ICERI conference 2014

1. Lego Storytelling
An initial study to enable children
to become partners in their own
assessment
Lynn Boyle
@boyledsweetie
l.y.boyle@dundee.ac.uk

2. The Scottish Perspective
A Curriculum for Excellence (2006)
Laying the foundations for the skills for
learning, life and work.
“Every child fulfills their potential as a successful learner,
confident individual, effective contributor and
responsible citizen. Every child has access to world class
learning and healthcare services that meet their
individual needs and which promote resilience and
wellbeing.”
ImagecourtesyofJoachimMüller-https://flic.kr/p/hNyNpa

3. Assessment of the Child
Guidance documents for teachers focus on the
assessment of young children as involving high
quality interactions, based on thoughtful
questions, careful listening and reflective
responses

4. What happens when there are too many
children, there is not enough time and the
teachers don’t know what to ask or how to
listen?

5. Small Scale Pre-study

6. Used limited initial unstructured
observations of children playing with LEGO
to listen to their stories and to establish
knowledge and understanding of a natural
state of small world play which could
enable storytelling.

7. Distracted teachers
Shallow questioning
Focus on product not process
Social learning theory emerging
Findings

8. Emerging social learning theory
where rare elemental pieces
became power currency

9. To use these initial limited observations to
then inform further research into enabling
young children to become partners in their
own learning

10. To initiate discussion with a wider childcare
professional and research based community
into the validity of converting stories created
within a tangible world into a medium which
could be used to continue the stories in a
digital world.

11. Is it possible to assess the learning of
concepts and meaning-making by young
children with limited writing and drawing
skills by cooperatively analysing stories
enacted in a tangible “world” and then by
reviewing digital comics produced as a
result?

12. Next Steps
• Extend the observational study
• Work in partnership with nursery
staff
• Consider children as partners in
their own summative assessment
• Look more closely at open and
closed construction with Lego

13. Thank you
Lynn Boyle
@boyledsweetie
l.y.boyle@dundee.ac.uk