Learning stories

What are learning stories and are they essential?

A  learning story is a narrative that describes the experience/learning that occurred including how the child interacts during the experience or with others, conversations, interests, skills etc.

Put simply a learning story is as it says, a story. It paints a picture through the process of re-telling a story.

A learning story is another format used to document a child’s learning journey using storytelling to describe the learning.

A learning story is in the past tense and differs as it focuses on the skills that the child can do. Unlike an observation where there is no focus on a specific skill.

In an observation you describe exactly what you saw, what the child did whereas with a learning story you are able to write it more like a story of what happened. For example: ‘ Thomas picked up the scissors with his left hand using the correct grasp and began to cut….’ would be how you would write it in an observation , however in a learning story you could write ‘ Thomas was eager to do some cutting’

Learning stories can be used as an assessment tool just as observations in interpreting a child’s learning, development and habits, strengths, etc and how to plan to extend on.

No!

In order to gain a holistic view of the child’s growth, development and learning it takes a variety of documentation formats.

Learning stories are neither the only nor possibly the best method of recording.

There is some debate about what the term ‘learning story’ means and how valuable the model is as a format for documenting children’s learning.

Learning stories are believed to have originated in New Zealand where the Te Whāriki early childhood curriculum recommended capturing children’s learning in a story format.

Generally no! The service you work in may have a specific requirement for their curriculum cycle.

There are no regulations that state that educators have to use learning stories as a documentation format. However, educators are required to have written evidence of a planning cycle which has the elements of observing, noticing, recording, interpreting, planning and evaluating.

There also needs to be written evidence of children’s progress towards the Learning Outcomes. This can be done via other mean such as other observational methods.

A learning story has 4 main elements and is not dissimilar to an observation in that respect.

It has the body (the story itself), the interpretation, the extension (follow on) and linking it to the EYLF outcomes. Additionally, photos are common and parental input can also be included.

Aside from these main elements the format and other inclusions are up to you (and your service guidelines).

The story:

It is important that you set the scene by describing what took place, where, the lead up to, etc. In a learning story it is recommended you write in the first person (using ‘I’). By doing this it provides the opportunity for you to be a part of the learning story.

Then you move onto what occurred, the events and introduce the “characters” of the learning story, all those involved.

In a learning story you add in as much information as you can include conversations and interactions, what happens, the child’s reaction and interactions with the experience and others, the scene or the event in detail etc.

Be as descriptive as possible and try to describe what the child says and does.

The interpretation:

It is key that with a learning story there is evidence and identification of the learning that took place.

It is important to Identify why it was significant to the child and the role and importance of the role that the child had within the experience and subsequently identify the learning outcome (or sub outcome) that took place just as you would in an observation. The main point of difference here is that you continue to use the first person, the ‘I’ when writing.

For example ‘It can be noted that through this experience I observed Thomas as a confident and involved learner: “”. Therefore the outcome that would best suit this particular example would be Outcome 4: children are confident and involved learners. Once the outcome is identified it is recommended to be more specific and use a sub outcome and link it into the learning story and describe how it links.

By doing this it is and using examples of the learning story as the foundation of the analysis it enables the clear link to the EYLF. After this you can add in your own view/opinion of the experience and it should all tie together in approximately one paragraph and flow succinctly.

You may choose more than one outcome from a learning story interpretation. There is no limit or minimal requirement. It is recommended not to have more than 4 examples per learning story.

The extension:

This is similar to the follow on in an observation. Basically it is how you can further extend on their learning, understanding, experiences and interests.

As with an observation then once that extension (follow on) has been done it is best practice to evaluate it.

You don’t need to do another learning story to evaluate the follow on experience. An evaluation can be as simple as a few sentences about whether it was successful or not, the outcome achieved, etc and can be included in your daily reflection/daily diary.

Linking to the EYLF:

Above in your interpretation you have identified the learning outcomes you wish to focus on so really so what you do now is take those outcomes and any additional that may be applicable and link it to the EYLF.

There is no requirement and no limit. As you are completing learning stories in conjunction with other observational methods it really is guided on what works best for you in the time frame and constraints of the week and the requirements of the service.

In an ideal world it is recommended that perhaps one would do one or two per week depending on what experiences are taking place.

Since a learning story is written in detail it is not really something that needs to be done more than that amount.

Doing an audit on your learning stories is a great opportunity to ensure you are adhering to your service requirements.

It can also be another way to have documentation to support  meeting the overall reporting requirements of the National Quality Standards and aligning with the EYLF and putting it into practice.

As learning stories are quite effective tools in illustrating how children cope with challenges, how they resolve conflicts and how they problem solve, learn and persist when faced with difficulty it does offer the opportunity to incorporate them within a holistic approach to assessing and documenting children’s learning.

To support in tracking your learning stories we have developed a Learning Stories Auditing Checklist.