Kimberly Ortega Summary/Response #3

Lyle, S. (2000). Narrative understanding: developing a theoretical context for understanding how
children make meaning in classroom settings. Curriculum Studies, (32)1, pp. 45-63.

In effort to understand the best way children learn, educators study the work of theorists such as Piaget, Vygotsky, Gardner, etc. Through this search, educators learn that Piaget believed children developed cognitively through sequential stages in regards to their age. It is undeniable that Piaget’s work has had a profound influence on the education field.
There have been researchers who have criticized and challenged his work, such as Donaldson who argued that children can be competent thinkers when the concept is embedded in the social context of their lives. The focus of Donaldson’s research is to show that requiring children to learn in disembedded ways would be challenging for any individuals, not only children.
Another critic, Gardner, believes Piaget only touched the surface of the ways students make meaning and suggests there are six types of intelligences (linguistic intelligence, spatial intelligence, kinesthetic intelligence, musical intelligence, intrapersonal intelligence, and interpersonal intelligence).
Social and cultural influences on children’s learning is also discussed through the work of Vygotsky. Vygotsky believed learning cannot take place in isolated situations, but within social and cultural contexts. Psychologist Jerome Bruner, too, shared this idea with Vygotsky by “claiming that most learning in most settings is a communal activity, a sharing of the culture” (2000, p. 50).
After a review of the work of the aforementioned psychologists, Lyle begins to explain her views on how students make meaning through narrative.
Lyle (2000) believes an effective way of assisting students make meaning of the world around them. Through narrative, or storytelling, students explore aspects of their own identity through the characters, conflicts, resolutions, settings, etc. Lyle states that “narrative understanding is an important, if not the major, cognitive tool through which all human beings in all cultures makes sense of the world” (50). She states that humans are predispositioned to organize “experiences in narrative form.” It is through this cross-cultural, cross-societal method of meaning-making that educators can best teach all students. Lyle suggests that educators should consider aligning or organizing their curriculum from the point of view of having a “story to be told.”


Response:
This article served the purpose of continuing my understanding of how individuals make meaning in the world, which eventually leads to the construction of their identity. The research suggests the earliest and most universal form of learning is through narrative, or story-telling. This method of meaning-making is proven to assist students learn in the context of their social lives. When their learning takes place within a context that makes “human sense” to them, children can be competent thinkers.
The discovery of Gardner’s six intelligences led me to wonder – what is individuals do not possess intrapersonal intelligence? Can they fully explore the aspects of depths of their identity? The same can be asked of interpersonal intelligence because humans are social beings. Our interactions and perceptions of others’ actions/words influence who we become.
The research suggests that emotional intelligence, intrapersonal and interpersonal intelligence, takes on a vital role in reaching a child’s learning potential. I believe a child’s emotional intelligence can a instrumental impact in the way a child sees themselves and sees others in the world. A child’s “good” emotional intelligence may very well serve as a benefit when they find themselves navigating the digital world. Their identity in the real world may help guide their actions and words in digital media contexts.
This article shed light on how children are taught because it is critical to their ability to achieve their fullest potential. Many times educators (unwillingly and perhaps due to time constraints) provide the same curriculum to all students in the same way. Children may be capable of learning, but the classroom practice may not suit or fit their learning style.


Quotations:

“I put forward a rationale for considering narrative understanding as a key aspect of meaning-making that has considerable implications for classroom practice” (45).

“The major contribution of the Edinburgh Project was to show that children were limited in their cognitive capacities by maturation” (47).

“In a 10-year study of 119 families, Gotman (1997, p. 25) identified those parents who are good ‘emotional coaches’, as able to help their children develop these personal intelligences in a beneficial way: …they have better physical health and score higher academically…get along better with friends, have fewer behavior problems, and are less prone to acts of violence…experience fewer negative feelings and more positive feelings...” (48).

“The research focus has switched from the abstract, individualized child to the contextualized, social child, whose competencies are interwoven with the competencies of others” (50).

“It is through narrative that human beings render actions and events meaningful” (53).