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Article: Narrative constructions: cultural frames for history.
- Article from:
- The Social Studies
- Article date:
- May 1, 1995
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1995 Heldref Publications. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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At least since Barbara Hardy (Meek, Barton, and Warlow 1978) wrote her oft-quoted remark that narrative is a primary act of mind, educators have tried to use narrative as a way to structure new information for young children. Because children's ability to understand and use narrative has generally been assumed to precede their ability to understand and use other genres (Britton et al. 1975; Egan 1988; Moffet 1968), narratives have been seen as particularly useful pedagogical tools in all areas of the curriculum (Egan 1988; Wells 1986).
Specifically, Egan (1979, 1983, 1986) argues that a grounding in story, with its emphasis on human response to historical events, is ...