erica does (wants a turn).’’ They remembered which characters were in the story and even parts of the storyline. Some began to act out their character from the moment they were chosen, and continued until sitting back down at the end. Often they acted out the character with their own ideas, ‘‘I was a transformer that could transform into an airplane!’’ explained one boy as he finished acting and sat back down to join the audience. Every time children participated as actors, they were, like the audience members, given the chance to practice regulating their behavior and maintaining a sense of responsibility, especially when acting in stories that contained aggression. One of the few teacher rules of this activity was ‘‘keep hands to yourself and only pretend fighting’’, which provided children an opportunity to act through imaginative play themes such as characters fighting, smashing, kicking, and dying in a safe context of storytelling dramas. These themes appeared frequently in the preschool stories (Bacigalupa and Wright 2009). Selfregulation skills required for the important rule of ‘‘just pretend’’ at very exciting moments in a story led children to be accountable and have a sense of responsibility to other members of the group. Children were able to restrain from actually hitting or kicking their classmates. In one story 123 Early Childhood Educ J (2013) 41:197–210 about Ninja Turtles there were 11 children, both boys and girls, on ‘‘stage’’ engaged in pretend fighting, waving arms, circling each other, stomping feet, and running in place. This story allowed children to practice behavior that was appropriate and conducive to the well being of all of the children, a crucial part of building a sense of community within the classroom (Copple and Bredekamp 2009). In fact, many of the stories contained fictional aggression and children showed great self-restraint by limiting physical contact and being gentle with classmates. In addition to practicing self-regulation skills, acting in the stories gave children the opportunity to experience pretend play themes or roles of the opposite gender. This collaborative experience of discovering and experimenting with social norms and roles furthers children’s awareness of the world around them and community expectations (Copple and Bredekamp 2009; Epstein 2009; Dyson 1994; Nicolopoulou 1997). The character’s gender and who could act out various roles was frequently discussed during the activity, such as in the following example: Anna told a story that included her sister. Anna stated, ‘‘My sister is a girl’’, as she looked around to pick a child for the character of her sister. The teacher stated, ‘‘Sometimes boys can play girl roles.’’ Anna responded, ‘‘But my sister is a girl.’’ Anna tried to pick Carrie, but Carrie stated, ‘‘I don’t want to be the sister.’’ The teacher stated, ‘‘Can you pick a friend who has their hand up? Those are the friends that want to be a part of it. A boy can pretend to be a sister too.’’ Anna approached Michael and taps him on the head to be the sister. The next character selected is her Mother. Anna picked another boy, D.J. As D.J. joined Michael on stage, Michael stated, ‘‘I’m a girl too’’ while giggling. This example of conversation between the teacher and child, as well as peers, not only provided Anna with a new concept about who could pretend to be which characters, but all of the children were able to hear and learn from this conversation. The topic of character gender and actors was discussed throughout the year and as the year progressed children participated as characters of the opposite gender. In November there was a character in Becca’s story that started out as a monster and changed into a wicked queen later in the story. The boy acting the role of the Monster, Aaron, became very upset with the change in the character. He stated, ‘‘I can’t! No, no I’m not the wicked queen. Nooo!’’ and continued to be a monster. Later, children frequently volunteered and acted in roles of the opposite gender, without discussion or giggles. In Lee’s story, told in March, Amy volunteered to be an army guy and was selected by Lee. That same day Colin told a story about a Weather Fairy, Ice Queen and Fire King. He chose to be Early Childhood Educ J (2013) 41:197–210 the Weather Fairy and acted it out by running on his tiptoes and flapping his wings. Children were able to learn new perspectives of members of the community and the world around them by experimenting with roles of the opposite gender. The child actors learned important skills that helped to promote a sense of community. These skills included accountability, responsibility, collaboration, developing a sense of self-worth within the group, and problem solving. Acting in a story also provided children with the opportunity to collaborate and problem solve with classmates with whom they did not typically interact. Acting as a character in stories allowed children to experiment in new roles and adjust concepts of group norms and values through group social interaction. Each individual in the class played an important part in the storytelling drama, either through active participation or observation as a storyteller, audience member, or actor. The storytelling drama allows for an age appropriate, childcentered activity that caters to young children’s egocentrism (‘‘my story,’’ ‘‘pick me, me, me’’), and creates group awareness through the three roles of storyteller, actor, and audience. The various roles of telling a story, directing, acting, and observing allowed children of all abilities to contribute in his/her own way, and because it was an activity based on the children’s own stories, children valued the collaborative experiences. Group Membership Learning from one another’s unique ideas and strengths allows for a greater respect for each person in the classroom, leading to an atmosphere of community (Copple and Bredekamp 2009). The children learned to be accountable to one another and responsible for their actions during the drama activity they were ‘‘in charge of.’’ Valuing other’s ideas, contributing stories, and feeling that one’s own ideas were valued among peers develops a sense of belonging. There were numerous examples that emerged from the videotapes, providing evidence of children valuing each other’s ideas, being accountable to one another, and having a sense of responsibility to the group. One way children expressed that they valued other’s ideas was by adopting peer strategies and ideas as their own. Children observed and learned to experiment with peer strategies in being selected as a character, choosing characters, or acting out the stories. Including other children’s strategies into their own repertoire provided evidence that the children in the classroom valued peers’ ideas and often built on those ideas or changed them slightly to reach their goal. Children with more advanced social skills modeled effective strategies for being selected to participate, such as following teacher suggestions to raise their 203 hands, getting up on their knees to be more visible, and verbalizing with, ‘me, me, me!’ or ‘I wanna be (character name).’ Children also learned to become valued members of the group through problem solving and negotiation of roles. Often there was a conversation between the author and audience members about who would play what role, for example: Sam wrote a story about people and spiders. He selected his classmate Michael to be a ‘people’. However, Michael said to Sam, ‘‘I want to be a spider, I am a spider.’’ He then went over to the teacher and repeated the request. Michael approached Sam again, suggesting that there be two spiders in Sam’s story. His persistence paid off because Sam then approached the teacher to agree, ‘‘There can be 2 spiders.’’ The fact that Sam acknowledged and accepted Michael’s request provided evidence that he valued his classmate’s ideas. The teacher also recognized Michael’s ability to contribute valuable ideas to the group, ‘‘Michael was a deep thinker and problem-solver,’’ as in another example where Michael stated, ‘‘There can be two meglodans!’’ Individual children in the classroom provided their ideas throughout the activity that children later used and built on. The following are examples from the videos where children’s individual strengths were copied and appreciated by classmates: Caleb showed great enthusiasm and exaggeration in acting out his stories. Caleb’s stories often contained monsters, velociraptors, and other kinds of dinosaurs. Each time Caleb stood up to have his story read aloud he would step into character. For example, entering the stage area as a dinosaur, Caleb hunched over, whipped his head back, held up his ‘‘claws,’’ snarled his teeth, and stomped over to the teacher. Caleb modeled new and unique ideas to his classmates through his imaginative acting and ability to verbalize directions in acting, which other children were later observed using in the activity. Anna was a child who the teacher described as being very shy and reserved during whole group activities, but she became more comfortable with time. In the first video recorded and observed, Anna was the first child to tell a story and have it acted out. As she selected classmates from the audience, she slowly walked around the edge of the circle with her finger on her chin, contemplating whom to pick. She was thoughtful and deliberate in whom she picked and seemed to be savoring the power of the storyteller. 123 204 Her method of selecting classmates can be seen later being utilized by other children: circling and thinking, prolonging the privilege of selecting the actors and leading the group. The activity provided each child with the opportunity to utilize their strengths, feel competent in their abilities and then, in turn, feel a valued member of the group. Children in the classroom became members of a group by observing, experimenting, and utilizing strategies of other peers. The children observed the ideas and strategies of their peers and incorporated them. Inclusion Although the class consisted of a fairly homogenous group of children in terms of race and ethnicity, the class was a mixed age group with great developmental diversity. Children of differing abilities and on various levels of the developmental spectrum participated in the storytelling drama activity. Because this activity was child-centered and followed children’s interests, it was effective with children at various individual ability levels (Paley 1990). Participation allowed peers to view children with developmental delays and challenges in a positive light and focused on individual strengths. Below are four specific examples of children who participated and were included in the drama activity at their own ability level: David was a 4 year-old boy with language delays who told stories by listing objects and characters, often a characteristic of younger children’s stories. Classmates volunteered to act in his stories even though David told very simple stories. His classmates showed that they valued his ideas and as the year went on, David’s stories became more complex after hearing and observing other classmates’ stories. As the year went on David increased his leadership skills by directing the other children in his story. By March