Television As Teacher: Storytelling in Children's

TELEVISION AS TEACHER: STORYTELLING IN CHILDREN’S EDUCATIONAL MEDIA

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Authors Bravin, Ryan

Citation Bravin, Ryan. (2020). TELEVISION AS TEACHER: STORYTELLING IN CHILDREN’S EDUCATIONAL MEDIA (Bachelor's thesis, University of Arizona, Tucson, USA).

Publisher The University of Arizona.

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TELEVISION AS TEACHER:

STORYTELLING IN CHILDREN’S EDUCATIONAL MEDIA

RYAN NICKOLAS BRAVIN

A Thesis Submitted to The Honors College

In Partial Fulfillment of the Bachelors degree

With Honors In

Communication

THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA

MAY 2020

Approved by:

Dr. Jennifer Stevens-Aubrey Department of Communication STORYTELLING IN CHILDREN’S EDUCATIONAL MEDIA 2

Abstract

This content analysis seeks to uncover the relationship between the stories told in children’s educational media and the educational content they also include. Because media of this type have grown tremendously within the past decade while also become more readily available for the average consumer, this research most certainly has the potential to impact the lives of parents and teachers of young children. The present study involves analyzing quantitative data from 40 different episodes that represent a total of 10 children’s television shows, where we consider how well each episode tells its story in addition to how well it incorporates educational content throughout. This involves looking at the narrative structure, the characters present, the nature of the conflict, the degree of clarity given to the educational content, and the degree of separation between narrative and educational content. The results indicate that while children’s educational television episodes are effective in balancing engagement with education, there is a tendency for these shows to have a stronger emphasis on education than they do on engagement. With this in mind, the discussion focuses on the implications of this and revolves around how parents, teachers, and other stakeholders in the lives of young children might practically respond to these findings.

STORYTELLING IN CHILDREN’S EDUCATIONAL MEDIA 3

Statement of Purpose and Relevance

Children’s educational media is on the rise. Looking to Common Sense Media’s list of

Educational TV shows for kids (2019) reveals that of the 12 shows listed as appropriate for preschoolers (ages 2-4), eight of them were released in 2010 or later. This increase in the availability of educational television within the past decade coincides with its increased demand, as children’s daily media consumption in 2017 hit its highest amount to date at over two hours and fifteen minutes per day (Common Sense Media, 2017). In addition, research from the Center for Children and Technology dating back to 2004 has consistently shown that people generally remember about twice as much content when they see it and hear it. “Thus, television’s combination of sound and imagery renders it a powerful aid to learning” (Coonrod, 2004, p. 2).

Television clearly acts as a resource that parents, teachers, and other stakeholders use to help young children engage in early formal learning. For these reasons, children’s educational television is most certainly a relevant issue to research. By conducting research revolving around the current state of children’s educational television, we hope to investigate the ways in which children’s television conforms to principles of childhood learning while also adhering to principles of narrative and storytelling. Because the goal of these media is to strike a balance between achieving their targeted learning objectives and keeping their audience members engaged, this research hopes to identify how this is being done.

The necessity for producing engaging material has been apparent since the 1880s, when psychologist Herman Ebbinghaus pioneered landmark research in the field of retention and learning. In an article written about his famous diagram called the “forgetting curve,” he suggests that the fully developed human brain forgets 56% of information after one hour, 66% after one day, and 75% after one week (Terada, 2017). When we consider the implications of STORYTELLING IN CHILDREN’S EDUCATIONAL MEDIA 4 this research, we find that retention rates are comparable—if not worse—when compared to a younger and less developed brain. In response to this, many parents and educators find themselves turning to narratives and stories as a means for their children to learn and retain educational material. Many studies in narrative theory have shown just how powerful storytelling can be in fostering increased attention span, retention rates, and long-term recall, pointing to its relevance in the world of children’s educational media (Feitelson, 1986; Zak,

2013, Moorman, 2015). Packaging targeted learning objectives through storytelling and narratives has historically been shown to be an effective means of maximizing learning— especially in younger children—and this fact serves as the inspiration for the present study.

However, there are many examples of children’s educational media that rely too heavily on the storytelling involved, while virtually ignoring their expressed learning outcomes.

Although these media might be advertised as educational in nature, a critical evaluation of them reveals that they are nothing more than pure entertainment. Without being properly informed of this, many parents may find themselves allowing their children to consume media that looks

“educational” on the surface when in reality, its educational benefits are minimal.

The goal of this research is to observe children’s educational television from both a narrative standpoint and a learning standpoint. By identifying how effectively these media conform to the hallmarks of conventional storytelling in addition to observing how explicitly these stories connect with their educational content, we hope to uncover a pattern that will allow us to effectively evaluate examples of children’s educational media.

Educational Media in Childhood

In Common Sense Media’s most recent census from 2017, we learn much about children aged 0-8 and their relation to the media. These are a few of the key statistics from this census: STORYTELLING IN CHILDREN’S EDUCATIONAL MEDIA 5

(a) Children from ages 0-8, on average, spend nearly one hour per day watching

television.

(b) 98% of children from ages 0-8 live in a home with access to a television set.

screen time.

These statistics clearly show that television usage is pervasive in the lives of children.

Regardless of race or socioeconomic status, television will undoubtedly touch every child’s life in one way or another. Moreover, this census also analyzes the use of mobile devices and the

Internet in children from ages 0-8, which reveals that habitual media use is widespread:

(a) Since 2013, the amount of time that young children spend on mobile devices has

tripled from 15 minutes per day to 48 minutes per day.

(b) 98% of children from ages 0-8 live in a home with access to a mobile device, a 40%

increase since 2011.

device on a regular basis, an increase of almost 50% from 2011.

All of these statistics point to the fact that media use—whether through a television, a mobile device, or the Internet—has become nearly universal in the lives of our children.

Although the specific media content that children are consuming varies across different genres, it is likely that educational media constitutes a large percentage of their use. The same census from Common Sense Media (2017) reveals that 67% of parents agree that their children’s consumption of screen media helps with their learning process, and 57% say that their child’s consumption of screen media helps with their creativity. We can also look to the prevalence of streaming services such as Amazon Prime, Netflix, Hulu, Xfinity, YouTube, and even the STORYTELLING IN CHILDREN’S EDUCATIONAL MEDIA 6 recently launched Disney+; as many of these streaming services devote entire subsections of their materials to children’s educational content.

The bottom line is this: children have more access to educational media than they ever did before. Because parents act as the gatekeeper between their young children and their media intake, this steady increase in available educational media requires parents to become even more critical of the media they allow their children to consume. Thus, the goal of this research is to give parents, educators, and other stakeholders in the lives of young children an accurate measure by which they can act as effective curators of high-quality content.

A literature review on the following theories will ground the present study:

(a) Todorov’s Equilibrium Theory and Five-Part Narrative Structure,

(b) Propp’s Seven Fairy Tale Characters.

(d) Fisch’s (2000) Learning Capacity Model as it relates to explicitness and distance.

After analyzing these theories and relating them to our research questions, we will conduct a content analysis of children’s educational television shows. With this, we hope to see first-hand exactly how our sample of shows are functioning as both narrative and education.

Literature Review

Todorov’s Five-Part Narrative Structure

Examining theories regarding narrative structure are important to understanding children’s educational television because many children’s educational television shows rely on recognizable narrative patterns. The more simplistic and identifiable the narrative is, the fewer cognitive resources a child must use in processing that narrative, leaving more resources for processing the show’s educational content. This is one of the primary tenants of Fisch’s (2000) STORYTELLING IN CHILDREN’S EDUCATIONAL MEDIA 7

Learning Capacity Model, pointing to the reality that an easily recognizable narrative is the key to creating meaningful and memorable educational content.

The typical five-part structure that we see in narrative is believed to have its origins with the ancient Greeks, beginning with Aristotle’s analysis of the Greek tragedy in his Poetics dating back to 335 BCE. In 19 BCE, Roman drama critic Horace advocated for the five-part dramatic structure in his Ars Poetica (“The Art of Poetry”), further solidifying the narrative structure we are familiar with today. This idea of a narrative being broken into five distinct parts gained even more leverage in 1863, with German novelist Gustav Freytag’s Pyramid (Ronen, 1997) that documented the unfolding of a typical narrative as follows:

(a) Exposition

(b) Rising action

(d) Falling action

(e) Denouement

This leads us to Tzvetan Todorov (1971), a Bulgarian literary theorist who not only argued that conventional stories have five distinct parts, but also argued that “theoretical studies have shown (and recent empirical research has confirmed) that this cycle is part of the very definition of narrative: one cannot imagine a narrative which does not contain at least one part of it” (p. 39). In their attempts to describe his work, other theorists summarize his equilibrium theory as such: “events in narrative proceed through a series of five stages: equilibrium, disruption, efforts by characters (or actants) at alleviating the disruption, the success or failure of those efforts, and finally the establishment of a new equilibrium” (Phelan & Rabinowitz, 2005, p.

7-8). STORYTELLING IN CHILDREN’S EDUCATIONAL MEDIA 8

For our purposes, we will articulate the five stages of a story as follows:

(a) Equilibrium: when everything is calm and normal.

