This short paper from the StudyCrafter project describes findings from a youth workshop we developed on participatory storytelling. It will be presented at the 2022 Annual meeting of the International Society for the Learning Sciences.
Matuk, C., Amato, A., Sui, J., Sutherland, S. & Harteveld, C. (2022). Inform, empathize, inquire: How youth use participatory storytelling to engage with social issues. In, Proceedings of the International Conference for the Learning Sciences, The International Society for the Learning Sciences. Hybrid. [ResearchGate] [Academia.edu]
Abstract
This study explores how youth created participatory stories—a genre of interactive fiction that logs players’ choices as data to be analyzed—to advocate for social change. We designed a workshop to guide 22 high-school-aged youth in creating participatory stories about social issues of their choice. Analyses of their vision statements, stories, and reflections, revealed three ways that youth used this medium: to inform players, to provoke empathy, and to inquire into human behavior related to their chosen social issues. Our findings show the potential for participatory storytelling to amplify youth’s agency to take social action.