Storytelling as a Teaching Method: Developing a Curriculum for Effective Implementation

The current study aimed to explore the use of storytelling as an instructional method and develop an effective curriculum for its implementation. The research followed a qualitative grounded theory method. The study encompassed all 578 preschool teachers who had experience using storytelling to teach textbooks. A purposive sampling method was employed, and data was collected through in-depth, unstructured interviews. The findings revealed that the causal conditions contributing to the effectiveness of the Persian book curriculum, with a storytelling focus, included eight core factors (emotional stimulation, enhancement of perceptual abilities, fostering critical thinking, academic diligence, seamless learning, moral development, semantic comprehension, identity reinforcement). Additionally, contextual conditions encompassed five key factors (teacher empowerment, parental involvement, provision of information technology, sharing of experiences, structural decentralization), while strategic conditions involved five critical factors (visualizing content using diverse storytelling mechanisms, adding an element of enjoyment to the content, enhancing communication with students, diversifying storytelling settings, striving for content comprehension). Furthermore, intervention conditions highlighted four selective factors (rigidity in storytelling, lack of engagement in storytelling, insufficient storytelling skills, limited resources), and outcome conditions encompassed two selective factors (emotional engagement and cognitive engagement). In conclusion, this research sheds light on the significance of storytelling as an instructional approach and offers insights into curriculum development for preschool education.