Youth as Producers

What are the actual inner processes taking place when youth shape and share stories about their lives through digital storytelling? In the present study, we follow an experiment in religious education in a local congregation outside Oslo. In the autumn of 2005, the Church of Norway initiated a project wherein young people raised questions of faith and life in short biographical mini-films called ‘Digital Faith Stories’. As the title suggests, digital tools are central to the project. We focus on the youth participants, analysing their role as media producers and following the construction of their stories. The adult leaders of the project are also given some attention. The analysis shows that the method of ‘Digital Storytelling’ might lead to a more systematic educational method for including the lifeworld of the young in religious training. The research has been carried out in cooperation with Prof. Knut Lundby.