Generative Conversations for Creative Learning by Gloria Latham & Robyn Ewing

Author:Gloria Latham & Robyn Ewing
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Springer International Publishing, Cham

In my experience, children are keen to develop their skills as storytellers; however unlike listening to a story, telling requires skills that children need to develop. These include manipulating voice for effect, using appropriate gesture, making eye contact with the audience, knowing what moments in the story are important and highlighting these by playing with rhythm and pauses. This can take time. I usually ask students to develop their skills by working in pairs; this provides a supportive environment. Of course this depends on the age and experience of children.

When I am working with children to develop their skills as storytellers, I first tell a story to model what a storyteller does. We unpack the story in terms of the critical moments, to work out the ‘bare bones,’ and then encourage students to flesh it out with their own way of telling. It’s important that they make the story their own. Then when it comes time to tell a story of their own, they need to choose a story that they like; students in one classroom may have a diverse range of cultural backgrounds, this is an opportunity to draw on stories from their own cultural heritages. All cultures have their own stories, myths and legends. I have a collection of stories. We discuss which ones might be most suitable. Throughout the storytelling sessions, I try to ensure that students develop a sense of agency, thereby building greater confidence in their storytelling skills.

Beyond the more technical aspects of manipulating voice, gesture, rhythm, pauses and so on, I see my role as a facilitator helping children infuse the story with their own identity so the story sits in them. Developing storytelling skills in this way is an embodied learning experience—it is a student-centred activity that assists in developing students’ confidence, narrative understanding and oracy skills.

Robyn

And how are you working with pre-service teachers as storytellers?

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