Gazing across playgrounds and seeing the multitude of story-book characters walking into schools for World Book Day earlier this month brought to mind the importance of story-telling in schools.
There is almost no subject that cannot be enhanced with an anecdote, with whole epic sagas growing from the smallest of seeds. And although we often associate story-telling with younger children, maybe we need to remember that stories play a vital role, not just in secondary schools, but very often in our lives.
Who, for example, has not heard someone tell a tall tale from their family history or heard a recount from an angler of just how big the fish that got away was?!
It goes without saying that English departments and libraries can have vibrant displays of books, and our curriculum is certainly rich with authors old and new all vying for a place. The best stories can enrich our learning, helping transport us to different times and places, or challenging our point of view. And, of course, stories have been in the news recently as publishers decide what to do with outdated imagery, phrases and opinions that might cause offence to their modern readers.
We should be mindful of the time period in which books were written. Out-of-date views and language can help us to understand the past and why it is a good thing that situations have changed, but they can also be a barrier to some people being able to access the stories they tell. This is as true with novels as it is with old news articles, comic books, and biographies.
Stories help to understand and solve problems. Parables and fables are the famous examples of stories told with a deeper meaning but told in such a way that they are memorable and can be recalled and retold many times over. This is even the case for abstract subjects such as mathematics (Yeltekin & Ay, 2019).
Children learn in a variety of ways and according to İlter (2014), allowing students to use mathematical concepts in the context of a story contributes to their mental development. It helps to develop their mathematical understanding, emotional and social skills, while developing comprehension and literacy as well.
Hearing stories and telling your own stories are great ways of relaxing and being calm. We would probably all agree that the best stories have mental and physical health benefits, including lowering blood pressure and reducing stress. They also surely help to develop imagination and creativity, improving memory and recall.
And it is not just about fiction. History is full of stories, from tales of kings and queens to accounts of the everyday lives of people throughout the ages, and we can learn much by looking at the real decisions they had to make.
Many of those walking to school for World Book Day were dressed as real people, footballers and other famous faces from biographies – with one even dressing up as Prince Harry.
The more stories that we are exposed to, the better our understanding of the world we live in. The wider we read, the more able we are to critique what we read, making important judgements about validity and truth.
These critical thinking skills are essential in a world which is data-driven and often lived out online. How do we know what is true and who to believe?
The news we consume, the stories we hear, and the theories espoused become wilder every day. As critical thinkers, we can learn from the mistakes of the past, be empathetic and understand another’s point of view without needing to agree or disagree with it. We can pick our way through the route map of life and make our own story as we go along.
Story-telling is big business, from publishers of printed text, to poets, songwriters, scriptwriters, and stories on the big screen.
So, what story will you tell today and where might it take you – and your students – next?
- Helen Osgood is national officer for education and early years for Community. Read her previous articles for SecEd via https://bit.ly/seced-osgood
Further information & resources
- İlter: A study on the efficacy of project-based learning approach on social studies education: Conceptual achievement and academic motivation, Educational Research and Reviews, (9,15), 2014.
- National Literacy Trust: World Book Day: https://literacytrust.org.uk/about-us/world-book-day-national-literacy-trust/
- Yeltekin & Ay: The effects of story-telling in mathematics education on students' problem-solving skills and problem-posing skills (conference presentation), European Educational Research Association, ECER 2019: https://bit.ly/3YANSXA