Story Circle Research Articles

Body Mapping and Story Circles in Sexual Health Research With Youth of Color: Methodological Insights and Study Findings From Adolescent X, an Art-Based Research Project.

We describe the implementation and select findings from Adolescent X, an arts-based research project that used story circles and body mapping to elucidate how young people understand the relationship between their social contexts and their sexual and reproductive health, with a particular focus on youth's understandings of gender, sexuality, and the body as sites of possibility and power. A community-based sample of N = 24 youth of color was recruited from the South and West Sides of Chicago to participate in 3-day workshops. In addition to story circles and body mapping, data were collected via brief surveys with N = 24 youth, debriefing groups (n = 10 youth), and focus groups (n = 14 youth). Study data consisted of (1) body map visuals, that is, legends, mini-, and full-body maps; (2) written body map narratives; and (3) audio recordings of the story circles, body mapping activities, debriefing groups, and focus groups. All audio recordings were transcribed, deidentified, and uploaded in Dedoose for qualitative thematic analysis. Data analysis was conducted by a team of independent coders. Across all sources of data, three major themes were identified: (1) strong feelings of unsafety related to how young people's bodies are gendered, sexualized, and racialized in different social settings; (2) the extent to which adults and institutions foster youth safety; and (3) sources of young people's coping and resilience. Implications for public health research, practice, and policy are discussed.

Dinner at Dinosaurland: Invention, Dialogue, & Solidarity in the Early Childhood Classroom

This Ideas from Practice piece highlights a storytelling practice called story circles as a routine classroom practice with the potential to catalyze shared ideas in the classroom by spurring invention, dialogue, and invention. Examining the slow-growing unfolding of stories about the invented world of Dinosaurland, we illuminate the potential of the language of story as a way for children to sustain and develop ideas through sharing imagined worlds.

Development of a culturally sensitive narrative intervention to promote genetic counseling among African American women at risk for hereditary breast cancer.

African American women with hereditary breast cancer risk are less likely to undergo genetic counseling and testing compared with non-Hispanic White women. Inequities in the use of precision cancer care are likely to exacerbate racial disparities in cancer outcomes. A culturally sensitive multimedia narrative intervention was developed to motivate African American women at risk for hereditary breast cancer to engage in genetic counseling. Development of the intervention was grounded in the Integrative Model of Behavioral Prediction using a phenomenological, deductive approach and employed multiple qualitative methods for data collection, including 1-on-1 interviews and story circles with members of the target audience to identify salient themes and lived experiences. Focus group testing was then conducted with members of the group of focus, primary care providers, and community stakeholders. Six themes that mapped to the theoretical model were identified. Lived experiences were abstracted from story circle data to create a narrative storyline. Educational content and motivational messaging derived from the 6 themes were embedded into the script. Focus group testing with stakeholder groups was used to refine the intervention. Testing of the final multimedia narrative with focus groups indicated that the intervention was culturally sensitive and authentic, and the messaging was effective. Multiple qualitative data collection methods and a robust theoretical framework of health behavior were key elements for this study to develop a culturally sensitive, narrative intervention that reflects lived experiences and motivates underserved African American women with hereditary breast cancer risk to engage in genetic counseling. This strategy can be applied to mitigate racial inequities in the use of other genomic approaches for personalizing cancer care.

Storycircling the Virtual: Creating Space in a Pandemic with Storyscope

Stories offer time and space for connection. This has been particularly true during social distancing amid the COVID-19 pandemic. In this collective autoethnographic story, we explore how generative energies of storytelling and storylistening emerge within communities via virtual storytelling. With COVID-19 being a catalyst for change, we share our adaptation of the Storyscope Project story circles to facilitate connection through a virtual space. Our stories within this work reflect our experience of virtual Storyscope in the roles of host, facilitator, participant, and educator. Additionally, the collaborative process of our writing mirrors the unfolding of virtual Storyscope story circles. In other words, the practices of virtual storytelling and storylistening guided our inquiry and evolving discussion of a similarly evolving practice.

