Storytelling Starters ~ A Fresh Look
This is an excellent time of the year to take a fresh look at oral storytelling and what it has to offer. About now, Year 7s in Secondary School are usually getting going on some kind of getting-to-know-you project. Who are you? Who am I? It’s part of familiarisation, becoming acquainted and establishing new bonds in a new form and a new school. At the other end of the spectrum, very small children are taking their first steps into education. Attending Nursery School for the first time, they are hearing strange voices, learning new routines, getting used to being with lots of other children.
At this point, I urge teachers and childcare workers across the age-range to consider how told stories engage our attention whatever our age and circumstances. Told stories are when you sit up and take notice. Someone is speaking directly to you – and it’s not to give instructions or obviously to teach you new things. It’s to tell you something that might interest you as another human being.
Sources of information
Plenty of information about oral storytelling is available here on the Internet, on storytellers’ websites and on Youtube, as well as in books, on storytelling courses and in storytelling clubs and even in back numbers of this Blog. Picking up on the art and the craft of storytelling can open new doors for the teller and the hearers.
The Philippa Pearce Memorial Lecture 2013
On Thursday evening, I was talking about this very subject with Julia Eccleshare, who is the Guardian children’s books reviews editor as well as many other things. We were on our way back to London after attending this year’s Philippa Pearce Memorial Lecture, given this year by Kevin Crossley-Holland who, among so much else, is a Patron of the Society for Storytelling. Kevin’s theme was gardens – gardens in medieval literature, poetry and folktales as well as modern children’s books. Tom’s Midnight Garden, Philippa Pearce’s classic, was of course among topics he considered.
In our conversation, Julia and I were very much in agreement that books and storytelling go along together. Both are vital, especially for children who may not have even one book at home and who may not be talked with at home either. My home was always full of books. My mother made paintings. My father told me stories. I grew up encouraged by everyone around me to pursue education. Whenever I remember the support that I got, I feel incredibly privileged and also very determined and keen to do whatever I can to ensure that other children have these things too. They should not be privileges but available to all.
PS. Kevin Crossley-Holland’s evocative thoughts about gardens in his talk yesterday made me look out some photos taken in my own garden to illustrate my Blog this week.
PPS. The Early Learning Head Quarters, for whom I write occasional blogs, has recently put up a piece by me called The Value of Storytelling. You can access it by clicking here.
Tags: gardens, Julia Eccleshare, Kevin Crossley-Holland, Philippa Pearce Memorial Lecture, Tom's Midnight Garden