Digital Storytelling for Educative Purposes: Providing an Evidence-Base for Classroom Practice

226 Pages·2020·9.302 MB·English

by  Phillip Alexander Towndrow, Galyna Kogut

Studies in Singapore Education:
Research, Innovation & Practice 1
Phillip Alexander Towndrow
Galyna Kogut
Digital
Storytelling
for Educative
Purposes
Providing an Evidence-Base
for Classroom Practice
Studies in Singapore Education: Research,
Innovation & Practice
Volume 1
Series Editors
Wei Loong David Hung, National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological
University (NTU), Singapore, Singapore
Beng Kiat Dennis Kwek, National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological
University (NTU), Singapore, Singapore
Changes in education and organisational structure, teacher education, school
management,curriculum,andinstructionandassessmentoverthelastfewdecades,
andmoresoinrecentyears,havecontributedsignificantlytotherapidandsystemic
improvement in pedagogical quality in Singapore. While the outcomes of
Singapore’s success are internationally recognised, the processes, reasons and
factors that contribute to pedagogical and systemic improvements have not been
systematically captured in a comprehensive manner.
The series aims to fill the gap by presenting a Singaporean perspective on
pedagogical research and innovation, highlighting how Singapore, drawing on
knowledge and research done both internationally and locally, has successfully
mobilisedresourcesandeffortstoimprovelearningandteachingacrossthevarious
subject disciplines and education sectors.
The series also aims to present education research that will help propel
Singapore’s education system towards its goal of meeting the challenges of the
comingFourthIndustrialRevolution.Itincludestitlesthatfocusonde-emphasising
academic performance in favour of deep and soft skills, on de-emphasising
knowledge transmission and rote learning in favour of inquiry methods, applied
learning and experiential learning, titles that look into tripartite relationships with
students,schoolsandindustrytodevelopupdatedexperienceswithapprenticeships
and internships, and titles that address the socio-political blind spots in the
Singaporeeducationsystemintermsofgender, racialandclassequity,andothers.
The series includes monographs that examine Singaporean pedagogies in terms
ofpoliciesandpractices.Italsoincludeseditedvolumesthatwillcover,butnotbe
limited to, the following structure: a state-of-the-art review of research and
knowledgeinthetopicscoveredbyand,anintroductionofthepurposeandthekey
issues covered by the volume; international and Singaporean experience in these
topics, presented in a series of empirical studies or theoretical/conceptual pieces;
comparison and synthesis of Singaporean pedagogical research and innovation
experiences,anditsapplicabilitytoothersystems;anddirectionsforfutureresearch
and practice.
More information about this series at http://www.springer.com/series/16488
Phillip Alexander Towndrow Galyna Kogut
(cid:129)
Digital Storytelling
for Educative Purposes
Providing an Evidence-Base for Classroom
Practice
123
PhillipAlexander Towndrow Galyna Kogut
National Institute ofEducation National Institute ofEducation
NanyangTechnological University NanyangTechnological University
Singapore, Singapore Singapore, Singapore
ISSN 2730-9762 ISSN 2730-9770 (electronic)
Studies in SingaporeEducation:Research, Innovation &Practice
ISBN978-981-15-8726-9 ISBN978-981-15-8727-6 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-8727-6
©SpringerNatureSingaporePteLtd.2020
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Foreword
IamdelightedtowritetheForewordofDigitalStorytellingforEducativePurposes.
I have known Phillip for over 20 years. We have worked together on a number of
projects and have shared our joys and our frustrations. Phillip has mentored me,
inspired me, challenged me and continually surprises me. Along with fellow
researcher, Galyna Kogut, and everyone involved in this digital storytelling study,
another refreshing education gem has emerged.
The book is structured in three parts. Part I: Theorising the Educative Purposes
ofDigitalStorytellingprovidesasolideducationalfoundationofpedagogy,media,
representation, literacy, multimodality and theoretical considerations involved in
telling stories digitally. Despite the extensive use of media and storytelling in
education, Phillip and Galyna have identified gaps in the research that digital
storytelling aims to address. Three specific research questions focusing upon the
processes and outcomes of digital storytelling guide the study. Additionally, the
evidence collated is to inform classroom practices in arts and drama-based edu-
cation,andassist ineffective appropriation ofnew media inteaching and learning.
Part II: An Evidence-Base of Illustrative Case Studies details nine diverse digital
stories (eight students, one teacher) for later analysis and discussion. Each story is
uniquely constructed, performed and explained, and the theme throughout is the
representationofthestudents’andteacher’slivesandcitizenshipinSingapore.Part
III:DigitalStorytellinginClassrooms:ImplicationsforPracticebringsourjourney
to a close-by returning to the research questions and addressing the resulting
complexities. Last but not least, by emphasising pragmatic pedagogical practices
supportedbytheanalysesoftheevidenceinthisstudy,PhillipandGalynaexplore
and explain how teachers can utilise digital storytelling for meaningful educative
purposes.
Digital storytelling should not be seen as another exhibit in the museum of
education reform, seeking to disrupt a contemporary education culture. As Phillip
andGalynasuggest,digitalstorytellingoffersadifferent,moredialogicapproachto
storytelling, is expansive (in time, place and space) and crucially involves the
storyteller in his or her unique, personal journey. The stories emerge from
v
vi Foreword
experiences and cultural contexts, re-fashioning and repurposing the media so that
they become a valued construct in the life of the participants’ education.
Digitalstorytellingdemonstratesthoughthatthetransformationiscomplex,like
life,neitherlinearnorpredictable.Itisadigitaldocumentationofexplorationsand
personal growth, leading to a cycle of actionable critique and reflection of all
participants(students,teachersandresearchers).Creatorsofthestoriesusemediato
define personal and cultural identities for self-appropriation, and demonstrate how
they see themselves in and through the available media. Their inner journeys
though require a blend of imagining (the formation of internal pictures) and
thinking (wondering through questions and insights). And in today’s quest for
