TY - JOUR
T1 - The narrative teacher
T2 - Narrative nonfiction as a teaching tool in the primary history classroom
AU - Browning, Emma
AU - Hohenstein, Jill
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was supported by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) London Interdisciplinary Social Science Doctoral Training Partnership (LISS DTP) Studentship Competition 2017.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2024 The Authors. Review of Education published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of British Educational Research Association.
PY - 2024/4
Y1 - 2024/4
N2 - Narrative is fundamental to human thought, yet in many classrooms, expository texts are commonly used to support learning in content-based subjects, such as history. Given the importance of narrative, it might be harnessed as a powerful tool to support learning. This research compares the impact of narrative nonfiction (NNF) and expository text (ET) on the development and retention of conceptual understanding relating to World War I (WWI). In an experiment involving 78 participants (mean age = 10.2 years, standard deviation = 0.29), pupils were placed into one of two conditions: in one, information about WWI was conveyed primarily through NNF texts, and in the other, through ETs. Participants completed written pre-, post- and delayed post-assessments to assess development and retention of conceptual understanding. It was found that participants in the NNF condition showed greater chronological and causal thinking skills. In addition, participants in the NNF condition retained significantly more conceptual understanding at delayed post-assessments than those in the ET condition. Overall, these findings suggest that narrative texts have the potential to be powerful learning tools. Implications for how texts are selected and utilised to support learning in the primary, history classroom are discussed.
AB - Narrative is fundamental to human thought, yet in many classrooms, expository texts are commonly used to support learning in content-based subjects, such as history. Given the importance of narrative, it might be harnessed as a powerful tool to support learning. This research compares the impact of narrative nonfiction (NNF) and expository text (ET) on the development and retention of conceptual understanding relating to World War I (WWI). In an experiment involving 78 participants (mean age = 10.2 years, standard deviation = 0.29), pupils were placed into one of two conditions: in one, information about WWI was conveyed primarily through NNF texts, and in the other, through ETs. Participants completed written pre-, post- and delayed post-assessments to assess development and retention of conceptual understanding. It was found that participants in the NNF condition showed greater chronological and causal thinking skills. In addition, participants in the NNF condition retained significantly more conceptual understanding at delayed post-assessments than those in the ET condition. Overall, these findings suggest that narrative texts have the potential to be powerful learning tools. Implications for how texts are selected and utilised to support learning in the primary, history classroom are discussed.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85182490303&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1002/rev3.3459
DO - 10.1002/rev3.3459
M3 - Article
SN - 2049-6613
VL - 12
JO - Review of Education
JF - Review of Education
IS - 1
M1 - e3459
ER -