(b) Disruption: when a problem is introduced.

problem.

(d) Restored order: an attempt to get back to the state of equilibrium.

(e) Equilibrium restored: things go back to being calm and normal.

With this historically agreed-upon narrative structure in mind, our first research question is as follows:

RQ1: To what extent do children’s educational television shows conform to Todorov’s five-part narrative structure?

Propp’s Seven Fairy Tale Characters

As we have seen, stories that have easily distinguishable narrative patterns are effective within children’s educational media. Narrative theories relating to characters and their development within stories have the same effect for similar reasons: if a child can recognize a character and their function relatively easily, they can spend more of their limited cognitive resources processing the educational content of the show. This forms the basis for why examining characters and their functions is important when studying children’s educational television.

Vladimir Propp (1958) was a 20th-century Russian folklorist who was well-known for his analysis of basic folktales. By breaking them down into their structural units, he was able to identify how folktales (and narrative as a whole) work at their most fundamental levels. In his STORYTELLING IN CHILDREN’S EDUCATIONAL MEDIA 9

Morphology of the Folktale, Propp describes the seven archetypical fairy tale characters and their respective functions, which are as follows:

(a) The hero: “the character who either directly suffers from the action of the villain in

the complication... in the course of the action, the hero is the person who is supplied with

a magical helper, and who makes use of it or is served by it” (p. 50). The hero tends to be

the protagonist of the story who thwarts the villain, generally has little to no character

flaws, and emerges victorious in the end.

(b) The villain: the person whose “role is to disturb the peace of a happy family, to cause

some form of misfortune, damage, or harm” (p. 27). This character is generally

characterized as evil and spends their entire campaign struggling for the hero.

obtains some agent which permits the eventual liquidation of misfortune” (p. 39). This

character gives the hero something, enables them to complete their quest, or prepares

them for their journey.

(d) The helper: someone whose “help is directly put to use on the command of the hero”

(p. 50). This character comes alongside the hero to help them during their quest.

(e) The dispatcher: the character who provides the hero with the allowance “to depart

from home,” gives them an “initiative for departure,” and even “bestow[s] their blessing”

(p. 37). They are the character who sends the hero off on their quest.

(f) The princess/prince: “a sought-for person” (p. 79). Though not always portrayed

through a character, the hero deserves the princess/prince throughout the story but is

unable to win them as a consequence of some evil or injustice, usually due to the work of

the villain. STORYTELLING IN CHILDREN’S EDUCATIONAL MEDIA 10

(g) The false hero: the figure who “presents unfounded claims” (p. 60) in an attempt to

take credit for the hero’s actions.

Propp’s argument is that all characters—whether in folktales, myths, or stories as a whole—could be resolved into these seven character functions. Given that these seven character functions form the basis by which all characters in any narrative are created, our second research question is this:

RQ2: Which of Propp’s seven fairy tale characters are incorporated in children’s educational television shows?

Strauss’ Theory of Binary Opposition

Observing narrative structures and archetypal characters in stories are helpful in understanding the balance between children’s educational media’s learning objectives and their narrative functions. However, the theory of binary opposition has less to do with the function of children’s educational media and more to do with its responsibility to engage its audience.

Studies show that the normal range for a toddler’s attention span is three to six minutes

(Gaertner, 2008), which reveals the necessity for educational television shows to focus on engagement. When implemented in the realm of children’s educational television, the theory of binary opposition allows for the stakes of a narrative to be raised to their maximum, which increases the likelihood for their audience to remain engaged and attentive during the duration of the episode.

Claude Lévi-Strauss (1955) was a 20th-century French anthropologist who developed the theory of structuralism as it relates to mythology. Structuralism is a theory arguing that elements of human culture must be understood by way of their relationship to a broader, overarching system or structure. Relating this idea to his studies of mythology, Strauss found the following STORYTELLING IN CHILDREN’S EDUCATIONAL MEDIA 11 pattern: that “mythical thought always works from the awareness of oppositions towards their progressive mediation” (p. 440). In sum, this means that we as humans “cannot understand something unless we first perceive how it is different from something else, or its opposition” (p.

439), which is the reason for the term “binary opposition.”

This binary opposition is critical in the development of narrative as a whole, as narratives tend to use drastically opposing characters, outcomes, and situations in order to thicken the plot, further the narrative, and introduce contrast. For this reason, binary opposition forms the basis for our third research question, which is as follows:

RQ3: To what extent do children’s educational television shows incorporate binary opposition within their narratives?

Fisch’s (2000) Learning Capacity Model

Our previous three research questions have dealt with the formation of the narrative, so now we will focus on the educational content itself. Fisch’s (2000) Learning Capacity Model is an attempt to explain how children allocate their working memory resources while watching educational television. Children’s processing is comprised of three main components: processing of the narrative, processing of educational content, and the distance between these two constructs.

The idea of explicitness is an important component of the learning model, as it seeks to define whether or not the educational content is made overtly clear within the program itself.

The example that Fisch (2000) uses is a basketball game that illustrates the basic concepts of geometry. If the television episode in question spends time “talking about the geometry involved in a basketball player’s making a difficult shot” (p. 73), this represents a high degree of STORYTELLING IN CHILDREN’S EDUCATIONAL MEDIA 12 explicitness. In contrast, if the television episode in question “simply show[s] the player make the shot without any discussion” (p. 73), this represents a low degree of explicitness.

According to this model, increasing the explicitness of educational content produces a decrease in demand for processing this educational content, which, in turn, leads to greater comprehension overall. When children do not have to devote their limited cognitive resources to processing the educational content, more of their resources can be devoted to comprehending it for longer periods of time.

With this in mind, we hope to ask another research question revolving around the idea of media explicitness, which is as follows:

RQ4: To what degree is the educational content explicitly emphasized in children’s educational television shows?

The notion of distance is also one of the features that is unique to the capacity model

(Fisch, 2000). Distance refers to the degree to which the educational content is integral or tangential to the narrative. If the educational content is fully integrated into the narrative plot, we would say that this represents a low degree of distance. If the educational content exists separately from the narrative itself, this represents a high degree of distance.

Fisch’s (2000) example of a large distance between narrative and educational content follows a television episode where the narrative is focused on learning how to play a musical instrument. Although the underlying educational content is seeking to teach that sound is caused by vibration, knowing this fact is not necessary for the advancement of the narrative. This represents a high degree of distance between narrative and educational content.

In contrast, a small distance between narrative and educational content is illustrated through a television episode where characters are seeking to find a hidden treasure. In order to STORYTELLING IN CHILDREN’S EDUCATIONAL MEDIA 13 find this hidden treasure, the characters have to figure out a series of puzzles and clues built around a mathematical sequence of numbers known as the Fibonacci sequence. Because the progression of the narrative is dependent on mastery of the expressed educational content, this represents a low degree of distance between narrative and educational content.

In terms of comprehension and retention, Fisch (2000) posits that a decrease in distance leads to reduced competition between narrative and educational content. With this reduced competition comes an increase in mental capacity that translates into available cognitive resources that can instead be devoted to comprehension, retention, and long-term recall.

With this in mind, our next research question is as follows:

RQ5: What is the typical pattern of distance between narrative and educational content in children’s educational television shows?

Relationships Between Theories

Based on what we know from existing literature, we expect that there will be relationships present between theories of narrative and theories of learning. The first relationship we are interested in exploring is the relationship between the characters present within a narrative and the presence of binary opposition. Because many children’s educational television shows are named after the characters they follow, we expect that the stories within each episode are mainly character-driven. In addition, we know that one method of creating binary opposition is to use drastically opposing characters within a narrative, so the presence of certain character types should logically correspond with the presence of binary opposition. For these reasons, the relationship between Propp’s seven fairy tale characters and binary opposition forms the basis for a subsequent research question, which is as follows: STORYTELLING IN CHILDREN’S EDUCATIONAL MEDIA 14

RQ6: What is the relationship between the types of characters present in children’s educational television shows and the presence of binary opposition?

Finally, because distance relies on both the strength of the narrative and its relation to the educational content of the episode in question, we are also interested in seeing whether or not there is a relationship between distance and binary opposition. Fisch’s (2000) example of finding a hidden treasure through use of the Fibonacci sequence points to the fact that a tangible conflict has the potential to build a significant connection to an educational objective, and simultaneously joining these two elements together represents a strong application of both narrative and learning.

With this in mind, our final research question is as follows:

RQ7: What is the relationship between binary opposition in children’s educational television shows and the level of distance between narrative and educational content?

Methods

Sample

We began by deciding on the scope of the children’s educational television shows that we intended on studying. Using a website run by Common Sense Media (a non-profit that advocates for safe media consumption for children), we found a list of nearly 60 educational television shows for children. To narrow this list down, we decided to only focus on shows aimed at preschoolers (roughly from ages 2-4). This brought the number of eligible shows from 60 down to 12. Finally, we made the decision that although children’s educational television shows that teach social skills are valid, the quantitative nature of our study was better suited to only focus on shows that teach academic skills. This eliminated both Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood and Doc STORYTELLING IN CHILDREN’S EDUCATIONAL MEDIA 15

McStuffins, leaving us with 10 shows in total to focus on for our study. These shows are as follows: Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Sesame Street, The Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About That!,

One Big Ocean, Peg + Cat, Tumble Leaf, Creative Galaxy, Earth to Luna, Wallykazam!, and Sid the Science Kid. For a complete list of each episode included in our coding sample, please see

Appendix A.

