Never the Same Storytime Twice: An Exploration of the Nature and Role of Reflection in Public Library Storytime Assessment

Abstract

Public library storytimes have been well-established as informal learning environments that can support the learning and development of young children through interactive, intentional programming produced by storytime providers (McKechnie, 2006; Becker, 2012; Campana et al., 2014; Campana et al., 2016; Mills et al., 2018; Campana, 2018; Campana, 2019; Campana et al., 2019). Storytime production (McKenzie & Stooke, 2007) consists of the stages of planning, delivery, and assessment (Campana, Mills, & Ghoting, 2016; Mills, Campana, & Clarke, 2016), and though research has examined the planning and delivery of storytimes, assessment remains largely emergent and unexplored (Mills et al., 2015). In fact, in-depth research has not yet been done into the role of the design process of reflection-on-action (Schön, 1991) in storytime planning and assessment. Moreover, there is not yet research showing evidence of reflection-in-action in storytime delivery, which could contribute to a deeper understanding of this concept for practitioners and enable more informed advocacy with stakeholders and communities. A strong need exists, therefore, for a reflective approach that might give storytime providers an effective tool for advocacy and self-assessment. Using a qualitative, secondary analysis of data from an existing study of early literacy measures in storytime, and an application of the theoretical framework of reflection-in- and -on-action (Schön, 1983, 1987), this study explored how storytime providers use reflection-in- and -on-action in the storytime production stages of planning, delivery, and assessment to create positive learning spaces for the young children and their families who attend. The facets and nuances of these stages, surfaced in the data, when combined with the theoretical framework, yielded the Reflective Self-Assessment Framework that enables providers to both leverage the reflection they’re already doing on their own programs and recognize the reflection they’re conducting during the program to shift and adjust based on what they are observing in the moment. These two types of reflection provide new depth to existing assessment work being done by librarians and enables them to look at all aspects of the storytime production process—planning, delivery, and assessment—in a holistic way. This work further intersects librarianship and design, building on the work of Clarke (2016) and others, to demonstrate how children’s librarianship and design fit together. The findings yielded definitions of each storytime production stage and demonstrated how reflection is present in the work that storytime providers do. Furthermore, these stages intersect with and inform one another, revealing a fluidity to this design work to develop storytimes. The resulting framework situates these stages within, and in so doing, reimagines certain aspects of the existing processes of reflection-in- and -on-action.