he selected children and guided them to the stage by leading them with his hand on their backs or pointing to the position he would like for them to be on stage. Other children also showed they valued David’s contributions by selecting him to participate in their stories, Lee stated, ‘‘Hum, I’ll pick David’’. At another time, Bryan selected David to be in his story to be the devil character. As David was getting up to join the other actors, he tripped on the carpet. Bryan, asked, ‘‘Are you OK?’’ and David nodded his head, yes. These examples provided evidence that his classmates valued his contributions to the group, and they showed compassion and empathy toward David, despite his being 123 Early Childhood Educ J (2013) 41:197–210 at a different developmental level socially and verbally than the other children. Success in social interaction, relationships, and leadership occurred in the storytelling activity for other children that had trouble at other times in the classroom experience as illustrated below: The teacher described Michael as very intense, having difficulty following rules and liking things a certain way. There were times in the storytelling drama activity and in the classroom when Michael had difficulty regulating his emotions, and he became very angry. However, there were also many moments when Michael was successful in the storytelling drama activity. According to the teacher, stories were acted out in the order told at learning centers, with Michael’s story usually first. This provided evidence of his enthusiasm for the activity. Michael was frequently chosen by his classmates to be in their stories and classmates enthusiastically volunteered to be in his stories as well. Michael would often add a sense of humor to his acting, which his classmates valued through joining in laughter or smiling at his actions. This positive reaction to Michael’s stories, acting, and volunteering placed him in a new light with his peers and provided him with a positive experience in the classroom community. Michael was not the only child with social challenges to be seen in a positive light by his peers in the classroom. Adam also developed new leadership skills, social interaction skills, and an ability to express his interest in the activity over time in this example: Adam had delayed social and language skills, yet he was also able to participate successfully in the activity over time. Throughout the storytelling drama activity, Adam was often quiet and not verbal with his peers. Socially, he did not engage with his peers in the circle and took longer than his peers to imitate strategies in being selected to act. To show that he wanted to participate in the acting, he would often stand up, or repeat part of the story aloud. On the first day of storytelling dramas, Adam stood up in the center of the stage. The teacher asked if he would like to be the frog and he nodded yes. He then went to join his peers on stage. By March, Adam began to verbally express his interest in acting. After a story about Scooby Doo was read aloud, Adam began to sing the Scooby Doo theme song aloud, expressing his interest in the story. Over time he learned to request to be a character, like many of the other children, ‘‘I wanna be Scooby Doo.’’ Early Childhood Educ J (2013) 41:197–210 Regardless of developmental level, all the children were able to successfully participate in the drama activity. The teacher reflected on the fact that over time, children began to select children to be in their stories that they may not have otherwise chosen to play with in the regular routine of the classroom. As mentioned in the participation section, children engaged in roles of the opposite gender, but it is also important to note the pattern of inclusiveness in terms of gender. The observed classroom had more boys than girls, but they had equal participation and leadership as storytellers and actors. Although all girls in the class were engaged in the activity, it may surprise early childhood professionals and teachers to hear of boys’ intense interest in this storytelling and drama activity. Eleven of the 13 boys in the class told stories or acted in a classmate’s story throughout the year. This activity provided boys with an appropriate place and time to experience pretend play themes such as fighting and killing that some teachers may shy away from in the classroom due to a fear of escalating inappropriate or aggressive behavior. The teacher noted that allowing the children to engage in these pretend aggressive dramas did not increase aggressive behavior in her classroom. Stories that included aggressive topics or actions allowed boys, who may otherwise be excluded, an opportunity to express ideas they were interested in and be accepted by their peers and teachers. Storytelling dramas provided children with the opportunity to learn about their individual abilities, learn about peers in the classroom, appreciate differences and unique ideas of others, and broaden their awareness of belonging to the group of children. Relationship Building Children share in meaningful experiences and show appreciation for each other’s stories through the emotional elements of storytelling (Child Care Collection 1999; Nicolopoulou et al. 2010; Paley 1990). As children participated in the storytelling drama activity there was unnoticed communication between children, which at first glance was easily overlooked by teachers and adults. Closer observations revealed the little actions and moments that connected the children to one another and their stories. Although the teachers tried to connect the audience to the plays by clapping at the end of each story, children had their own way of showing they appreciated and enjoyed watching their classmates. These included emotional displays of laughter, sighs, gasps, or excited discussion with their peers. At times adults perceived this laughter, talk, or ‘‘noise’’ as interruption or disrespect for the peers performing. However, on closer look, the children were 205 bonding over this experience, and creating a community through the shared emotional experience of humor, fright, shock, or sadness. In the first video, Kelly told a story about her mother being ‘‘smashed’’ by a car. When the story was first read aloud, children had no reaction to this portion of the story. However, once children were acting the story out, several children reacted to the idea of the mother being smashed by a car with gasps, moans, and ‘‘oh no!’’ The mother character was one that most of the children could relate to, and it was obvious by the shared emotional reaction of the audience members. The mother came back to life in the story and the children did not show any outward signs of distress. As discussed in a previous paper (Bacigalupa and Wright 2009) the aggressive stories told by the children in our sample tended to be fantasy based, which is consistent with the idea that storytelling may provide children with a safe place to play with ideas that concern or frighten them. Only 7 % of the stories in the present sample contained aggression without an element of fantasy (Bacigalupa and Wright 2009). In analyzing the content of the stories, the researchers previously noted that in many cases the primary purpose of the aggression was to provide excitement and emotional reactions such as the example above. The sharing of strong emotions has the potential to build community relationships and the dramas can help children learn emotion regulation strategies that are important components to community building (Nicolopoulou et al. 2010). Over time children enhanced the humorous aspect of their storytelling. This routine allowed children to gain a sense of belonging or membership between their peers and was a part of the children’s culture that adults do not always understand (Erwin and Guintini 2000). At times, when the children were laughing and giggling, teachers would hush or remind children to be quiet. This provided evidence that the teachers did not always recognize the importance of shared joy and laughter, and that storytelling dramas provided an opportunity for children to form their own sense of shared experience. One child created a silly topic that the children routinely included in their stories and they continued to find it amusing. The following story was one of the first of many stories written about ‘‘talking and walking heads’’: Colin told the first story containing characters such as walking or talking heads and eyeballs. The student teacher assisted children in preparing them for the funny story, ‘‘Guys, this is such a funny story! You are going to want to listen very carefully, ok? Ready?’’ Immediately children began to giggle and laugh at the story told by Colin, with Colin beaming in the background. After the story was read aloud, it was time to select the characters, such as ‘‘walking 123 206 head’’ and ‘‘eyeball’’. Children immediately and excitedly raised their hands, got up on their knees waving arms and said, ‘‘me, me, me’’ (a strategy often used by children to be selected over the entire year, even though the student teacher attempted to get them to quietly raise their hands without success). Nine children volunteered enthusiastically to be the Walking Head, and Eric was chosen. Once chosen, many of the children were already in character and practicing their movements. The children acted out the humorous story in an amusing fashion by making faces, crawling in funny ways, and bouncing here and there like a walking head or eyeball. The audience giggled and laughed at the actors and at each other as they shared in this moment of pure child-initiated enjoyment, creating a sense of community. Children displayed appreciation through simple actions such as a touch or pat on the back, a smile or laugh, which provided evidence of their emotional connection to each other and the story, and provided evidence of building relationships in the classroom community. Stories were sometimes written with friends and classmates as characters in a story. Storytelling and drama provided the children with opportunities to express to one another their feelings and relationships with each other. In one of his first stories of many about firefighters, Lee included several of his classmates in the story. The teacher read, ‘‘Lee and Anna and Rachel and Sam were in the road and the fire truck smashed them.’’ In the audience Rachel smiled at Ali next to her, who giggled, both pleased that Rachel was included in Lee’s story. Rachel then volunteered to be herself by waving her hand in the air and bouncing up and down. The ‘‘smashing’’ theme was an attempt to be humorous and indeed the children exhibited behaviors that showed they found it funny. They laughed, clapped and patted one another on the back demonstrating that the ‘‘harm’’ in the story didn’t appear to upset them. Story themes and ideas were repeated if the audience laughed or had a strong reaction to a story theme. Other times the storyteller would motion or whisper to a classmate in the audience about being in his/her story, showing that they already had an idea of who they wanted to be in their story. Sam wrote a story about Transformers. Before the story was read aloud he stated, ‘‘I wanna be Optimus Prime. Colin is in mine!’’ Sam, Colin and Eric continued to have a conversation about who wanted to play which character. As the teacher read about bad guys, Eric stated, ‘‘I wanna be the bad guy.’’ Sam 123 Early Childhood Educ J (2013) 41:197–210 nodded his head in agreement with Eric and whispered, ‘‘OK, in a minute,’’ pointing to Eric. Both of these examples provided evidence that the children gave forethought to who would be in their stories and reflected the relationships they built with peers in the classroom. Building consistent, positive and caring relationships is a foundation for developing a classroom community (Copple and Bredekamp 2009). Through the storytelling drama activity, these children shared in meaningful experience, enjoyed humor, and worked together to accomplish a task (Child Care Collection 1999; Paley 1990). Children also learned about emotions, about expressing emotion, conveying empathy and ideas to others, and taking on the perspective of their peers through telling and acting out their stories. The children in this classroom built relationships with others through these shared experiences and learning opportunities during group dramatization of their original stories. Discussion Storytelling and drama have been used in early childhood classrooms for many years and in various forms in order to enhance early literacy skills, communication, emotional regulation, symbolic representation, and social interaction (Curenton 2006; Dyson 1994, 2008, Genishi and Dyson 2009; Libby and Aries 1989; Nicolopoulou and Richner 2007; McGrath et al. 2004; Tallant 1992; Paley 1981, 1990; Rothman 2006; Wang and Leichtman 2000). Vivian Paley specifically focused on allowing children to tell and act out their own stories in her kindergarten classroom (Child Care Collection 1999; Paley 1981, 1990). The storytelling drama activity, done for an age appropriate length of time and as an option to children in the classroom, provides a unique time during the classroom day where children come together as a group to build relationships, participate and collaborate, and value each individual’s strengths to develop a sense of belonging to a community (Paley 1981, 1990). Storytelling drama incorporates the pretend play that children thrive on, but yet includes the ideas, participation, and cooperation of the class as a whole group—all of which are important components to community building (Copple and Bredekamp 2009; DeVries et al. 2002; Epstein 2009). Implications for Practice Insights were gained about the teacher’s role in the storytelling dramas through both systematic observation of the videos and discussions with the lead teacher. Important lessons were learned from this preschool storytelling Early Childhood Educ J (2013) 41:197–210 experience that could be used in other early childhood classrooms. Guidance from the teacher, especially when first introducing the activity, was crucial. The teacher provided important strategies for the children to use, such as raising hands to let others know they wanted to be in a story, giving suggestions on how to act out the story, and pointing out children who were less skilled at making their presence known (who had not had a turn). Similarly, the NAEYC position statement on developmentally appropriate practice acknowledges the importance of the teacher’s role in developing a caring community. This includes assisting children to develop responsibility, providing a safe environment physically and psychologically, ensuring children find enjoyment in learning, and valuing children’s contributions (Copple and Bredekamp 2009). Although children should feel that the teacher values their ideas and suggestions, it is just as important for them to be valued by their peers in order to build a sense of safety, belonging, and membership within the whole group. Storytelling dramas provided children with the opportunity to hear, see, and talk about each other’s experiences and ideas, while becoming familiar with peers in the classroom. The activity also provided children with various levels of social skills, including the opportunity to participate in an activity that engaged them with the whole classroom group. The drama activity, guided by the teacher, gave positive reinforcement to young children that were susceptible to peer rejection due to less effective social interaction skills (Gomes and Livesey 2008). These children had the opportunity to be seen positively by their peers. This activity provided positive reinforcement and joint positive play experiences within the group, as well as opportunities to observe peers with more advanced social interaction skills. These social building experiences may impact social status and organization in the group (Hartup et al. 1967; Roopnarine and Adams 1987; Vaughn and Waters 1981). Children who were storytellers were also given the opportunity to be valued as leaders, regardless of their social skills or status within the group. Time spent near a teacher in the classroom, as when the author of a story was next to teacher during dramas, may promote visibility by peers, positive experiences for these children, and possibly peer acceptance (Hartup et al. 1967; Vaughn and Waters 1981). As children become more familiar with one another, they feel more secure and accepted by their peers, leading to more cooperation within the group (Epstein 2009). As children collaborated and contributed to the classroom group during storytelling dramas, children can possibly feel validated, competent and important as individuals within the group (Black 1992; Epstein 2009; Paley 1990). This activity has the potential for children to be valued by both their teachers and peers through