Validation of Story and Storytelling with Emphasis on the Goals of Preschool Curriculum in Kermanshah Province: A Mixed Study

Abstract
This study was conducted to validate story and storytelling with emphasis on the goals of preschool curriculum. The research method was mixed method with exploratory sequential design. The qualitative phase used the document method and the quantitative phase used the descriptive survey method. The results of content analysis in qualitative phase showed that ratings of story and storytelling components in preschool curriculum ranked from the strongest to the weakest as follows: cognitive goals, attitude goals, skill goals. The results of t-test showed that the mean score of the sample (3.70) was higher than the mean of the community (3). The results showed that story and storytelling can have a significant role in the curriculum and motivate students to be more motivated. 
Introduction
Storytelling is a form of discussion and brainstorming. Students perform a mental search through expressing key words of the storytelling or finishing an unfinished story. The storyteller allows their audience to create mental imagery when they tell stories. As children listen to a story, they create its scenes and characters, and actualize the ability to visualize and fantasize which underlie creative imagination (Green, 2015). Stories are among factors encouraging children to learn and love school. Stories evoke children's awakening, precision, tolerance and thought control that are all essential to formal education. They help train children’s imagination and memory, and are the best means of learning to read (Shoari Nejad, 2016).  Using models in curriculum development leads to greater efficiency and usefulness because the curriculum paradigm provides the theoretical framework needed to implement an effective preschool education program and provides opportunities for children to learn. Therefore, presenting models teaches many educational concepts in the form of storytelling, as it is much easier to understand through storytelling. Training will be indirect through models. In the present study, we seek to answer the question of what the goals of story and storytelling in preschool curricula of Kermanshah Province are and what model can be proposed.
The purpose of this study is to investigate the position of story and storytelling goals in preschool curricula and to provide a desirable model with emphasis on Kermanshah Province. For this purpose, four main questions were examined:
1- What are the desired goals of story and storytelling in preschool curriculum?
2-What are the current goals of story and storytelling in preschool curriculum?
3- What kind of model can be used to achieve the desired goals of story and storytelling in preschool curriculum?
4- How credible is the designed model?
 Methodology
Given the exploratory nature of the present study and the way the data were collected and organized, both qualitatively and quantitatively, this research used sequential exploratory design. To answer the first question, documents including texts, books, publications, and all articles related to preschool storytelling were examined. Furthermore, interviews were conducted with experts in the statistical community including teachers of provincial universities in the fields of educational sciences and curriculum planning as well as pre-school education experts at the Education Office. Experts confirmed the validity of the interview guide through content validity. To answer the second question to identify the status quo, the research method was descriptive-survey. To determine the sample size of the stratified sampling was used.  Data gathering tool was a researcher-made questionnaire based on the findings of the first question. The overall reliability of the questionnaire was 0.74.
After analyzing the results of the first and the second questions and identifying the gap between the current situation and the desired situation, curriculum experts and experienced instructors were interviewed to answer the third question for designing the optimal model of story and storytelling in preschool. Given the mixed method nature of the study, data were analyzed using content analysis in the qualitative phase in two steps. The first step was open coding, that is, the unit of analysis was each line or phrase. The second step was axial coding, that is, the categories and items created in the open coding stage were categorized as a related network. In the quantitative phase, descriptive statistics and univariate inferential statistics and the Friedman’s test were used to describe the current situation.
Data analysis
To investigate the purpose of the study, data obtained from the study of documents including texts, books, publications, all preschool storytelling articles related to the theoretical foundations of the preschool storytelling curriculum. By analyzing and summarizing the components of any document we deemed important or appropriate, and categorizing these findings, they were analyzed to obtain the desired result. Seventeen interviews were conducted with seven pre-school education experts at the Ministry of Education and 10 faculty members selected for the storytelling curriculum. The interviews yielded three categories of cognitive, attitude, and skill goals.
To describe the current situation, the data obtained from the completed questionnaires were analyzed. The results are presented in two parts: descriptive and inferential, including Kolmogorov-Smirnov test to determine normal distribution of data, one-sample t-test, and Friedman test to rank and explain story and storytelling in preschool curriculum, and its components, and a theoretical comparison of the existing and desirable situation for examining the research question. Frequency distribution of the respondents indicated that 83 (34.6%) were male and 157 (4.4%) were female. In terms of position, 43 (17.9%) were education experts, 120 (50%) were preschool teachers, and 77 (32.1%) were preschool principals. Seventy persons (29.2%) of the respondents had less than 10 years of service experience, 141 persons (58.8%) 10-20 years, and 29 persons (12.1%) more than 20 years.
In this test, since the significance level was 0.0001 and level of error was reported to be less than 0.05, it can be concluded that the mean ratings of each of the variables of storytelling and storytelling in this study had a significant difference with storytelling and storytelling. Storytelling in the preschool curriculum is also from weak to weak.
The results of the goals section showed that trainers paid less attention to the proper citizenship behavior, interest in literature and creative attitudes, and paid moderate attention to the goal of familiarizing with local culture and children’s self-recognition and enhancing their sense of optimism. They also paid more attention to with familiarizing with religious rituals, environmental issues, and increasing vocabulary.
Discussion
Preliminary information was collected in an open and focused manner in the form of documentary studies, theoretical and past research, and semi-structured interviews with experts for the desirable status of story and storytelling in preschool curricula.
Since the principles of curriculum design (foundations, principles and elements) are particularly important in designing story and storytelling curriculum, this model can be seen as a new step in the evolution of curriculum design.