“Rapunzel, Rapunzel, Lanza Tu Pelo”: Storytelling in a Transcultural, Translanguaging Dialogic Exchange

ABSTRACTIn this study, we examined story circles to understand how the small‐group activity supports and shapes the storytelling of young students in multicultural, multilingual preschool classrooms. Through a representative example, we show how language development unfolds in the context of a transcultural and translanguaging dialogic exchange of stories. We describe features of increasing linguistic complexity present in students’ storytelling as they established affinity‐affirming connections over ideas, shared ways of languaging, and shared ways of storytelling. By examining changes in one student’s storytelling in the context of a mixed‐language story circle group, we offer insights into both language development and features of the language ecology in which such changes are supported.

Story Circles: A conversation on Black Feminist theatre practices drawn from creating the play ‘Postcards: Bodily preserves’

abstract The world is characterised by polarisation and distrust; there is a need for research that humanises others through narrative, everyday performances and empathy. This article, framed as a conversation aims to look at the creation and performance of the play, ‘Postcards: Bodily preserves’, as a Black Feminist theatre aesthetic. We depart from the question: What does a Black Feminist theatre aesthetic look like? Through the exchange, we examine the process of directing using Black Feminist theatre tools. We collectively look at the choices we make when we intentionally embody Black Feminist theory in the rehearsal room. More importantly, we examine how the work we do, de-centres the power of the director in the room. We use Story Circles, a performative story-making model, to guide the reflection. In addition to our recollections, we argue that Story Circles is a form of Black Feminist theatre aesthetic that captures our dynamic, multilingual ways of creating. It is an aesthetic grounded in the fundamental belief that artistic practice and critical reflection can spark lasting political change.

Abstract A048: Creating a mobile device-based educational intervention for African American women with hereditary breast cancer risk

Abstract Background: Our foundational work found very low rates of attendance at a genetic counseling (GC) consultation among AA women with hereditary breast cancer (BC) risk who were referred for GC, and a strong desire among women and their primary care physicians (PCPs) for culturally sensitive educational material to help women understand the purpose of GC. We are creating a story-based educational intervention delivered on a mobile device platform that is designed to motivate AA women with familial BC risk to attend GC. Content for the intervention is informed by constructs from the Integrative Model of Behavioral Prediction and by themes identified through qualitative research with high-risk AA women. Kreuter's model for culturally tailoring health interventions guided the creation of the intervention. Methods: Using an iterative process encompassing semistructured, one-on-one interviews and group story circles with AA women referred for GC (primarily nonattenders), we identified themes that represent barriers and motivators to attendance for AA women. The storyline and educational content for the script were based on the themes identified. The script and artwork were tested with focus groups that included members of the target audience AA women with a family history of BC) and key community stakeholders. We are also conducting key informant interviews with PCPs providing care for AA women. The intervention, which will include live-action video sequences and segments of animation to illustrate key educational content, is based on the script that emerged through this iterative process. Results: Findings from semistructured interviews (N=20) were augmented with data collected from group story circle sessions with a subgroup of women who participated in the one-on-one interviews (N=11). Nine thematic domains emerged from the combined data that are relevant to attendance at a GC appointment: (1) health education/health literacy, (2) trust, relationships, communication with providers, (3) empowerment, (4) health beliefs, (5) motivation/facilitators of breast care, (6) family support and secrecy, (7) religion/spirituality, (8) barriers, and (9) fear resulting from equating genetic counseling with receiving a cancer diagnosis. The findings were used to create a story-based script. Focus groups conducted with community stakeholders and the target audience led to revision in the overall design and style of the intervention (e.g., increased use of live actors and decreased animation) and additional content revisions (e.g., addressing familial secrecy and self-efficacy for women who do not have a referral for GC from a physician). Additional findings from focus groups will be presented and the completed educational video will be previewed. Conclusion: A technology-enabled, culturally sensitive educational intervention that motivates AA women with increased BC risk to attend a GC consultation will facilitate implementation of a population health approach to eliminating BC disparities. Citation Format: DeLawnia Comer-HaGans, Vickii Coffey, Giesela Grumbach, Shirley Spencer, Carolyn Rodgers, Ravneet Kaur, Karen Aguirre, Ifeanyi Beverly Chukwudozie, Vida Henderson, Karriem S. Watson, Catherine Balthazar, Angela Odoms-Young, Robert A. Winn, Kent F. Hoskins. Creating a mobile device-based educational intervention for African American women with hereditary breast cancer risk [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Eleventh AACR Conference on the Science of Cancer Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved; 2018 Nov 2-5; New Orleans, LA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2020;29(6 Suppl):Abstract nr A048.