With 10 shows at our disposal, we then decided on which episodes to code from these shows. Our goal was to code 40 episodes in total, which translated to four episodes of each of the 10 shows in question. For seven of these shows, we randomly selected four episodes from their most recently aired seasons. However, for Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Sesame Street, and

Earth to Luna, our available streaming services only allowed us to choose four episodes from the previous season rather than the latest season. Thus, the 40 randomly selected episodes had release dates ranging from November of 2009 to June of 2019.

Codebook

Beginning with Todorov’s five-part narrative structure, our goal was to articulate the signs of each stage’s occurrence. The equilibrium stage is generally marked by the start of a new day, a depiction of the usual state of condition, and freedom from disturbance or disruption within the episode’s opening moments. Next, the disruption stage often coincides with a change in background music, the inability for our characters to return to their usual state of condition, and a problem that will effectively drive the remainder of the plot. The realization stage involves an overt statement from a character about their intentions to correct the problem at hand, while the restored order stage involves the execution of a character’s plans to solve the problem at hand. Finally, the restored equilibrium stage is marked by the complete and total resolution of STORYTELLING IN CHILDREN’S EDUCATIONAL MEDIA 16 the original problem introduced during the disruption stage, and can also be seen through a return to the characters’ usual state of condition. Of the five variables for which we coded for,

Todorov’s five-part narrative structure did not meet acceptable levels of intercoder reliability.

For this reason, our findings for this variable will not be included in the results section.

The next variable we considered was that of Propp’s seven fairy tale characters. The goal of this variable was not to reach perfect agreement on where each character falls, but rather, to reach agreement on whether or not a particular character type exists within the episode as a whole. With this in mind, the codebook was written with the intent of describing each character and their respective role within the episode. We define the hero as the protagonist of the story whom the narrative follows throughout the duration of the episode. Oftentimes, the title of the episode or even the show as a whole acts as a clear indicator of who the hero is. The villain represents the character who causes misfortune, damage, or harm in a way that is in direct opposition to the work of the hero. We define the donor as the character who provides something for the hero to use on their journey. Although they do not necessarily come alongside the hero during their journey, their contributions help the hero to eventually complete their quest.

Next, we decided that the helper represents the character who acts as the hero’s “sidekick” and comes alongside them throughout their quest. The dispatcher is the character who sends the hero off on their quest, and like the donor, they do not necessarily come alongside the hero during their journey. Any character who helps the hero get from one place to another is also considered to be a dispatcher. The princess/prince represents the character whom the hero struggles for throughout the course of the episode, and they are often closely involved within the overall conflict of the story. Finally, we define the false hero as the character who attempts to take credit for the hero’s actions, often lying on behalf of the hero in order to get their way. STORYTELLING IN CHILDREN’S EDUCATIONAL MEDIA 17

The third variable we included in the codebook was that of binary opposition, which is phrased as a simple yes-or-no question. In short, we ask whether or not the hero has a specific quest that they need to complete in order to achieve success within the context of the episode. If the answer is yes, that points to an episode that contains binary opposition. If the hero’s success or failure will not change the outcome of the episode, this points to an episode that contains no binary opposition.

Next, we considered Fisch’s (2000) Learning Capacity Model as the model for how we intended to code our final two variables, the first of which representing the idea of explicitness.

For this variable, we decided to use three distinct questions in an effort to paint an overall picture of how explicit the educational content is within each episode. Each question is phrased as a yes-or-no question, the first of which asking whether or not the educational objective is overtly stated at some point during the episode. Second, we ask whether or not the educational content itself appears multiple times throughout the episode in question. Third, in measuring discussion of educational content, we ask if the educational content simply occurs in passing (leading to a response of “no discussion present”), or if instead the concept or idea in question is explained in- depth (leading to a response of “discussion present”).

Finally, our fifth variable is represented by Fisch’s (2000) Learning Capacity Model as it relates to the idea of distance. We decided to use a three-point scale to measure an episode’s level of distance. A score of zero represents a high degree of distance between educational content and narrative, and a score of two represents a low degree of distance. To help coders distinguish between each level of distance, we decided to ask a single question: what would happen to the story if we were to remove all of the educational content from the episode? A score of zero indicates that the story would hardly change at all; a score of one indicates that STORYTELLING IN CHILDREN’S EDUCATIONAL MEDIA 18 although a few scenes or lines would be cut, the story would largely remain the same; and a score of two indicates that removing the educational content would significantly impact how the story unfolds.

The end of the codebook included three sample episodes that were coded by the author.

With descriptions of each episode at the beginning along with in-depth explanations of the choices made throughout, this resource was intended to provide coders with guidance in case they got stuck on a particular question.

To see the final version of our codebook, please see Appendix B.

To assist our coders in keeping track of everything in each episode, we also designed a coder’s worksheet. This worksheet contains every variable present within our study and offers our coders a space to write down their thoughts as the episode progresses. Each portion of the worksheet begins with an open-ended question, including questions such as “Describe how the episode begins”, “describe how the problem is originally introduced”, and “describe the main conflict presented in the episode”. With this in mind, the worksheet exists separately from the results of our coding efforts and is simply meant to aid our coders as we go along. For these reasons, our annotated coder’s worksheets will not be included in the final results. To see the final version of the coder’s worksheet, please see Appendix C.

Finally, rather than using online software to compute the results, we chose to use a physical survey, which we assigned the term “code sheet”. Each research question is split up into its different variables, phrased as a yes-or-no question. Coders have the opportunity to circle either “yes” or “no” for each variable. The exception to this would be Research Question

#5, where rather than answering “yes” or “no”, coders will use a 0-2 scale to decide on the level STORYTELLING IN CHILDREN’S EDUCATIONAL MEDIA 19 of distance between narrative and educational content. To see the final version of the code sheet, please see Appendix D.

Coder Training

The sample was coded by the author and two additional coders. With the codebook complete, our next step in the process was to train the other two coders who were represented by one male undergraduate student and one male real estate agent.

We spent approximately 12 hours in training over the course of five weeks. This training involved five separate rounds of coding to resolve disagreements between coders and to resolve issues with the codebook. These five rounds of coding involved approximately 17 different episodes and produced a total of five changes to the original codebook.

As stated, our final assignment involved four randomly selected episodes from each of the 10 shows in our sample. We used four of these 40 episodes (10% of the sample) to calculate intercoder reliability, which left us with 36 additional episodes to code for. The author randomly selected the four episodes that all three coders would code in order to establish intercoder reliability, then randomly assigned 12 additional episodes for each of us to code on our own.

After coding all 40 episodes, our results for intercoder reliability indicated that we reached agreement (as indicated by a Krippendorff’s alpha of at least 0.667) on four variables:

Propp’s seven fairy tale characters (0.72), binary opposition (0.67), explicitness (0.76), and distance (0.82). As stated, our failure to reach the required level of agreement for the five-part narrative structure means that it will not be included in our results section.

STORYTELLING IN CHILDREN’S EDUCATIONAL MEDIA 20

Results

Research Question #2

For this research question, we sought to understand how children’s educational television shows incorporate Propp’s seven fairy tale characters within their narratives. In our selected sample, we found that heroes were present in 100% (n = 40) of the children’s television episodes.

The next most frequent fairytale character was the helper, who was present in 90.0% (n = 36) of the episodes. Following in order, donors were present in 67.5% (n = 27) of the episodes, princesses/princes were present in 35.0% (n = 14) episodes, dispatchers were present in 27.5% (n

= 11) of episodes, and villains were present in 5.0% (n = 2) of episodes. False heroes were absent altogether in the episodes.

None of the episodes in our sample had only one character type present, nor did any have more than five. We found that the majority of the episodes had three character types, with 52.5%

(n = 21) holding to this pattern. Following in order, 15.0% (n = 6) of the episodes had two character types, 25.0% (n = 10) of the episodes had four character types, and 7.5% (n = 3) of the episodes had five character types.

Research Question #3

This research question attempted to answer the question of how often children’s television episodes incorporated binary opposition within their narratives. Our selected sample indicated that 60.0% (n = 24) of the children’s television episodes contained binary opposition, while 40.0% (n = 16) did not.

Research Question #4

This research question sought to apply Fisch’s (2000) Learning Capacity Model to children’s educational television shows in terms of explicitness of educational content. In testing STORYTELLING IN CHILDREN’S EDUCATIONAL MEDIA 21 for this variable, we split up our results based on the three questions asked in terms of explicitness. In our selected sample, only 35.0% (n = 14) of the children’s television episodes contained an overt statement of a learning objective. We saw much stronger results for the remaining two questions revolving around explicitness, with 75.0% (n = 30) of the episodes in question including repetition of educational content and 75.0% (n = 30) discussing the educational content. Episodes that exhibited zero out of the three signs of explicitness represented 15.0% (n = 6) of our sample, 17.5% (n = 7) of the episodes only exhibited one of the three signs of explicitness, 35.0% (n = 14) exhibited two out of three, and the remaining 32.5%

(n = 13) exhibited all three signs of explicitness.

