Storytelling Starters ~ A Fresh Look
Saturday, September 7th, 2013This 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. (more…)