Strategies of Fostering Writing Skills to Improve EFL Learners’ Writing Fluency in Erbil Secondary Schools

The development of writing fluency is a fundamental element of writing skills and learning a language. The current study investigates five selected writing strategies, as repeated writing, timed writing, story circle, diary writing, and peer editing strategy effects on writing fluency and EFL learners’ production of meaningful texts. It studies the perceptions of 153 EFL secondary school teachers of the effect of five selected writing strategies on students’ writing fluency in Erbil city of Kurdistan region in Iraq. The data results indicated the positive effects of the writing strategies in increasing writing fluency. The effect of the writing strategies on improving writing fluency is compared by gender (t-test). This work also explores the effect of the selected five writing strategies on students’ self-efficacy. Recommendations for further researches are presented.

STORY CIRCLES AS A METHODOLOGY: A PILOT STUDY EXPLORING COGNITIVE PROBLEMS IN AGING

A Story Circle refers to a group of individuals in a comfortable social environment sharing personal experiences through stories to explore problems shared by a community and facilitate artistic representation of experiences of interest. In this pilot study, we examined the feasibility of Story Circles to facilitate qualitative inquiry of the experience of cognitive problems among older adults. A convenience sample of six cognitively intact, community-dwelling older adults (M=72.5; SD=5.09 years; 83% female) with self-reported cognitive complaints participated in a 90-minute Story Circle as well as a follow-up phone call. Each shared a personal story of experiencing a cognitive complaint and related these experiences to those shared by others in relation to a prompt provided by the group facilitator. Participants reported enjoying the Story Circle experience (M=8.5/10; 10 = extremely positive) and interest in participating in future Story Circles (M=9.3/10; 10 = extremely likely). Common themes included a sense of community established during the group that persisted after its conclusion as well as a normalization of the experience of occasional cognitive problems. Story Circles may be a useful data collection method to enhance understanding of complex phenomena within a social context.

Story Circles, Changing Culture, and Deepening Leadership.

This chapter amplifies student leader voices as they reflect on their involvement and growth as facilitators and participants of story circles, a structure and process for individuals to use empathy, the arts, and social imagination to support dialogue and change in local communities.

STORY CIRCLE TECHNIQUE TO HELP NON-ENGLISH MAJOR STUDENTS IN WRITING NARRATIVE TEXT

The objective of this study was to find out the significant difference of the students in writing achievement before and after using Story Circle technique. The second objective was to find out the improvement of the students in writing achievement before and after Story Circle technique. The pre-experimental method through one group pre test-post test design was used in this study. The population and sample of the study was all 3rd semester students of S1 Nursing Science program at STIK Siti Khadijah Palembang in academic year 2018/2019. The total number of the population and sample was 35 students. The sample was taken by using total sampling technique. The tests were administrated twice as pre-test and post-test. After the pre-test was administered, the treatment was implemented. The post test was given after the treatment. The results of the tests were analyzed by using t-test through SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Science) program. The result of the study showed that there was a significant difference of the students in writing achievement before and after implementing Story Circle technique. It can be concluded that Story Circle technique could improve 3rd semester students’ writing achievement at of S1 Nursing Science program at STIK Siti Khadijah Palembang in academic year 2018/2019.

