1. How do stories help children create a connection with another place? I choose this area of study as stories are regularly used in the classroom and I wanted to see the extent that stories help teach children about a place too far away to visit.

2. Data Collection  I taught a unit of work about an Island home. I used the Katie Morag book as my resource and based the lessons around it.  I taught all the children in the class, but chose 6 children to focus my research on. I chose two children from higher, middle and lower ability.  I gathered my data by collecting samples of the children’s work completed in lessons and interviewing the children.

3. Research collected  I asked the children to draw a picture of what they thought an island looked like before I began this unit of work. I annotated these drawings after talking to the children about them  I asked the children to imagine they went to visit Katie Morag for a week and write a postcard home, telling their family what it was like on the island and what they had been doing. They also drew a picture of what the island was like on the front of the postcard.  I showed my 6 focus children the picture they drew before and the picture they drew after of the island. I interviewed them and asked them to discuss the similarities and differences of their two pictures.  Examples of children’s work they completed during the lessons.

4. Problems whilst collecting data  While completing this research I began to notice that children had very stereotypical images of islands depending on what resources they were given. For example: In the Katie Morag book the illustrations tend to be drawn in the summer so it appears sunny. Therefore this lead the children to believe that it was always sunny. Quotation taken from interview with one child. Teacher: What is the weather like on the island? Child: Hot and sunny. Teacher: Why do you think this? Because the sun is always shining in the pictures and Katie Morag is wearing shorts. Teacher: Is it always sunny there? Child: Yes

5. Additional changes to research  After I had taught the unit of work I decided to read the children a different story called My Grandpa and the sea. This is based on St Lucia in the Caribbean, which is contrasting to The Isle of Struay based in the Katie Morag book.  Three of the children had the story read to them and were shown illustrations. The other three children only had the story shown to them.  I then asked them to draw a picture of this island.

6. My findings  I found that through using the Katie Morag book, children’s stereotypical views of a desert island changed. The evidence of the before and after drawings of a desert island prove this.  However, I think illustrations in the book, created new stereotypical images of an island in Scotland. The interviews with children and writing on the postcards reinforce my thinking.  This has lead me to believe that although stories can help children create a connection, more than one story of a particular place should be used to prevent stereotypes being created.

7. Conclusion  Overall, I have found that using stories can help children create a connection as they present themselves in a context which children can understand, and offer insights into other places and lifestyles which can be depicted through the characters movements.  The children were able to pretend they went to visit Katie Morag, forming an emotional connection, and apply what they had learnt in previous lessons to describe what the island is like.  From analysing children’s drawings before and after, it is evident that a connection has been made as their stereotypical image of a desert island as been erased. However, the use of stories can present new stereotypical images which have been presented through children’s transcripts, drawings and annotation of Katie Morag’s island life.  Further investigation, showed that perhaps illustrations within the story were the reason behind this and could lean towards a biased image

8. Reflection  If I were to do this study again…….  I would have asked children key questions about what they thought island life was like at the beginning in order to have more data to compare against.  I would either interview the children with focus questions about island life or give children questionnaires to fill in with the support from an adult. This data could be used in addition to the children’s initial drawings of an island but would help me find out more about what children’s ideas of island life were rather than just a description of its appearance and help me discover any misconceptions they may hold.

9. Action Plan for the Future  In the future……  I will definitely continue to use stories as a resource for teaching, however I will think about the stories I chose and how I will use them.  I will use a range of stories based on the same country or topic to give a wider perspective and perhaps contradicts one another, so discussion can take place and make children aware that another place can be perceived in different forms.  I will find out what children already know and any misconceptions they may hold. This will enable me to plan and deliver effective lessons in which I can start to eliminate assumptions or stereotypes with a range of effective resources.