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As an early childhood educator committed to equity of voice, I believe that educational activities with preschool children should be based on daily observations of children at play both in the classroom and outdoors. These observations should include teachers鈥� reflections and, as much as possible, families鈥� opinions and perspectives on their children鈥檚 learning, curiosity, talents, agency, hopes, and dreams. As a preschool teacher in a multi-language setting, I am required to conduct classroom observations to assess children鈥檚 learning. This has led me to the following questions:

• How can early childhood educators support and make visible children鈥檚 emergent cultural and linguistic identities?
• How can teachers embed story and narrative to document children鈥檚 growth and strengthen families鈥� participation in their children鈥檚 education?

In this article, I describe Learning Stories, a narrative-based formative assessment created by New Zealand early childhood education leaders. Learning Stories provide a way to document children鈥檚 strengths and improve instruction based on the interests, talents, and expertise of children and their families.

Learning Stories as Assessment

In New Zealand, educators use the Learning Stories approach to assess children鈥檚 progress. This narrative tool is a record of a child鈥檚 life in the classroom and school community based on teachers鈥� observations of the child at play and work. It tells a story written听to听the child that is meant to be shared听with听the family. Learning Stories serve as a meaningful tool to assess children鈥檚 strengths and help educators reflect on their roles in the complex processes of teaching and learning. As formative assessments, they offer the possibility of reimagining all children as competent, inquisitive learners and all educators as critical thinkers and creative writers, genuinely invested in their children鈥檚 work.

How Learning Stories Are Distinct

Learning Stories break away from the more traditional methods of teaching, learning, and assessment that often view children and families from a deficit perspective, highlighting what they cannot do. By contrast, Learning Stories offer an opportunity to reimagine children as curious, knowledgeable, playful learners and teachers as critical thinkers, creative writers, and advocates of play. Learning Stories are based on individual or family narratives, and they recognize the value of Indigenous knowledge. For native, Indigenous, and marginalized communities, the telling of stories or historical memoirs may be conceived as something deeply personal and even part of a 鈥渟acred whole,鈥� as Maenette K.P. Benham writes. When we engage in writing and reading classroom stories鈥攌nowing how they are told, to whom, and why鈥攚e uncover who we are as communities and, perhaps, develop a deeper appreciation and understanding of other people鈥檚 stories.

Educators can use Learning Stories to identify developmental milestones with links to specific assessment measures; however, the purpose is not to test a hypothesis or to evaluate. At the root of any Learning Story is a genuine interest in understanding children鈥檚 lived experiences and the meaning teachers, families, and children themselves make of those experiences to augment their learning. As Laura Hope Southcott reminds us, 鈥淭eachers choose a significant classroom moment to enlarge in a Learning Story in order to explore children鈥檚 thinking more closely.鈥�

Although no two Learning Stories will be alike, a few core principles underlie them all. The foundational components include the following:

• an observation with accompanying photographs or short videos
• an analysis of the observation
• a plan to extend a child鈥檚 learning
• the family鈥檚 perspective on their child鈥檚 learning experience
• links to specific evaluation tools

Suggested Format of a Learning Story

The following format is a helpful guide for observing, documenting, and understanding children鈥檚 learning processes at any given moment during the school day. It also may help teachers organize fleeting ideas into a coherent narrative to make sense of classroom observations or specific children鈥檚 experiences.

• Title: Any great story begins with a good title that captures the essence of the tale being told. Margie Carter suggests that the act of giving a title to a story be saved for the end, after the teacher has written, reflected on, and analyzed the significance of what has been observed, photographed, and/or video recorded.
• Observation: The teacher begins the story with their own interest in what the child has taken the initiative to do, describing what the child does and says. When teachers talk and write the story in the first person, they give a 鈥渧oice鈥� to the storyteller or narrator within. In their multiple roles as observers, documenters, and writers, teachers bring a personal perspective that is essential to the story. They write directly to the child, describing the scene in detail and narrating what they noticed, observed, or heard. Accompanying photographs, screenshots, or still frames of a video clip of the child in action serve as evidence of the child鈥檚 resourcefulness, skills, dispositions, and talents.
• What Does It Mean? (or What Learning Do I See Happening?): These are questions teachers can use to reflect, interpret, and write about the significance of what they observed. This meaning-making is best done in dialogue with other teachers. Multiple perspectives can certainly be included here; indeed, objectivity is more likely to be reached when the Learning Story includes a variety of voices or perspectives. Ask your coteachers or colleagues to collaborate to offer their pedagogical, professional, and personal opinions to the interpretation of the events.
• Opportunities and Possibilities (or How Can We Support You in Your Learning?):听In this section, teachers describe what they can tentatively do in the immediate or distant future to scaffold and extend the child鈥檚 learning. How can they cocreate with children learning activities that stem from individual or collective interests? This section might also reveal teachers鈥� active processes in planning meaningful classroom activities while respecting children鈥檚 sense of agency.
• Questions to the Family:听This is an invitation for a child鈥檚 family to offer their opinions on how they perceive their child as a competent learner. It is not uncommon for a child鈥檚 family to respond with messages addressed to the teacher. However, when teachers kindly request family members to reply directly to their child, they write beautiful messages to their children. Sometimes, the family might suggest ideas and activities to support their child鈥檚 learning both at home and school. They might even provide materials to enhance and extend the learning experience for all the children in the class.
• Observed Milestones or Learning Dispositions:听Here, teachers can link the content of a child鈥檚 Learning Story to specific evaluative measures required by a program, school district, or state. They also can focus on the learning dispositions reflected in the story: a child鈥檚 curiosity, persistence, creativity, and empathy. The learning dispositions highlighted in a Learning Story reflect the emerging values of children and the values and beliefs of teachers, families, schools, and even the larger community.

Learning Stories in Practice

My preschool is part of the San Francisco Unified School District鈥檚 Early Education Department. Our school reflects the ethnic, economic, cultural, and linguistic mosaic of the school鈥檚 immediate neighborhood, which consists primarily of first- and second-generation immigrant families from Mexico, Central America, and Asia. When children enter our program, only about 10 percent feel comfortable speaking English. The others prefer to speak their home languages, meaning Spanish, Cantonese, and Mandarin are the most common languages in our school.

One child, Zahid, revealed his story-telling skills by sharing the story of his father鈥檚 attempt to cross the border between Mexico and the United States. (See 鈥淲aiting for Dad on This Side of the Border鈥澨齛nd 鈥淯nder the Same Sun鈥� below.) The resulting Learning Stories provided a structure for documenting Zahid鈥檚 developmental progression over time and for collecting data on his language use, funds of knowledge, evolving creative talents, and curiosity for what takes place in his world鈥攁ll of this in his attempt to make sense of events impacting his family and his community.

The Learning Stories framework honors multiple perspectives to create a more complete image of each learner. These include the voice of the teacher as narrator and documenter; the voice, actions, and behaviors of children as active participants in the learning process; and the voices of families who offer鈥攅ither orally or in writing鈥攖heir perspectives as the most important teachers in their children鈥檚 lives.

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Photographs: Header Image 漏听Getty Images; Photos courtesy of the author
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