79 “We all have stories to tell”: A qualitative exploration of the healthcare experiences of a community sample of pregnant and parenting youth through digital storytelling

Pregnant and parenting youth (PPY) engage in healthcare two-fold, for themselves and as the gatekeepers of their children’s health. That said, their healthcare engagement has historically been suboptimal and little is known about their perceptions of health and healthcare. Our objectives were: 1) To engage PPY and support the articulation of thoughts, feelings and experiences through digital storytelling; 2) To examine a group of PPY’s digital health narratives; and 3) To explore PPY’s experiences of the digital storytelling process. During two workshop sessions, 19 participants created, produced, and edited their own 1–4 minute short films about any aspect of health. Participants were young mothers (aged 16–20 years), accessing services at a non-profit organization that serves adolescent mothers and their children. The 2.5-day story-making process comprised individual and group work, story circles, discussions, and screenings. Data was collected through pre-and-post workshop surveys, field observations, and two semi-structured focus group discussions. Focus group sessions were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim for analysis. The digital stories themselves were analyzed thematically. Two participants were pregnant at the time of the study, while the remainder (n=17/19) had at least one child. Most young women relied on social assistance as one of their main financial supports (n=17/19), and all of the participants disclosed a past or current history of treatment for a mental health condition (Anxiety, Depression, Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, Learning Disorder, Eating Disorder). Focus group findings revealed that participants found the digital storytelling process empowering; they were proud of their resulting films and several described the process as therapeutic. While each story was unique and often a number of different themes emerged from each video, thematic analysis of narrative content revealed similarities across stories. Videos highlighted the following narrative threads: resilience, change, and the capacity to overcome obstacles (n=16); motherhood as a source of strength and hope (n=15); mental health (n=10); healthcare engagement in clinical settings (n=8); and past abuse and trauma (n=5). The complex and multifaceted health-related issues discussed in the videos contribute vital context to the gap in the literature regarding PPY experience with health and healthcare. The digital stories add authentic youth voice and have the potential to inform youth-driven health policy and practice changes. The process of combining technology with the voices of this underrepresented population was powerful and digital stories add a very personal lens to young motherhood.

Story Circles and abortion stigma in Mexico: a mixed-methods evaluation of a new intervention for reducing individual level abortion stigma

This study presents the results of an evaluation of a Story Circles intervention to reduce individual level abortion stigma among women who have experienced abortion in Mexico. Using a mixed-methods approach, the study explored whether participation in the intervention reduced 18 women’s experience of stigma one month after having participated. The study used the Individual Level Abortion Stigma Scale (ILAS Scale), qualitative interviews and focus groups to gain an understanding of women’s experiences of the intervention and any changes in stigmatising feelings. Findings suggest that the Story Circles offered women a place to talk about their abortion in an affirmative and supportive environment, unlike the context of their daily lives where stigma generated silence and affected their well-being. Participants were able to build trust, share their experiences, create connections and transform their perception of their abortion from a negative experience to one that was empowering and life-affirming. This also led to other significant positive changes in their lives. The paper offers recommendations about programme and intervention design and implementation for practitioners working to reduce individual level stigma among women who have experienced abortion.

Understanding young women’s experiences of gender inequality in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh through story circles

ABSTRACT Gender inequality poses grave consequences for young women’s health and wellbeing. The aim of this study was to understand how gender influences the lives of young women living in urban slums of Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India using story circles as a research methodology. Narrative-based participatory methods like story circles (which involves sharing individual stories in a group circle on a given topic) can provide the nuance and detail needed to understand young people’s experiences, build trust between participants and researchers, and offer spaces to speak about culturally sensitive subjects. Six story circle sessions were conducted with 50 young women (aged 15–24) in Lucknow. Sessions were audio-recorded, transcribed, and coded. Transcriptions were analysed to identify the following salient themes, all of which act as mechanisms of gender inequality: mobility restrictions, rampant sexual harassment in the community, limited educational and work opportunities, and the utmost prioritization of marriage for young women.