Moreover, we also found that of the seven episodes that only exhibited one of the three signs of explicitness, none of them had an overt statement of learning objective. These episodes were more likely to have repeated appearance of educational content (57.1%; n = 4 out of seven) or discussion of educational content (42.9%; n = 3 out of seven). In addition, of the episodes that exhibited two out of the three signs of explicitness, 92.9% (n = 13 out of 14) had both repeated appearance of educational content and discussion of educational content.

Finally, we discovered that of the episodes that had an overt statement of educational objective, 92.9% (n = 13 out of 14) also had repetition and discussion of content. We were not able to uncover a similar relationship between episodes with repetition nor episodes with discussion, as they were equally likely to exhibit two signs of explicitness or all three signs.

Research Question #5

Similarly to RQ4, this research question sought to utilize Fisch’s (2000) Learning

Capacity Model in an attempt to discover the general pattern of distance between narrative and educational content in children’s educational television shows. STORYTELLING IN CHILDREN’S EDUCATIONAL MEDIA 22

We divided the results for this research question just as we did for RQ4 by splitting up our results based on the three available categories of distance. Category 0, which represented a high degree of distance, was seen in 17.5% (n = 7) of the episodes in question. Category 1, which represented a moderate degree of distance, was seen in 47.5% (n = 19) of the episodes in question. Finally, Category 2, which represented a low degree of distance, was seen in 35.0% (n

= 14) of the episodes in question.

This shows that of the 40 episodes in our sample, 82.5% (n = 33 out of 40) had at least some connection between narrative and educational content (falling in either Category 1 or

Category 2). Moreover, of the seven episodes that fell in Category 0, four of them came from one show (Tumble Leaf). If we were to remove this show from our sample, 91.7% (n = 33 out of

36) of the episodes in question would fall into Category 1 or Category 2. The nine remaining shows would boast some connection between narrative and educational content in at least three out of four episodes.

Research Question #6

In this research question, our goal was to discover the relationship between the character types present within a narrative and the presence of binary opposition. Our selected sample indicated that there is a relationship between these two variables, particularly in the case of princesses/princes, villains, and dispatchers.

Of the episodes that had a princess/prince, 85.7% (n = 12 out of 14 episodes) also had binary opposition. In addition, of the episodes that had a villain, 100% (n = 2 out of 2 episodes) also had binary opposition. Furthermore, of the episodes that contained a dispatcher, 54.5% (n =

6 out of 11 episodes) also had binary opposition. All of these characters’ likelihood of STORYTELLING IN CHILDREN’S EDUCATIONAL MEDIA 23 occurrence showed an increase of at least 30% when binary opposition was present. We were not able to uncover a similar pattern for the other character types in question.

Finally, we also discovered a relationship between binary opposition and the number of character types present within an episode. For the 24 episodes that contained binary opposition,

58.3% (n = 14) contained three character types, 29.2% (n = 7) contained four character types, and 12.5% (n = 3) contained five character types. There were no episodes with two character types that contained binary opposition. For the 16 episodes that did not contain binary opposition, 37.5% (n = 6) contained two character types, 43.8% (n = 7) contained three character types, and 6.3% (n = 3) contained four character types. No episodes with five character types failed to incorporate binary opposition.

Research Question #7

Our final research question predicted a relationship to exist between RQ3 (the presence of binary opposition) and RQ5 (the level of distance between narrative and educational content).

What we found was that the majority of episodes that were in Categories 1 and 2 in terms of distance did contain binary opposition (68.4%; n = 13 out of 19 and 57.1%; n = 8 out of 14, respectively), while episodes in Category 0 in terms of distance had binary opposition only

42.9% (n = 3 out of 7) of the time. This translates to 87.5% (n = 21 out of 24) of episodes with binary opposition falling in either moderate or low distance categories.

Discussion

The Presence of Propp’s Seven Fairy Tale Characters

One of the most obvious patterns that unfolded from this research question was the strong tendency for children’s educational television episodes to include a hero. This makes sense STORYTELLING IN CHILDREN’S EDUCATIONAL MEDIA 24 given that a singular episode ranges from ten to thirty minutes in length, meaning that children will likely have an opportunity to consume multiple episodes at a time. Maintaining a consistent main character throughout an entire season—or, in some cases, throughout the entirety of a show—acts as a means to keep children engaged and connected to the content they consume.

We also saw that there was a strong tendency to avoid false heroes altogether. This makes sense when we consider the cognitive development stage of the target audience (children from ages 2-

4). According to Piagetian theory (Wadsworth, 1989), these children are in the pre-operational stage of development, which means that they make sense of things based on what they look like.

If a character looks like a hero, they are a hero; and if a character looks like a villain, they are a villain. Considering characters like Prince Hans in Disney’s 2013 movie Frozen or Lots-O’-

Huggin’ Bear in Pixar’s 2010 movie Toy Story 3, we see that they represent false heroes: characters who seem to be noble and good on the surface, but who actually are revealed to be evil as the story progresses. However, because pre-operational children can only perceive reality based on what they see, false heroes tend to be too tricky for them to follow. In addition, false heroes are difficult to flesh out effectively within a short span of 10 to 30 minutes. These two factors likely explain why they are not present at all in our sample of children’s television episodes.

We also saw that there was a strong tendency to include helpers to work alongside the hero. Although helpers themselves were not universal, we found that 39 out of the 40 episodes in our sample had either a helper, a donor, or a dispatcher. This suggests that collaboration and teamwork are important values that these shows seek to emulate on top of the academic skills they teach. These episodes imply that most heroes need someone to help them complete their task; a lesson that is certainly transferable to the lives of children. Whether academically or STORYTELLING IN CHILDREN’S EDUCATIONAL MEDIA 25 socially, children tend to mimic what they see, and emphasizing the value of teamwork in children’s television episodes acts as a means to encourage imitation of similar behavior.

These results also suggest that princesses/princes and villains are absent from children’s television episodes more often than not, which can likely be attributed to an additional underlying social value: positivity. While episodes with a villain, princess, or prince tend to have an engaging storyline, they also tend to be less positive than episodes that lack both characters. Shows like Sid the Science Kid that end with Sid’s “super-duper-ooper-schmooper big idea” or Mickey Mouse Clubhouse that ends with everyone doing the hot dog dance are significantly more positive than shows that end with a villain being thwarted or destroyed. In fact, the two episodes in our sample that did contain a villain ended with the villain realizing their wrong and apologizing for it. Particularly for the demographic of preschool-aged children, television shows tend to gravitate towards the “happily-ever-after” complex, which likely explains the overall lack of villains, princesses, and princes.

Finally, the last trend we saw was the fact that the majority of children’s television episodes in our sample operated with three character types. This is in line with research from a variety of disciplines suggesting that things expressed in denominations of threes tend to be more memorable and aesthetically pleasing than those that are not. This “Rule of 3” applies to rhetoric, public speaking, art, film, and—of course—television. With this in mind, children’s television episodes likely gravitate to three character types and three character types alone so their stories can be simple, memorable, and visually pleasing for their audience members.

Binary Opposition and the Nature of Conflict

Our discovery that binary opposition is common in the majority of children’s television shows leads us to a few conclusions. First, we see that in general, children’s television thrives on STORYTELLING IN CHILDREN’S EDUCATIONAL MEDIA 26 conflict. While positivity is certainly a value that shows seek to emulate, the existing body of literature shows that conflict also acts as a means to create engaging content.

Secondly, we also saw a surprising lack of consistency for shows in their relative inclusion or exclusion of binary opposition. Only four out of the 10 shows in our sample either had no binary opposition at all or binary opposition in all four episodes of the selected sample. It was far more likely for a show to have one, two, or three episodes with binary opposition and at least one without. This suggests that rather than attempting to have all of their episodes fit into a singular frame, children’s television shows have plots whose relative intensity levels are entirely situational. One potential reason for this is because too much consistency between episodes and their conflicts may run the risk of boring their audience members. Diversity in types of conflict within an entire season of a show helps to keep children engaged between episodes.

Finally, we recognize that although binary opposition is present in the majority of children’s educational television shows, a significant portion of our sample did not hold to this pattern. This suggests that although conflict acts as a means to create engaging content, it is not the only means to create engaging content. Relating this to the lack of consistency present in shows’ relative inclusion or exclusion of binary opposition, we see that oftentimes, shows without conflict can be just as engaging as shows with conflict. One potential reason for this is due to the fact that for the most part, children’s educational television shows tend to rely on the same group of characters throughout an entire season. Because preschool-aged children may feel connected to these characters on-screen, they do not have to necessarily go through some sort of conflict in order to keep their audience engaged. A particular character’s presence alone often produces enough excitement and joy for a child to be engaged throughout an episode. Characters like Elmo, The Cat in the Hat, and Sid the Science Kid represent characters who belong to shows STORYTELLING IN CHILDREN’S EDUCATIONAL MEDIA 27 that do not always incorporate binary opposition within their narratives; but these characters’ relative popularity allows them to engage their audience members even without a direct conflict.

