Children's authorization horizons: children's narratives in education and culture

Abstract

This article proposes three approximations to the issue of children’s narrative, based on a variety of theoretical-methodological references and research experiences and focuses mainly on the valorization of children’s orality in educational contexts. One of the presumptions of the work is the concept that cultures also speak through the voices of children. A first approach focuses on the relationship between narrative authorship and playfulness, based mainly on the work of Vivian Gussin Paley. The second focus is the relationship between children’s narrative authorship and cultural sharing, presented in a discussion based on a methodology for the creation of narrative performances in public schools realized by the PingChong Company of New York. The third focus is the aestheticpoetic dimensions of children’s narrative authorship, based on story-creation workshops organized by Lucy Calkins. The conclusions highlight the importance that school education be more completely open to children’s oral narration, while maintaining certain criteria, because of the educational and cultural value of this practice.