My Story, Your Story, Our Story: Reciprocal Listening and Participation Through Storycrafting in Early Childhood Education and Care

The storycrafting method: A systematic review

“…In contradiction to storycrafting, traditionally, methods used for interviewing and interacting with children focus on the adults asking questions. Furthermore, it is important to remember that simply writing down a story is not storycrafting -storycrafting is always based on dialogue, interaction, and the storycrafters' willingness to genuinely listen to the story and thoughts of the child (Lastikka & Karlsson, 2022). Storycrafting does not intend to direct the children towards answers that adults are anticipating, which by extension risks creating misleading information and the adult missing important facts (Puroila et al, 2012;Riihelä, 1996Riihelä, , 2001.…”

“…Storycrafting places its focus on the relationship between the attendants of the activity (Riihelä, 2001). When professionals genuinely listen to children during the storycrafting process, children get a feeling of empowerment (Lastikka & Karlsson, 2022)…”

“…As mentioned earlier, there are five stages in the storycrafting method: telling the story, writing down the story in presence of the child, reading the written story aloud, incorporating the narrator's possible corrections, and reading the story aloud to other listeners or publishing it with the narrator's approval (Karlsson, 2013;Lastikka & Karlsson, 2022). These five stages are equally significant since in each stage the story emerges simultaneously between the narrator and the storycrafter.…”

“…'Although -or maybe becauseyoung children's narratives are often fragmented, disorganized and multifaceted, they offer a rich ground for a researcher to learn from children's experiences and their lifeworld' (Puroila et al, 2012, p. 202). Storycrafting is a Finnish method developed for constructing more equal and interactive relations between professionals and children (Karlsson, 2013;Lastikka & Karlsson, 2022;Riihelä, 1991). The storycrafting method was initially developed as a complement to structured tests to help with the understanding and listening to children's thoughts, reasoning, and descriptions of their lived experiences as they describe them (Riihelä, 1991).…”

“…The storycrafting method was initially developed as a complement to structured tests to help with the understanding and listening to children's thoughts, reasoning, and descriptions of their lived experiences as they describe them (Riihelä, 1991). The storycrafting method includes five essential stages: telling the story, writing down the story in presence of the child, reading the written story aloud, incorporating the narrator's possible corrections, and reading the story aloud to other listeners or publishing it with the narrator's approval (Karlsson, 2013;Lastikka & Karlsson, 2022). Storycrafting has been practiced for 30 years and it is of public interest to examine the range of use of storycrafting as a method.…”