Explicitness & Specificity of Targeted Learning Objectives

The results from RQ4 prove that more often than not, children’s educational television episodes do not overtly state their targeted educational objectives. The reasons for this are varied, but one probable reason for this pattern comes from the fact that the audience members in question (preschoolers from ages 2-4) will have little to no understanding of what is going on outside of the immediate context of the story. Telling a preschool-level audience what they will be learning is irrelevant when they are watching solely for entertainment purposes.

An interesting result to note, however, is that nearly every episode that did have an overt statement of educational objective went on to have repeated content and discussion of content.

This suggests that any episode that openly states its intended learning objective will likely emphasize that learning objective more so than an episode that does not. Stating the learning objective, in one sense, acts as a form of accountability to its audience members. By promising to teach its viewers something meaningful, children’s television episodes that utilize an overt statement of educational objective have a clear benchmark to measure their relative success or failure.

Our results also show that it is far more likely for an episode to let the learning content speak for itself through both repetition and discussion. The strong relationship between the two variables reveals that repetition and discussion go hand-in-hand. “Show, don’t tell” is an old adage for writers and speakers alike, and we see that children’s television shows certainly hold to this value as well.

Defining the Relationship Between Narrative and Learning STORYTELLING IN CHILDREN’S EDUCATIONAL MEDIA 28

The results from RQ5 indicate that over 80% (n = 33 out of 40) of the episodes in this sample connect their storyline to the educational content in question (either falling in moderate or low distance categories). This reveals that although there are shows that are advertised as educational while existing mainly to entertain, these types of shows represent the minority.

Children’s television episodes are nearly three times more likely to have at least some connection between educational content and narrative than they are to have none at all. Coupled with our findings from RQ4, this also suggests that children’s educational television shows tend to place an equal (if not greater) emphasis on education than they do on entertainment.

In addition, we also found an interesting connection between explicitness and distance.

The majority of the episodes that had a high degree of distance between narrative and educational content (Category 0) scored a 0 out of 3 on the explicitness scale, the majority of those with a moderate degree of distance (Category 1) scored a 2 out of 3 on the explicitness scale, and the majority of those with a low degree of distance (Category 2) scored a 3 out of 3 on the explicitness scale. While these results do not seem surprising at first glance, it is important to keep in mind that explicitness does not take into account anything relating to the narrative itself.

What this means, then, is that the more educational shows are, the more likely it is that their educational content will connect to the story. Though it may seem like too much educational content will produce a dry and boring episode, these results prove the opposite.

Character-Driven Plots: Relating Fairy Tale Characters to Binary Opposition

As our results from RQ6 suggest, episodes with villains, dispatchers, or princesses/princes are far more likely to have binary opposition than episodes without these characters. Villains’ relationship to binary opposition is self-evident: an active agent who seeks to work against the hero necessarily leads to a tangible conflict that is up for grabs. The same STORYTELLING IN CHILDREN’S EDUCATIONAL MEDIA 29 can be said of a princess/prince, as someone who is physically sought by the hero likely mirrors the physical nature of the conflict itself. The dispatcher’s relationship to binary opposition, on the other hand, is a bit more difficult to define. This positive relationship between these two variables likely implies that when the dispatcher must send the hero off on a quest, the conflict at hand will often be for something tangible.

Furthermore, there was a relationship to be found between the number of character types present in an episode and whether or not binary opposition was present. The most significant of these results was that no episode with binary opposition had only two character types, nor did any episode without binary opposition have more than four character types. This suggests that binary opposition becomes increasingly probable as an episode’s complexity increases. Overall, complexity seems to be the friend of binary opposition while simplicity proves to be its enemy, and the results from this sample point to this fact.

The Power of Conflict in Producing High-Quality Learning

Our results from RQ7 synthesized our findings from RQ3 and RQ5, where we discovered a negative relationship between an episode’s distance levels and its likelihood of including binary opposition. The less distance there is between narrative and educational content, the more likely it is that the episode will include binary opposition. Nearly 90% (n = 21 out of 24) of the episodes with binary opposition also boasted a connection between narrative and educational content (falling in either moderate or low distance categories). This means that the majority of episodes with tangible, meaningful conflicts are taking advantage of opportunities to connect their educational content to the problem at hand.

For parents, teachers, and other stakeholders alike, these results suggest that the most reliable means of predicting whether or not a show will engage children with high-quality STORYTELLING IN CHILDREN’S EDUCATIONAL MEDIA 30 learning opportunities is to look to the story itself. If the story is engaging and full of meaningful conflict, it will likely lead to an episode where learning opportunities abound. Ultimately, this represents the goal of children’s educational television: to teach and engage simultaneously. The majority of our selected sample—and nearly every episode that contains binary opposition—is doing this effectively, which should be encouraging to any stakeholder who uses these shows for educational purposes.

Limitations and Future Directions

One limitation from this study comes from our inability to establish intercoder reliability for Todorov’s five-part narrative structure. Without this variable to consider, we are unable to draw conclusions on how often children’s television episodes incorporate the typical five-part narrative structure. Furthermore, this also hinders our ability to form conclusions about episodes that do not include this structure as well. Because most children’s television shows operate with a very similar structure between episodes, individual episodes that do not include the typical five-part narrative structure are likely representative of the show as a whole. The existing body of literature shows that incorporating the five-part narrative structure within an educational television episode allows a child’s limited cognitive resources to be spent on processing the educational content rather than the narrative itself. Thus, establishing intercoder reliability for this variable would have allowed us to draw conclusions about how effectively these shows are reaching their target audience as well as how much room they leave for educational content to stick.

Another limitation that came from this study is the fact that although many children’s educational television shows teach social lessons, our research was unable to control for this. STORYTELLING IN CHILDREN’S EDUCATIONAL MEDIA 31

This excludes a large number of shows that are both popular and educationally sound by merit of their emphasis on social skills rather than academic skills. Along these same lines, a third limitation we experienced was also due to the sample we selected. While looking to Common

Sense Media provided a quick and simple means for figuring out which shows to include in our sample, the shows on this list were likely not representative of the most popular educational shows that children watch. Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood, Super WHY!, and Team Umizoomi are a few examples of children’s educational television shows that are wildly popular, yet they were not included in our sample. For these reasons, our selected sample was not as representative of children’s educational television shows as we had originally hoped.

For future research, it would be beneficial to understand the relationship between

Todorov’s five-part narrative structure and children’s educational television shows, so another attempt at uncovering this would certainly be warranted. In addition, it would also prove beneficial to conduct another study that looks solely at shows that teach social skills rather than academic skills. Another way to go about this would be for researchers to design an analysis that could simultaneously consider shows that teach academic skills in addition to shows that teach social skills. Furthermore, in selecting the sample to consider, it would be helpful for researchers to look to the most popular and well-known educational shows on the market rather than relying on an outside resource. This would allow researchers to form conclusions that are more timely and relevant for parents, teachers, and other stakeholders in the lives of young children. Perhaps the most important step to take next in this research process would be to examine the effects of these shows in question. Forming a study that can capture both children’s enjoyment levels and their respective comprehension levels (both short-term and long-term) in regards to the educational programming they consume would allow researchers to look beyond what we see on STORYTELLING IN CHILDREN’S EDUCATIONAL MEDIA 32 the screen and examine whether or not the content is actually working as prescribed. This represents the practical goal of all research: to deepen our understanding of a topic and apply it to the world at large. Taking these steps during the next stage of the research process would allow researchers to accomplish both of these goals.

Conclusion

In general, we can conclude that the sample we considered contained shows that are thoughtfully written on both the narrative and the educational fronts. They contain most of the characters we might expect in a story, the majority of them contain a tangible conflict, and they also contain some sort of educational content nearly four times out of five. This should be encouraging for parents and other stakeholders who use children’s educational television shows to simultaneously educate and engage their children. Because our study suggests that shows tend to have the same basic structure from episode to episode, parents can logically assume that the patterns that hold true for a few episodes are likely the same for the rest. For these reasons, parents have the ability to act as effective curators for their children’s educational media consumption simply by observing a few episodes of a show they are considering for their child.

With a few notable exceptions, our sample of children’s educational television shows are succeeding at engaging their audience while also educating them as well. However true this may be, it is important to note that this sample of shows tends to be better at educating their audience than they are at engaging their audience. We see this pattern unfold mainly when we compare the frequency of binary opposition to the relative levels of explicitness and distance between educational content and narrative, as educational explicitness is more likely to occur than binary opposition. What this means is that parents and teachers seeking to find a quality educational television show for their child can often find it simply by looking at the quality of the story. If a STORYTELLING IN CHILDREN’S EDUCATIONAL MEDIA 33 story is engaging, full of characters with varying roles, and contingent upon a tangible conflict, we see that it connects its educational content to the story itself nearly 90% of the time (see

Results, Research Question #7).

None of these results can be applied universally, as many of the patterns we have discovered are applicable only on a show-by-show basis. By no means can this study exhaustively speak to the dozens and dozens of children’s educational television shows that are currently available, but with the results from this study in mind, parents and teachers of young children can now make informed, theory-driven media choices for their children. Even with all of its flaws, television and other media sources have extraordinary power to influence the lives of young children, and when properly harnessed, children’s educational television shows can truly be one of the best teachers a young child could possibly ask for.

