How Learning Stories Influence Children’s Learning Identities

Learning stories have been used in Aotearoa New Zealand early learning settings for over two decades to capture children’s learning while honouring the intent of Te Whāriki to nurture children’s languages, cultures, and identities. This article provides a brief overview of a listening, dialogic investigation into ways the community of learners at Greerton Early Learning Centre consider learning stories have affected their children’s learning identities—that is, how children view themselves, and how they are viewed by others, as learners. Six children, their families, and their teachers were invited to reengage with selected learning stories from the children’s learning portfolios and then to rethink and retell how these learning stories had impacted their views of the children as learners. The study revealed how storying children’s lived experiences made a meaningful difference to the ways children, their whānau and kaiako viewed children, learning, and children’s learning experiences. At a time when the usefulness and appropriateness of learning stories are increasingly contested, this study provides an important demonstration of the power of thoughtfully written learning stories and the alignment of this assessment approach with the vision, values, and philosophical foundations of Te Whāriki, Aotearoa New Zealand’s Tiriti o Waitangi-informed curriculum. The study showed how Te Whāriki aspirations are honoured when learning stories are written in participatory, culturally situated ways, and meaningfully focused on agentic learning for each person. All participants provided informed consent, including choosing to forgo anonymity. The research had ethical approval from the University of Waikato.