telling stories, and could 207 contribute to positive and constructive peer interactions (Copple and Bredekamp 2009). Storytelling dramas provided opportunities for children to become familiar with others in the class and interact with children they would not normally initiate play within the class. Over the six-month period, children appeared to become more comfortable with one another, and the routine of the activity created a safe activity where children shared ideas. One issue of controversy is the aggression often found in young children’s storytelling and dramas. This issue has been addressed in detail in another manuscript (Bacigalupa and Wright 2009). There are two competing views regarding this issue. One view is the developmental view that portrays aggressive play as a vehicle for children to explore, master, and diffuse strong emotions and the competing sociopolitical view is that aggression is not to be tolerated because it reinforces unacceptable behavior (Levin and Carlsson-Paige 2006). Although this debate is beyond the scope of this paper, we encourage teachers to be more tolerant of aggressive ideas that children want to explore through their storytelling and dramas. We see storytelling and drama as a healthy and positive means of exploring negative emotions that make many early childhood professionals uncomfortable. This research project provided evidence that young children are fascinated with and enjoy telling stories that contain strong emotions, and this can be a strategy to bond with other children in creating a common community. The children in our study demonstrated an amazing amount of self-control when acting out aggression in their stories. For example, they were able to engage in pretend superhero fighting and could follow the ‘‘no touching’’ rule to create a safe and secure learning environment. And although this research project did not focus on themes, our previous analysis of storytelling content revealed that stories often contained aggressive elements. Can the expression of negative emotions build community? Our research supports the notion that children can handle negative emotions through a storytelling outlet and in fact may need activities that allow for the range of emotional expressions for both genders. When building community in an early childhood classroom it can be a challenge for the teacher to bring both boys and girls together in an activity of interest and engagement. As children reach the age of 4 and 5 years, they begin to segregate their playgroups by gender (Barbu 2003; Hartup 1983; Johnson et al. 1997). When developing activities and fostering community in the classroom, not only is it best practice to meet individual developmental needs, but teachers must also remember the importance of meeting the unique needs of boys, including the need for ‘active and whole body play’ (Bredekamp 2011). Boys were active and frequent participants in this activity. Children appeared to become comfortable, over time, with 123 208 acting in roles traditionally labeled for the opposite gender. The activity also provided opportunities to foster boys’ awareness and attention to social cues and responsiveness. Storytelling provided both genders the opportunity to observe each other’s play strategies and to experience each other’s play topics (Black 1992). The interest of both boys and girls in the storytelling drama activity allowed for them to experiment with new roles and play themes in a safe context. Lastly, it is important for teachers to recognize that allowing enough time for the activity can impact community building. Children need time to contribute new ideas, problem solve, and negotiate roles. These skills are necessary for working cooperatively in a group, and the teacher must allot enough time for each child’s story and drama. Paley stated, ‘‘stories that are not acted out are fleeting dreams: private fantasies, disconnected and unexamined. If in the press of a busy day I am tempted to shorten the process by only reading the stories aloud and skipping the dramas, the children object. They say, ‘but we have not done the story yet!’’’ (Paley 1990). Sufficient time is needed for each story to be led by the children with attention to the children’s pace and necessary ‘‘wait time’’ in decision-making. The important role of the teacher in storytelling dramas is to be a facilitator and lay the foundation for the children to be able to participate, feel they are in a safe environment to contribute ideas, become included members of the group, and build relationships. Teachers may also be concerned with implementing this activity in the classroom, while at the same time meeting educational standards. The storytelling drama activity meets the criteria of intentional teaching practices (meeting child development goals) while also being a meaningful, child-led activity with strong links to literacy and language development. Within this activity there were many times the teacher assisted the children with engaging in appropriate behavior, self-regulation, and learning to respect others, as provided in previous examples. It is also important to note, there were times when the teachers missed children’s cues, ideas, and moments when children were gaining developmental objectives in their own time and in their own ways. As one assistant teacher stated, ‘‘Oh you should have been here yesterday. The children were soooo good! They all sat and listened and were quiet, and didn’t even do the ‘‘me, me, me’’ thing!’’ This statement provided evidence that, although, the activity should be filled with problem solving, negotiation of roles and discussion, the teacher valued following directions and self-regulation skills over some of the growth that could happen when some of the leadership is released to the children. Teachers can use best teaching practices in whole group activities in order to promote learning and developmental goals through attention to 123 Early Childhood Educ J (2013) 41:197–210 children’s cues, scaffolding, and co-construction of the children’s knowledge (Bredekamp 2011; DeVries et al. 2002). Further research could focus on the dynamic between teacher guidance and children as leaders in the activity. Vivian Paley placed a strong emphasis on taking turns, equality, and avoiding favoritism in the drama activity (Cooper 2009; Paley 1990). Focus on the role selection process allows for observation of group dynamics and community formation since teachers observe children’s peer character selection (Dyson 2008; Rothman 2006). It is also important for teachers to recognize moments when children work together and draw attention to the importance of collaboration (Epstein 2009). These activities are a time to share, build relationships, and learn from other peers (Copple and Bredekamp 2009; Vygotsky 1933, 1978). Many of the skills required of children to develop a sense of community are fostered through child-led, peer group interactions and pretend play (Black 1992; Copple and Bredekamp 2009; DeVries et al. 2002; Epstein 2009; Piaget and Inhelder 1969). Learning to listen to others, negotiating and problem solving, self-regulating emotions and actions, leading others, and contributing ideas are skills necessary to group dynamics and interacting with others throughout life (Battistich et al. 1997; Epstein 2009; Nicolopoulou 1997). Storytelling provided opportunities for the children observed in this study to develop and foster many of these individual skills and feel competent in the skills, which, over time, can create a sense of belonging to the larger class group. We documented a growth in community building overtime where children included students in their dramas who were not part of their regular friendship circles. The dramas provided a platform for children to be more inclusive in this play activity. Future research could document the generalization of this inclusion to other play settings. Strengths and Limitations of Study As with every research study there were some limitations to this project. First, this study involved videotapes of children, rather than direct observation in real time. Although this approach provided consistency over time in observing and making interpretations without participatory bias, this study did not contain the deep understanding of the classroom community a qualitative researcher that is in the field would understand from observing in the classroom (Charmaz 2006; Geertz 1973; Gaure and Walsh 1998). Further research involving observing children over time in various classroom activities, including storytelling and dramas, would provide additional information about the impact of these activities on community and group interactions. Additionally, the teacher interview occurred one Early Childhood Educ J (2013) 41:197–210 year after the storytelling dramas took place and her recall of these events could have been inaccurate. This study describes the experience of children in a specific classroom. Different teachers, children, and contexts may elicit different peer interactions from young children (Engel 2005; Gaure and Walsh 1998). Because of this it may not possible to generalize these results to all populations of young children. Continued research in various settings with diverse populations would enhance the findings of the present study. There are strengths to using interpretive methods when researching classrooms and young children. It is important to study children in context of their natural environments. The descriptive nature of this study was useful to addressing the question of, ‘‘how does the process of storytelling dramas influence group social interaction and community dynamics?’’ Interpretive science provides teachers and practitioners with descriptive examples that can be related and applied to their classrooms. Conclusion Storytelling dramas can enhance cognitive, language and literacy skills; equally important are the social and emotional skills developed that lead to children building relationships, membership and belonging as a community (Nicolopoulou and Cole 2010). The activity is meaningful to children and focuses on children’s ideas, stories, and experiences. Storytelling dramas provide opportunities for children to become leaders and work together as a cooperative team in sharing the enjoyment of storytelling, acting, and observing. Storytelling dramas also contain many essential components of ‘‘creating a caring community of learners’’ found in the NAEYC position statement of Developmentally Appropriate Practice (Copple and Bredekamp 2009). This paper presented story dramas as a community building activity in which children of both genders were highly engaged. Acknowledgments Thank you to the Child and Family Development Center and classroom teacher, Mary Hofheins, for her valuable knowledge on the storytelling drama activity. Thank you to Mike Burton and Yuri Kida for recording the videotaped data. References Bacigalupa, C. & Wright, C. (2009). Aggression in children’s stories. Early Childhood Research and Practice, 11(2). Retrieved from http://ecrp.uiuc.edu/v11n2/index.html. Barbu, S. (2003). Stability and flexibility in preschoolers’ social networks: A dynamic analysis of socially directed behavior allocation. 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