STORYTELLING IN CHILDREN’S EDUCATIONAL MEDIA 34

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APPENDIX A: Final Coding Assignment Episode List All* 1. Sesame Street, S40:E16 (“The Rainbow Show”) 2. Peg + Cat, S2:E5 (“The Mega Mall Problem”) 3. Sid the Science Kid, S2:E22 (“The Reason Sid’s Sneezin’”) 4. Splash and Bubbles, S1:E11 (“The Kelp Needs Help”) Ryan 1. Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, S3:E19 (“Minnie’s Masquerade”) 2. Sesame Street, S40:E13 (“The Cowmoster Pair”) 3. Splash and Bubbles, S2:E19 (“Pole-to-Pole, Part 4”) 4. Peg + Cat, S2:E8 (“The Play Date Problem”) 5. The Cat in the Hat Knows A Lot About That, S3:E18 (“Batteries Not Included”) 6. Tumble Leaf, S401:E5 (“Smell the Roses”) 7. Tumble Leaf, S401:E6 (“Ginkgo’s Treasure”) 8. Creative Galaxy, S301:E9 (“Sleepover on Museo, Part 1”) 9. Earth to Luna, S1:E7 (“That Just Rained Smell”) 10. Sid the Science Kid, S2:E8 (“Reused Robot!”) 11. Wallykazam, S4:E1 (“Buddy Pal Friend Day”) 12. Wallykazam, S4:E2 (“Captain Animal”) Dylan 1. Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, S3:E9 (“Minnie’s Pajama Party”) 2. Sesame Street, S40:E14 (“Abby Makes Seasons Change”) 3. Splash and Bubbles, S2:E15 (“Imagin-Ocean”) 4. Peg + Cat, S2:E10 (“The Clown Problem”) 5. The Cat in the Hat Knows A Lot About That, S3:E6 (“Talents of Balance”) 6. The Cat in the Hat Knows A Lot About That, S3:E11 (“Holes”) 7. Tumble Leaf, S401:E4 (“Arooga Adventure!”) 8. Creative Galaxy, S301:E7 (“The Art-Tacular Galaxy Magicians”) 9. Earth to Luna, S1:E8 (“How Water Became Rain”) 10. Earth to Luna, S1:E17 (“Shooting Stars”) 11. Sid the Science Kid, S2:E7 (“Clean Air!”) 12. Wallykazam, S3:E10 (“Ricky Robot”) Paul 1. Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, S3:E8 (“Pluto’s Dinosaur Romp”) 2. Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, S3:E21 (“Donald’s Clubhouse”) 3. Sesame Street, S40:E4 (“Stinky’s Annual Birthday Flower”) 4. Splash and Bubbles, S2:E2 (“One Big Ocean: Part 3”) 5. Peg + Cat, S2:E9 (“The Perfect Ten Problem”) 6. The Cat in the Hat Knows A Lot About That, S3:E3 (“Fact and Friction”) 7. Tumble Leaf, S401:E2 (“Moonlight Mermaid”) 8. Creative Galaxy, S301:E7 (“Baby Georgia’s Art Dance”) 9. Creative Galaxy, S301:E8 (“The Family Day Picnic”) 10. Earth to Luna, S1:E1 (“The Waggle Dance”) 11. Sid the Science Kid, S2:E3 (“That’s the Way the Ball Bounces”) 12. Wallykazam, S3:E5 (“Going Coconuts”)

*The 4 episodes that were used for intercoder reliability were not revealed to coders. STORYTELLING IN CHILDREN’S EDUCATIONAL MEDIA 37

APPENDIX B: Final Codebook

Children’s Educational Media: A Study in Narrative and Learning CODEBOOK DRAFT #4

GENERAL CODING INSTRUCTIONS  Please code each factor on the episode level. Instead of focusing on just a single element of the story, we’ll analyze how each of these elements plays a role in developing the episode as a whole.  Please use the attached worksheet to make notes as the episode progresses. These notes will prove helpful when we code each episode after it’s finished.  Please focus only on the narrative that the episode title references. Shows like Sesame Street are longer than typical television shows, and may also have more than one narrative present within a particular episode. For shows like this, watch all the way up until the introduction of the next narrative in the episode, as to include the applicable educational elements.

RESEARCH QUESTION #1: Todorov’s Five-Part Narrative Structure To what extent do children’s educational television shows conform to Todorov’s five-part narrative structure?  To see how well each episode conforms to the five-part narrative structure, we’ll test for each component in isolation.  Please use the coder’s worksheet to identify each of these stages as you go along.

STORYTELLING IN CHILDREN’S EDUCATIONAL MEDIA 38

Equilibrium Stage Does the television episode begin with a calm and normal atmosphere without the presence of a problem or issue? The signs of an equilibrium stage are as follows:  If the episode begins in the morning or at the start of a new day.  If the characters are not focused on the main problem of the narrative right as the episode opens.  If the problem is not clear within the first 15 seconds of the episode.  If the episode begins depicting the usual, average, or typical state of condition for our characters.  If the opening moments of the episode are free from disturbance, disruption, and distress. o If an episode begins right in the middle of a problem, this is a sign that there is NO equilibrium stage.

Disruption Stage Is there a clear moment where a problem, issue, or dilemma is introduced to the audience or the other character(s) within the narrative? The signs of a disruption stage are as follows:  If a statement, action, or change in background music coincides with the introduction of a complication.  If the complication introduced prevents our characters from returning to their normal state of condition until it is resolved.  If the problem introduced effectively drives the remainder of the plot. o If nothing ever goes wrong, this points to NO disruption stage.

Realization Stage Is there a distinct moment when the character(s) in question explicitly tell the audience how they’re going to solve the problem? The signs of a realization stage are as follows: STORYTELLING IN CHILDREN’S EDUCATIONAL MEDIA 39

 If a character makes an overt statement about their intentions to correct the problem.  If there is a direct relationship between the intended course of action and solving the issue at hand.  If the intended course of action requires the character(s) to act decisively. o If there is no problem to solve, this points to NO realization stage.

Restored Order Stage Is there a moment in which the character(s) take action and execute their plan to solve the problem at hand? The signs of a restored order stage are as follows:  If the character(s) move from simply stating their plans to actually executing them.  If executing these plans will logically lead to the character(s) solving the problem.  If the story would dramatically change depending on whether or not the character(s) succeed or fail. o If the character(s) know what needs to be done but simply refuse to do it, this points to NO restored order stage.

Restored Equilibrium Stage Does the original problem reach resolution on-screen? The signs of a restored equilibrium stage are as follows:  If the setting and context of the final scene are similar to that of the beginning scene.  If the original problem introduced during the disruption stage is fully and completely solved by the end of the episode. o If the original problem is not solved in its entirety, this points to NO restored equilibrium—regardless of whether or not things go back to as they were. STORYTELLING IN CHILDREN’S EDUCATIONAL MEDIA 40

RESEARCH QUESTION #2: Propp’s Seven Fairy Tale Characters Which of Propp’s seven fairy tale characters are incorporated in children’s educational television shows?  To test this research question, we’ll use the coding worksheet to list each major character in the episode and place them in one of seven character categories.  Remember that each character can only go into one category! One character cannot be both a helper and a donor—it’s one or the other.  In order for a character to fit into one of the seven character categories, they must spend some time on-screen.  We will then use the coder’s worksheet to answer the question of whether or not each character type is represented within the narrative.  For actual coding purposes, it does not matter whether or not we agree about exactly where each character falls. We are only seeking agreement about whether or not a particular character type exists in the episode as a whole.

Hero  The hero is the character who acts as the protagonist of the story.  The hero is the character that the narrative follows throughout the duration of the story.  Sometimes, the title of the episode or even the show as a whole will give a clear indication of who the hero is.

Villain  The villain is the character whose job is to cause misfortune, damage, or harm.  The villain spends their entire campaign trying to thwart the plans of the hero.  While the hero is typically portrayed as inherently good, the villain is portrayed as evil, and thus must act with evil intent.  If a character is truly a villain, our audience should want that character to fail.

Donor  The donor is the character who provides something for the hero to use on their journey. STORYTELLING IN CHILDREN’S EDUCATIONAL MEDIA 41

 The thing that the donor gives our hero helps them to eventually solve the problem.  Through their contributions, the donor enables the hero to complete their quest.  Unlike the helper, the donor does not necessarily come alongside the hero during their entire quest.

Helper  The helper acts as the “sidekick” to the hero, and may even be pictured on the title screen of the show itself.  The helper may have the same amount of screen time as the hero, though their role in the progression of the narrative is not as critical.  The helper comes alongside the hero and journeys with them during their quest.

Dispatcher  The dispatcher is the character who sends the hero off on their quest.  The dispatcher provides the hero with the allowance to leave home, and may even bestow their blessing on their journey.  The dispatcher is any character who helps get our hero from one place to another.

Princess/Prince  The princess/prince is the sought-for person within the narrative whom the hero struggles for.  The princess/prince suffers because of the work of the villain.  The princess/prince is directly related and often closely involved in the overall conflict of the story.

