The Power of Storytelling: Creatively Facilitating Conceptual Change in the Classroom

Abstract

Conceptual knowledge encompasses understanding the interrelationships among multiple pieces of information. Misconceptions of these interrelationships illustrate the need for effective educational strategies to facilitate conceptual change, with the goal of facilitating changes in learner understanding to appropriate, accurate, and complete concepts. Strategies, such as refutation texts, have proven effective in addressing science misconceptions, yet there is a prominent gap in research on conceptual change in nonscience subjects and the use of storytelling to facilitate such change. Storytelling, presented in a range of educational subjects, invites learners to engage in social discourses and problem-solving exercises. Prompted by classroom storytelling practices, creativity, flexibility, and high levels of motivation support learners in approaching ambiguous or complex instructional material as well as promote abstract conceptualization. Despite storytelling’s oral tradition, diverse formats using technology and digital platforms position storytelling as a multidimensional, multidisciplinary pedagogical strategy for conceptual change.