Whole-Class Discussion

Whole-class discussion took place both during and at the end of each storytelling session, story reading, and imaginative role play activity to invite young children to reflect on how the story and activity might have affected

them. Questions were asked during storytelling or story reading to the young children in order to encourage them to think about the issues as the story progressed, and to discuss a particular picture or point that was raised. Other questions were then asked at the end of each imaginative role play to invite the children to reflect on the activities and to explore relevant personal experiences.

I believe that whole-class discussion invites unpredictable responses to different questions, and that it is important to ask young children complex questions in order to develop their critical thinking and provoke imaginative response, and to understand what is in their minds. In this research, the following questions were used to guide the discussion, with slight alterations made according to each book being discussed:

 Did this book make you think about anything that has happened in your own life?

 How does the main character feel in this book? Why might the character feel this way?

 Have you ever felt that way? When?

 What would you like to say to the characters in this book if you could meet them in the future?

 How would you help the characters in this book understand their situation better so that they could handle it differently if it ever happened to them again?

 Did this book make you think about any situations or events in the outside world?

 Is there anything you do not understand?

 What did you notice from the pictures that the words did not tell you?

 Is there anything in the book that affects you emotionally? What? Why do you think it affected you as it did?

These questions were designed to invite young children to take part in a discussion that involved cognitive dimensions of reading and required the children to be aesthetically and affectively sensitive to the ideas raised by the selected stories (Barrett, cited in Robinson, 1968:22-23). However, it is important to remember that these questions were merely a guide and that while they provided a framework for the discussion they did not exclude other questions or comments that developed. They were intended to kick-start the whole-class discussion to allow young children to share their opinions, to interpret texts, to interact with the characters and plots and to reflect on their own experiences. It was my intention that the whole-class discussion should help the children clarify their understanding of the texts, gain access to more ideas, create deeper meaning, thoughts and feelings, reinforce their understanding, and appreciate and respect different viewpoints (Horner, 1989:17; Gilles, Dickinson, McBride and Vandover, 1994:499-500; NOP, 1991:13). This discussion often involved children retelling their own personal stories. Indeed, Wells argues that responding through story, allows young children to broaden their experiences and develop a richer reflective model of the world (1986:194-195). Mathis also reminds us that:

…stories are a means of response—a vehicle for interpreting the literature we read and a structure for sharing it with others. That response is deepened by discussions in which the audience hears our stories and we hear the stories of others, understanding each layer of meaning as it is exposed (2001:155).

The young children in the class I researched were already quite experienced in interacting with texts in their classroom in Taiwan. However, my selection of texts of trauma was new to them, and I hoped they would not find it too difficult to talk about their thoughts and feelings with regard to the stories we read together. Every student was encouraged to participate in the discussion; I tried to give each one an opportunity of replying to the guiding questions.

Whole-class discussion may provide an opportunity for sharing and interaction between young children; however, it can be dominated by certain students who are more willing to express their ideas than others (Dockrell,

Lewis and Lindsay, 2000:52). Not every student was willing to voice their ideas and thoughts in front of the whole class and I noted the ‘quiet’ student and often worked with them individually or in small groups, where they felt more comfortable. I also made time for as many young children as possible to raise their hands and I invited those children who never raised their hands to share their thoughts. Below is an example showing how some children participated in the whole-class discussion. In this discussion, I tried to encourage the children to predict possible places for hiding Miriam in the story.

Example (The story of The Lily Cupboard, the discussion is audio-visually recorded):

I: Where do you think The Nello family would help Miriam to hide when the soldiers came? (prediction)

Student A: In the river.

Student B: Somewhere in the forest. Student C: At the back of their house. Student D: In a big rubbish bin.

As can be seen from the responses quoted above, every participant’s prediction is varied, and this is what makes the discussion more interesting and engaging for everyone who is listening to the stories and the experiences of others.