False Hero  The false hero is the character who attempts to take credit for the hero’s actions.  The false hero often lies on behalf of the hero in order to get their way.  Though they ultimately act with evil intent, the false hero is generally portrayed as good throughout much of the episode STORYTELLING IN CHILDREN’S EDUCATIONAL MEDIA 42

RESEARCH QUESTION #3: Strauss’ Theory of Binary Opposition

To what extent do children’s educational television shows incorporate binary

opposition within their narratives?

 In testing for binary opposition, please use the coder’s worksheet to answer

the following question: what is the main conflict presented in the

episode?

 In addition, in order for binary opposition to be in effect, the conflict must

involve something tangible that is up for grabs.

 Binary opposition represents the moment where the stakes are raised. This occurs simply because the two possible outcomes of the narrative are directly opposing one another.  This creates a sense of tension that remains throughout the narrative until the equilibrium is restored.  Binary opposition is in effect if the hero’s success or failure determines whether or not the problem will be solved. STORYTELLING IN CHILDREN’S EDUCATIONAL MEDIA 43

RESEARCH QUESTION #4: Fisch’s Learning Capacity Model—Explicitness

To what degree is the educational content explicitly emphasized in children’s educational television shows?

 To test for explicitness, we will ask three questions of each episode. Please use

the guided prompts on the coder’s worksheet to assist in answering

these 3 questions.

 If the answer to all three questions is yes, the explicitness score of the episode is

three (3). If the answers to all three questions are no, the explicitness score of

the episode is zero (0).

Question #1: Educational Objective  Is the audience ever made plainly aware of the targeted educational objectives at any point during the episode?  This means that there must be a singular phrase or textual indicator that tells the audience exactly what they will be learning.  If the entire episode must go by in order for us to know the learning outcome, this does not represent an overt statement of educational objective.

Question #2: Repetition of Educational Content  Does the educational content appear repeatedly (at least 2-3 times) throughout the episode?

Question #3: Discussion of Educational Content  Does the episode spend time talking about the inner workings of the educational concept or idea rather than simply mentioning it in passing?  For example, if a difficult word is defined, used in a sentence, or explained; this represents a discussion of educational content. STORYTELLING IN CHILDREN’S EDUCATIONAL MEDIA 44

RESEARCH QUESTION #5: Fisch’s Learning Capacity Model—Distance What is the typical pattern of distance between narrative and educational content in children’s educational television shows?  Distance seeks to measure how integral an episode’s educational content is to its narrative.  In testing for distance levels, we will use a weighted scale ranging from a score of zero (0) to a score of two (2), with the former indicating high distance and the latter indicating low distance.  The central question to consider when testing for distance is this: how would the story change if we were to remove every instance where the educational content is mentioned?

Zero (0)  A score of zero (0) indicates that the learning content is not at all important to the processing of the narrative.  For an episode with a score of zero (0), if we were to remove every instance where the targeted learning outcome is referenced, we would find that the story would hardly change at all.

One (1)  A score of one (1) indicates that the learning content is tied to the narrative, but it does not represent a critical element of the episode.  For an episode with a score of one (1), if we were to remove every instance where the targeted learning outcome is referenced, we would find that although a few scenes or lines would be cut, it would not significantly impact how the story unfolds.

Two (2)  A score of two (2) indicates that the learning content is highly integral to the unfolding of the narrative.  For an episode with a score of two (2), if we were to remove every instance where the targeted learning outcome is referenced, we would find that it would significantly impact how the story unfolds. STORYTELLING IN CHILDREN’S EDUCATIONAL MEDIA 45

APPENDIX 1: Example Episodes

Summary of Example Episodes

Chuggington: “Can’t Catch Koko” (S1: E1)

Brewster, Wilson, and Koko are three young trains who wake up one morning, begin their day, and discover that the delivery train who handles the night shifts needs a significant repair. He has a delivery that needs to arrive at its destination by that night, but the part he needs for his repair won’t get to him before tomorrow. Koko, an electric train, volunteers to take the delivery that night, which the mother of the three young trains (a traffic light named “V”) initially vetoes. Koko finally convinces her to say yes, on the grounds that Brewster and Wilson accompany her. Though Koko complains about how slow Brewster is, she agrees to V’s terms. As the three trains begin their journey, Koko teases Brewster some more, so when she slows down, Brewster and Wilson go on ahead without her. However, we soon discover the reason why Koko slows down: a blackout across the region renders her immobile as an electrically powered vehicle. The other two go on for a while without her, suddenly realize what has happened, and go back to rescue her. Wilson takes her back home by hitching her to his back while Brewster makes the delivery, and the three are reunited at the end of the episode, Koko now apologetic towards Brewster.

Sid the Science Kid: “The Sticker Chart” (S1: E1)

In the Sid the Science Kid episode, the story follows Sid, a young child who loves learning. However, Sid has a problem: he wants a Turbo Robot Megaship, but his parents are making him fill out a chore chart completely before they buy it for him. Gloomy and dejected, Sid expresses an adamant disdain for all things chart-related. After his mother drives him to school later that morning, he asks his friends what they know about charts; a conversation that soon moves into the classroom. The teacher is delighted to hear about her students’ fascination with charts and proceeds to teach them all about how they work. Sid loves charts by the time the day is over and rushes home to do more chores that will go on his chore chart. Sid goes to bed that night happy about what he learned, confident that he’ll have his Turbo Robot Megaship soon.

Sesame Street: “Jack Grows His Own Beanstalk” (S40: E25)

The selected portion of our Sesame Street episode follows a Muppet named Jack as he walks down Sesame Street. After running into his friends Leela and Telly, we discover that Jack has a problem: he wants to grow a beanstalk, but has nothing but a cow to help him do it. Leela and Telly proceed to give him a series of hints about what he should trade his cow for, which leads him to trade for a duck, some tambourines, and finally, some beans. They plant the beans, watch the magical beanstalk grow, and resolve Jack’s conflict by the end of the scene.

STORYTELLING IN CHILDREN’S EDUCATIONAL MEDIA 46

RQ 1: Todorov’s Five-Part Narrative Structure Equilibrium Stage

(a) In Chuggington, the episode begins with the three main characters waking up. Wilson mentions that he is tired, while the other two say that they’re ready for a new day. Because this moment does not introduce a problem or issue right away, this particular episode has a clear moment of equilibrium. (b) In Sid the Science Kid, the episode starts off with Sid saying “Hi, welcome to my room!” This happens before any problem or issue is introduced, which points to another clear moment of equilibrium. (c) In Sesame Street, Leela and Telly are on Sesame Street spending time together before Jack walks up to them with a problem to share. This points to the fact that this moment as well contains a brief moment of equilibrium before the main conflict is introduced.

Disruption Stage (a) In Chuggington, we find out that one of the delivery trains needs repair after one night of traveling. His statement that “I felt a horrible clunk” in addition to Koko’s follow-up question of “Who is going to do the night run?” effectively creates a problem and dilemma that will drive the rest of the narrative. (b) In Sid the Science Kid, after showing the audience his room, Sid explicitly says this: “Okay, I have a big problem.” He then tells his audience all about his desire for a Turbo Robot Megaship that his parents will not buy for him until he does enough chores around the house. This creates a clear and recognizable conflict that points to the presence of a disruption. (c) In Sesame Street, the very first thing that Jack says as he walks by is “What to do, what to do,” which points to the fact that he has a problem that needs solving—namely, his desire to grow a giant beanstalk. This shows that a disruption is unfolding during this moment.

Realization Stage (a) In Chuggington, Koko, Brewster, and Wilson all decide that they want to take care of the delivery train’s shipment for the night so he can worry about getting fixed. This represents a moment of realization because these three young trains actively make a decision to move towards solving the problem at hand. STORYTELLING IN CHILDREN’S EDUCATIONAL MEDIA 47

(b) In Sid the Science Kid, since the episode focuses solely on Sid’s perception of charts, neither he nor his friends actively move to solve the issue. Rather, we see that they simply seek to learn more about it. For these reasons, a moment of realization is lacking within this particular narrative. (c) In Sesame Street, Leela and Telly decide to help Jack solve his problem by offering him a clue as to what he should trade his cow to obtain. This represents a moment of realization because the characters actively move in the direction of helping Jack solve his problem.

Restored Order Stage (a) In Chuggington, the scene where the three young trains go out on the tracks at night to deliver the shipment represents a moment of restored order. This is because they are executing the plan they made previously in an attempt to solve the problem at hand. (b) In Sid the Science Kid, one of the last scenes in the episode shows Sid cleaning off the kitchen table, which shows him taking agency and aiming towards restored order in an attempt to solve his problem of wanting the Turbo Robot Megaship. (c) In Sesame Street, Leela and Telly verbally give Jack a series of hints in order to help him solve his problem of not knowing what to do with his cow. This represents restored order because they are actively making moves to try and solve the problem at hand.

Restored Equilibrium Stage (a) In Chuggington, the shipment gets delivered, the delivery train gets fixed, and everything goes back to just how it was. This represents the fact that in this particular episode, equilibrium is fully restored. (b) In Sid the Science Kid, although Sid gets more stickers added to his chart and things go back to normal, his problem still remains unsolved. Because Sid does not yet have his Turbo Robot Megaship by the time the episode ends, this episode lacks a true moment of equilibrium being restored. (c) In Sesame Street, Jack finally gets his beans and grows his magical beanstalk. Because everything works out in Jack’s favor and the problem is solved, this represents a moment when equilibrium is restored.