Ideas in dialogue: Leveraging the power of child-led storytelling in the multicultural preschool classroom

AbstractAn investigation into the interactive features of small group, child-led storytelling in preschool classrooms serving lower socioeconomic status (SES), multilingual children shows both the affordances and constraints of positioning children to author their own experiences in the classroom. In story circles, children told stories that included canonical instantiations of story and culturally shaped features. Through their stories, the children advanced ideas, built connections, and evaluated ways of telling stories as they continued ideas like threads from story to story. Child-led storytelling did not disrupt the dynamics of power through which some ways of using language are privileged while others are marginalized. Instead, story circles simply shifted children’ relationship to the process of being and becoming literate such that children did the evaluating, valuing, and promoting of ways of using language, developing literate identities, but potentially forestalling some ways of participating even as shared interactional norms were developed. (Storytelling, multicultural, early childhood education)*

Abstract B31: Creating a mobile device-based educational animation for African American women with hereditary breast cancer risk

Abstract Background: Women residing in predominantly African America (AA) communities on the south side of Chicago have a breast cancer (BC) mortality rate twice as high as women living in predominantly white communities on the north side of the city. The emerging precision health paradigm for BC control that bases screening and prevention on individual level of risk has the potential to narrow the mortality gap by providing effective enhanced screening and preventive measures to AA women at high risk. Implementing a precision medicine strategy will require cancer genetic risk assessment (CGRA) in the primary care setting and referral of women with familial BC risk for genetic counseling (GC). Our prior work with CGRA in primary care clinics in AA communities revealed that women with a family history of BC who meet criteria for genetic counseling are unlikely to attend a GC consultation even when they are referred by their primary care physician (PCP). We found a strong desire among AA women and their PCPs for culturally sensitive educational materials tailored to AA women at risk for hereditary BC to help them understand the purpose of genetic counseling. We are developing a scientific educational animation delivered on a mobile device platform that is designed to motivate AA women with familial BC risk to attend a genetic-counseling consultation. Methods: Scientific animations are an effective tool for educating individuals with low health literacy on the benefits of cancer screening. Scientific animations delivered on smart phones have been used successfully in low-resource countries to provide basic health information. The intervention will be a scientific animation that can be viewed on smart phones, which will be created through an iterative process and will incorporate key elements of culturally sensitive health behavior interventions. The initial step involves semistructured interviews to identify factors that motivated attendance or nonattendance at a GC consultation among AA women who meet national guidelines for genetic counseling based on family history of breast cancer and were referred for counseling by their PCP in an earlier study. The sample (n=20) includes both women who did and who did not attend a GC session. Themes identified in the qualitative interviews will be used to create the script for the animation. The script will be story-driven. We will conduct two “story circles” with a subgroup of women participating in the semistructured interviews. The story circle fosters a safe environment for learning across modes of intelligence, expertise, and praxis. Participants will be asked to relate their family's experience with breast cancer in a story format, and to describe how that story affected them. Findings from the story circles will augment themes identified in semistructured interviews to create a storyline, script, and artwork for the animation that is based on the participants' family experiences. We will then conduct focus groups with key stakeholders from local AA communities and AA women with family history of BC to elicit responses to the script, storyboards, and artwork, and revisions will be made as needed based on input from the focus groups. The animation is created in collaboration with the Scientific Animations without Borders, and we will test the final animation with the same participants who viewed the draft storyboards and artwork. Results: Semistructured interviews and the story circles will be completed by the end of July, 2017, and a draft of the script and initial artwork will be completed by September of 2017. Key themes and stories for the script and preliminary artwork for the animation will be presented. Conclusion: A technology-enabled, culturally sensitive scientific animation that motivates AA women with increased breast cancer risk to attend a genetic counseling consultation will facilitate implementation of a population-based, precision health approach to eliminating BC disparities. Citation Format: Zo Ramamonjiarivelo, DeLawnia Comer-Hagans, Ifeanyi Beverly Chukwudozie, Shirley Spencer, Vida Henderson, Barry Pittendrigh, Julia Bello-Bravo, Karriem S. Watson, Catherine Balthazar, Rupert Evans, Robert A. Winn, Angela Odoms-Young, Kent Hoskins. Creating a mobile device-based educational animation for African American women with hereditary breast cancer risk [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Tenth AACR Conference on the Science of Cancer Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved; 2017 Sep 25-28; Atlanta, GA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2018;27(7 Suppl):Abstract nr B31.