immediacy, as current media is being repurposed and re-fashioned, digital story-
telling pauses the participants to reflect, without taking away the features of the
technology,itsmotion,images,soundsandpointsofview,tosubsequentlypromote
individual expressions, meaning making and personalised learning.
Thestorytellers additionallyrevealthemselveswithintheirspecificworld.They
interact with the world in its own characteristic way, and the world sometimes
pushes back leading to anxiety and joy. They expose discrepancies about them-
selves, seemingly broadcasting one vision of their self in private and another in
public. But Phillip and Galyna use digital storytelling—its implementation and
analysis—tobridgethatdividetodiscoverwhothestorytellerreallyisandwhathe
or she is communicating. The storytellers also contextualise their digital stories
within their culture, a sometimes narrow and distorted lens through which they
experiencelife.Andastheirstoriesinfluenceusasaudience,weseepurpose,unity
and meaning.
I would like to finish this Foreword by endorsing this marvelously innovative
book.DigitalStorytellingforEducativePurposeshasaclearpurpose(tosuccinctly
demonstrate the value of telling stories digitally), promotes unity (by bringing
together the lives of students, their teacher, their culture and their emotions) and
advances meaning (by demonstrating why a dialogic approach to storytelling
effectively engages learners). It is accessible to practising teachers and educators
wishing to make storytelling meaningful and educative, and to researchers who
wish to gain insights into effective appropriation of media. And while reading this
book,youtoomaywishtocreateandreflectuponyourownpersonaldigitalstory.
Prof. Michael Vallance
Future University
Hakodate, Japan
Acknowledgements
Thisworkwouldnothavebeenpossiblewithoutthecooperationofthestudentsand
teachers at the school where we conducted our research study and the research
funding we received from the National Institute of Education, Nanyang
Technological University, Singapore.
We have also benefited greatly from discussions, encouragement and critical
friendship from numerous friends and colleagues, especially Mark Evan Nelson,
MichaelVallance,VictorLimFei,PrudenceE.Wales,Rethinavels/oShanmugam,
Andrew Pereira, Jennifer Yeo Ai Choo, Roberto De Roock and Wu Jing.
vii
Contents
Part I Theorising the Educative Purposes of Digital Storytelling
1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1.1 Background . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1.2 Benefits of Digital Storytelling. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
1.3 The Conceptual Underpinnings of Digital Storytelling. . . . . . . 6
1.4 Pedagogy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
1.5 New Media. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
1.6 Representation, Literacy and Multimodality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
1.7 Design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
1.7.1 The Affordances of Modes of Representation. . . . . . . . 11
1.7.2 Aptness or Fitness of Purpose of Modes of
Representation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
1.7.3 The Orchestration of Modes of Representation. . . . . . . 12
1.8 Towards a Pedagogy of Digital Storytelling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
2 Other Theoretical Considerations in Digital Storytelling. . . . . . . . . 19
2.1 Utterances, Addressivity and Answerability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
2.2 The Chronotope . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
2.3 Education and Digital Storytelling in Singapore . . . . . . . . . . . 23
2.4 The Research Gap. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
3 The Study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
3.1 Character and Citizenship Education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
3.2 The Study. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
3.3 Methodology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
3.3.1 Background and Participants. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
3.3.2 The Capstone DST Task: What Does Singapore
Mean to Me?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
ix
x Contents
3.3.3 Field Trips. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
3.3.4 Data Collection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
3.3.5 Data Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
3.4 Remarks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
Part II An Evidence-Base of Illustrative Case Studies
4 Student A. Singapore for Others and Singapore for Me. . . . . . . . . 51
4.1 Visual . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
4.2 Visual: Kinetic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
4.3 Transitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
4.4 Written. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
4.5 Music. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
4.6 Thematic Orchestration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
4.7 Interview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
4.8 Remarks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
5 Student S. Now and Then. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
5.1 Visual . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
5.2 Visual: Kinetic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
5.3 Transitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
5.4 Music. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
5.5 Written. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
5.6 Thematic Orchestration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
5.7 Interview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
5.8 Remarks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
6 Student B. Wonderful Memories. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
6.1 Visual . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
6.2 Visual: Kinetic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
6.3 Transitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
6.4 Written. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
6.5 Music. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
6.6 Thematic Orchestration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
6.7 Interview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
6.8 Remarks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
7 Student P. How Singapore has Changed. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
7.1 Visual . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
7.2 Visual: Kinetic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
7.3 Transitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78