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RQ 2: Propp’s Seven Fairy Tale Characters Hero (a) In Chuggington, because the name of the episode mentions Koko and the entire episode revolves around her, it is safe to say that she represents the heroine of the story. (b) In Sid the Science Kid, because the entire show is named after him and is where the point of view is situated, it is clear that he represents the hero of the story. (c) In Sesame Street, because the name of the episode mentions Jack explicitly and Jack represents the character with a problem, he serves as the protagonist and the hero of the story.

Helper (a) In Chuggington, there are two main helpers: Brewster and Wilson. They come alongside Koko as she goes on her journey to deliver a shipment during an overnight shift, which makes them a solid example of what it means to be a helper. (b) In Sid the Science Kid, his helpers are represented by his three friends who go to school with him and support him on his journey to learn more about charts. Because they are alongside him during most of his journey, they are definitively helpers by nature. (c) In Sesame Street, Jack’s journey to trade his cow in for beans is a journey he takes by himself. Thus, he does not have any helpers to come alongside him.

Donor (a) In Chuggington, none of the characters play a role in giving our protagonists anything significant. The character of the donor is nonexistent within this particular narrative. (b) In Sid the Science Kid, the teacher acts as the donor because she gives Sid and his friends the knowledge that they need in order to figure out what exactly a chart is. (c) In Sesame Street, Jack has his two friends, Leela and Telly, who give him a series of three hints to help him figure out what he must trade his cow for in order to grow a beanstalk. They represent donors because the hints they provide help Jack on his quest.

Villain (a) Between Chuggington, Sid the Science Kid, and Sesame Street, there were no villains present within any of these narratives.

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Dispatcher (a) In Chuggington, the mother of the three young trains named “V” represents the dispatcher because she is the one who gives them permission to go. In addition, because she welcomes them back when they arrive home, she clearly serves as the dispatcher throughout the story. (b) In Sid the Science Kid, Sid’s mom takes him to school early in the morning. Because she sends Sid off on his quest to learn more about charts, she acts as the dispatcher for the narrative as a whole. (c) This scene from Sesame Street only contains three characters—Jack, Leela, and Telly— and because they have been correctly identified to belong to other categories of characterization, there is no dispatcher in this particular narrative.

Princess/Prince (a) In Chuggington, the hero, Koko, is seeking to carry the shipment all the way to its destination, so this entity represents her princess/prince. (b) In Sid the Science Kid, Sid is seeking to earn to Turbo Robot Megaship throughout the narrative, so this object represents his princess/prince. (c) In Sesame Street, Jack is seeking to grow a beanstalk, which makes that object his princess/prince throughout his entire quest.

False Hero (a) Between Chuggington, Sid the Science Kid, and Sesame Street, there were no false heroes present within any of our narratives.

RQ 3: Strauss’ Theory of Binary Opposition (a) In Chuggington, the characters do have a particular quest they need to complete in order to be successful: delivering a shipment. If they succeed in this, the shipment gets delivered; while if they fail, it does not. This represents a clear-cut case of binary opposition at work. (b) In Sid the Science Kid, Sid indeed has a particular quest he is attempting to complete: to fill his chore chart with stickers. If he succeeds, he gets his Turbo Rocket Megaship; while if he fails, he will not. Because these two realities are in stark opposition to each other, this narrative represents one where binary opposition is clearly at work. STORYTELLING IN CHILDREN’S EDUCATIONAL MEDIA 50

(c) In Sesame Street, Jack has a particular quest that he is looking to accomplish: to grow a beanstalk. If he succeeds, he gets his beanstalk; but if he fails, he does not. Because these two realities are in opposition to one another, binary opposition is clearly at work.

RQ 4: Fisch’s (2000) Learning Capacity Model—Explicitness Statement of Educational Objective (a) In Chuggington, nowhere in the narrative are the audience members precisely aware of what they are supposed to learning, as any educational objectives fail to be overtly stated. (b) In Sid the Science Kid, the same answer applies. Never once do audience members get an overt affirmation of the episode’s targeted learning objectives. (c) In Sesame Street, the very beginning of the episode shows a narrator come onto the screen, look at the camera, and say this: “keep listening for the word ‘humongous’ today on Sesame Street!” This points to the fact that the targeted learning objective—knowing, understanding, and using the vocabulary word “humongous”—is explicitly stated.

Repetition of Educational Content (a) In Chuggington, only one occurrence of potentially educational content occurs. When Koko says at the end of the episode “Sorry I teased you, Brewster”, this represents the sole occurrence of a social lesson being taught. No repetition of this concept is present within the episode. (b) In Sid the Science Kid, the concept of charts is emphasized heavily throughout the episode. The music played, jokes told, lesson presented, conflict addressed, questions asked, and conversations held with loved ones all point to the idea of charts, which ensures that the episode’s educational content appears repeatedly throughout the narrative. (c) In Sesame Street, the word “humongous” appears over a dozen times. This shows that the learning objective is repeated throughout the narrative.

Discussion of Educational Content (a) In Chuggington, there is no time spent discussing the value of apologizing, polite behavior, or not making fun of friends. The behavior is simply displayed with the STORYTELLING IN CHILDREN’S EDUCATIONAL MEDIA 51

expectation that the audience members will simply repeat that same behavior they have observed. (b) In Sid the Science Kid, the concept of charts goes into a fair amount of depth. Rather than simply using the word over and over again, the audience gets a great deal of information about how to make one, what it can do, and why we use them. This points to the fact that in this episode, time is spent discussing the educational content rather than just skimming past it. (c) In Sesame Street, a woman named Debby comes on the screen, looks directly at her viewing audience, and asks us to say “humongous” with her. She then talks about how humongous means “big”, pointing at the large bird she is tending next to as an example of something that is humongous. This shows that the concept of “humongous” in this episode is not simply touched on; it is explained thoroughly.

RQ 5: Fisch’s (2000) Learning Capacity Model—Distance

High Degree of Distance (0) (a) In Chuggington, because the story exists outside of its expected learning objectives, removing the brief social lesson at the episode’s conclusion would not change the story at all.

Moderate Degree of Distance (1) (b) Because the use of the word “humongous” in Sesame Street occurs in multiple places throughout the narrative, removing that targeted learning objective would strip away a scene and a few other lines from the episode itself. However, without using the word “humongous” at all, the episode would still function and tell the same story.

Low Degree of Distance (2) (c) Because Sid the Science Kid relies heavily on the topic of charts, removing this targeted learning objective would fundamentally change the story.

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APPENDIX C: Final Coder’s Worksheet

Todorov’s Five-Part Narrative Propp’s Seven Fairy Tale Characters Structure For each character in the episode, list the Equilibrium Stage character type that fits them best. Describe how the episode begins. Hero Helper Donor

Disruption Stage Villain Dispatcher Princess/Prince Describe how and when the problem is originally introduced.

False Hero

Fisch’s Learning Capacity Realization Stage Strauss’ Theory of Model: Explicitness Describe the moment when the character(s) Binary Opposition decide to act in an attempt to solve the problem. Describe the main conflict Describe the singular phrase or presented in the episode. Is textual indicator (or lack thereof) something tangible up for that tells us exactly what we’re grabs? going to be learning.

Restored Order Stage Describe the actions that the character(s) take in an attempt to solve the problem. Note all of the instances where the educational component of the episode appears. Fisch’s Learning Capacity Model: Distance Restored Equilibrium Stage Describe what would Describe how, if applicable, the problem happen if we removed every reaches resolution. instance where the episode’s educational content occurs. Describe the depth that the episode goes into regarding its educational component.

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APPENDIX D: Final Code Sheet Name of Episode: Name of Coder:

Research Question #1 (Todorov’s Five-Part Narrative Structure) Does the episode contain an equilibrium stage? Y N Does the episode contain a disruption stage? Y N Does the episode contain a realization stage? Y N Does the episode contain a restored order stage? Y N Does the episode contain a restored equilibrium stage? Y N

Research Question #2 (Propp’s Seven Fairy Tale Characters) Is there a hero in this episode? Y N Is there a villain in this episode? Y N Is there a donor in this episode? Y N Is there a helper in this episode? Y N Is there a dispatcher in this episode? Y N Is there a princess/prince in this episode? Y N Is there a false hero in this episode? Y N

Research Question #3 (Strauss’ Theory of Binary Opposition) Does this episode’s main conflict lead to binary opposition? Y N

Research Question #4 (Fisch’s Learning Capacity Model: Explicitness) Is the audience ever made overtly aware of the targeted educational objectives at any point during the episode? Y N Does the educational content appear repeatedly throughout the story? Y N Does the episode spend time talking about the inner workings of the educational concept or idea rather than simply mentioning it in passing? Y N

Research Question #5 (Fisch’s Learning Capacity Model: Distance) On a scale from zero (0) to two (2)*, what is the level of distance between narrative and educational content in this episode? 0 1 2 *Remember that a score of zero (0) indicates high distance, while a score of two (2) indicates low distance.