Storying experience: Young children’s early use of story genres

AbstractThe purpose of this study is to support early childhood teachers’ understanding of the diversity and sophistication present in young children’s storytelling to counteract singular and tacit conceptualizations of story. Drawing on the notion of genre, this study uses systemic functional linguistics to examine rhetorical patterns in the storytelling of a group of children in multilingual and multicultural classrooms. Stories were collected in the context of a small group storytelling activity called story circles. Participation in story circles resulted in 176 stories. Children’s stories were parsed into story stages and story genres based on functional purpose and known patterns in the grammar of language. Results show that the children told stories that varied not only in length and complexity, but in choice of story genres. Further, the majority of children employed different genres of story across the four weeks of the activity. The children in this sample used storytelling as a vehicle for giving significance to everyday experience, elevating ideas and establishing relationships in the classroom context.

An Innovative International Community Engagement Approach

The purpose of this article is to describe the successes and challenges of an innovative community engagement initiative in Bermuda, Education for All, in order to enlarge our understanding of how a community uses storytelling as a catalyst for transformative learning. Sponsored by the Coalition for Community Activism, community members and nonprofit groups united to facilitate an islandwide conversation about the student experience. They aspired to transform how people think about what constitutes an appropriate education and, ultimately, reframe the Bermuda conversation of schooling. We trace the evolution of the project attending to how adults came together around a shared purpose and vision for improving education. In so doing, we illuminate the complexities of using story as a catalyst for transformative learning. We provide a story circle protocol developed to gather stories of public school alumni. This story project for social change has implications for community leaders globally.

Silence, voice, and “other languages”: Digital storytelling as a site for resistance and restoration in a South African higher education classroom

AbstractIn order to investigate the composing practices of digital storytellers in a South African context, a qualitative case study, set within a university of technology in South Africa and framed by literature stemming from the disciplines of digital storytelling and composition and rhetoric, was implemented as part of a larger dissertation project initiated in 2014. This study spanned a year and included participant observation and the collection of interviews as primary methods of investigation. Findings linked digital storytelling to creating a liberating classroom space where students could redefine themselves outside of historicized representations. Within a digital storytelling praxis, the story circle component has proven to be an effective means to engage students in both a reflective and critical engagement of their own writing practices, highlighting the synergy between the spoken word, process‐based writing, and digital formats for composing. However, questions remain surrounding the ethical practice of digital storytelling in classrooms especially when students share personal stories and those stories are both publicly consumed and graded. Implications for practice cover themes relating to the integration of technology that supports the democratization of varied voices in the public sphere, which is particularly important in post‐conflict zone environments like South Africa.

Qualitative Analysis of Student Perceptions: “Some Advisors Care. Some Don't.”

University-based academic advising at a large, Great Lakes state institution was designed to support first-year students' transition to college. We conducted individual interviews and facilitated story circles with 162 students to determine their perceived effectiveness of advising. Analyses revealed four overarching themes: student difficulty making the distinction between roles of high school guidance counselors and postsecondary academic advisors, advisor communication, student desire for a relationship, and advisor accessibility. On the basis of data gathered, we developed a model for understanding the formation and maintenance of student advising perceptions.