A love of storytelling can be one of the longest-lasting gifts young children can gain from their early years experience. Stories can be read, drawn, performed, sung, sewn and made. But sometimes engaging with stories, in their many forms, can become just a lifeless routine. In the need to ‘get on’ with the next thing, it can be rushed. Parents can find this too. Carl Honoré writes about searching for a ‘one minute bedtime story’ to read to his young son. This was the catalyst for him to try to find ways to slow down and enjoy the present moment, and led to his book In Praise of Slow(2004).
A slow pedagogy involves exploring unhurried ways for children to enjoy engaging with stories. This can be through children listening to and revisiting story books, or gradually developing their confidence to create, talk about and perform their stories. This takes time.
Slow practices with stories involve introducing children to a wide range of stories in different forms and having the confidence to ‘dive deep’ with children’s own tales. Enabling children to revisit their favourite stories is a key ingredient in taking a slow, unhurried approach – and not just through speaking, but drawing, moving, singing and making too.
ACTIVITY IDEAS
- If children are familiar with being read a particular picturebook, invite them to tell the story to their peers. You can video children telling the story and replay this during group time. Parents can be invited to read or tell stories, and these could also be recorded. This could be particularly valuable for children to hear familiar stories that support their own identity, including their home cultures.
- Preparing children for a transition to a new group, or settling children in, may be times when revisiting a story can bring reassurance and comfort. Louise Scott, lead teacher at St Paul’s Nursery School and Children’s Centre in Bristol, uses ‘core stories’ to return to with children over a term: ‘Repeated phrases feel safe; a simple story arc feels familiar. They offer children a clear, predictable cue to join in.’
- The environment is a key part of encouraging a slow approach. Creating an inviting, cosy space indoors, and inviting children to help design it, can be one way. A temporary reading den could be made with big blocks or taken outdoors. Storytelling can also happen on the move.
- Children’s imagination needs time to grow. Knowing that adults value their stories can be an important part of this process (see Case study). Story sacks, which contain relevant characters and objects, are a way for children to develop such skills. ‘Helicopter Stories’ provides a framework for children to create and retell their stories with peers (see More information). Children’s photographs can also be a catalyst for growing their stories.
- Try different times of day for reading stories to help make this a less hurried, quieter and more enjoyable experience.
CASE STUDY: Poppies Nursery in Kincardine, Aberdeenshire
Storytelling can be a powerful way for children to explore their feelings and concerns and to make sense of sudden events. Storm Babet led to serious flooding in Kincardine in Aberdeenshire where Poppies Nursery is situated. Children were keen to share their own personal stories of the flood. Practitioners wrote down children’s accounts, demonstrating their perspectives were valued. Some children also wanted to record their story through drawing. They took a large roll of paper and unrolled it the length of the nursery, explaining to a practitioner that ‘it needs to be big, Sharon, because the flood was as long as a road and it broke the road to Marykirk’.
These stories were then retold by the children drawing the flood water, the waves, the trees floating in the water, the sandbags, and the chute that blew away down the river. Children returned to these stories over several weeks.
A month later there was still flood water about. Walking in the forest, one child recalled, ‘This is from the storm, it was windy and rainy, it made the woods damp and that damp is from the storm. That’s why there is a big puddle under our tree.’
Practitioners gave children freedom, time and space to tell their story in their own way and to revisit it many times, helping them to explore their feelings and deepen their learning.
What is slow pedagogy?
Slow pedagogy is an unhurried approach that aims to be more conscious of the relationship with time and its impact on both young children and practitioners. It is about valuing the present moment and being attentive to children’s pace, rhythm and interests. A slow pedagogy enables children to revisit theirideas and creations, places and stories and creates opportunities for children to go deeper in their learning. Support is given for time for observation, listening, reflection and documentation.
Many thanks to: Sharon Imray, colleagues and children at Poppies Pre-school, Aberdeenshire; Orkney early years educators attending Slow pedagogy workshops.
MORE INFORMATION
- Clark A. (2023) Slow Knowledge and the Unhurried Child. Routledge
- Bruce T., McNair L. and Whinnett J. (eds.) (2020) Putting Storytelling at the Heart of Early Childhood Practice. Routledge
- Louise Scott’s blog: https://bit.ly/3RBx0jn
- Helicopter Stories: https://bit.ly/4a5r5tL