The Lost Art of Storytelling
This is a tale of long ago. A world of Once Upon a Time. In this long-ago world, many people couldn't read, and even if they could, they couldn't afford books. Life could be a struggle. But every so often something special happened - something that made their day rich with possibilities. A storyteller would come to their town or village. Everyone would stop work to listen in wonder to the stories they told...
I visited Wellow Primary to work, as a visiting specialist, with Yr1 pupils who were exploring approaches to both literacy, and creative thinking.
The focus for the visits fitted KS1 curriculum criteria for essential learning, an enrichment activity that would trigger imaginative ideas with an emphasis on the oral articulation of ideas for fictional narratives. The focus was on enabling pupils to 'tell' their stories - there was to be no writing down, and this was central to the aims and outcomes - pupils who has less confidence int heir written ideas could, quite literally, be given a voice.
The sessions invited pupils to become oral storytellers, and to develop agency over their ideas. Approaches encouraged the exploration of possibilities, and for pupils to take 'beautiful' risks in terms of these explorations. Pupils learned through collaboration, ideating and evolving original narratives, drawing from pre-existing associations while reacting to external stimuli that stretched realms of cause-and-effect, a liquid 'what happened next' series of discussions that enabled both the group, and individuals, to evolve unique narratives that were underpinned by person responses.
Class teacher Sarah Bodman had already introduced storytelling and story structure to pupils prior to the session, and in this frame, they had discussed traditional, exisiting stories such as Three Little Pigs and The Ginger Bread Man.
Before sessions children enjoyed listening to stories and would often act out and write stories in their child led time. These stories would be retelling familiar fairy stories or stories heavily based on familiar tales and contexts. 1
The children were also familiar with the basic structure of Beginning, Middle and End. We wanted to take this further and explore more original ideas and narratives.
Opening Sessions: 2x15 pupils - 45 minutes per group: To ignite more unique responses, we decided to work with a (relatively) random collection of physical props, which enabled both a tactile and kinaesthetic layering to the experience.
During our initial consultation, Sarah suggested the most effective approach was to deliver to smaller groups - to split the class in half - enabling more pupils the opportunity to express ideas.
Pupils sat in the school hall, not in their tranditional straight lines but in a curve, in true 'story listener' style. This altered use of a familiar environment offers the additional value of preparing the mind for an alternative scenario, Nigel Krauth, discussing creative process in the context of writing, explores how spaces and places can be manipulated as a means of getting 'ready' for writing2, , and Simon Blackburn identifies how Csikszentmihalyi’s concept of an ‘aha’ moment of illumination requires a thoroughly prepared mind.3 Even simple approaches, such as the more theatrical layout of the semi-circle, stimulates curiosity - an essential stage in the creative process. This sense that something different might be about to occur was further supported by a central table covered over with sparkling cloth, exhibiting a ‘magic’ bag of ideas; all set up as a pre-curser to an, as yet, unrevealed activity.
Both sessions included an introduction to oral storytelling - the history and tradition. Here I was able to draw initially on those stories the children were already familiar with, creating a backdrop that drew from pre-existing knowledge and therefore offering, cognitively, a safe space from which to shift from the known, to the unknown.
From this, underpinning the session with the significance and value of spoken stories, and establishing my initial position as a traditional storyteller, individual pupils were invited to join me at the front of the hall, to reach into that star-spangled bag of ideas, and to bring out the beginning of a story via a specific prompt which included a scarf, a camera, a hat, et al, all of which had no apparent connection with each other. Selected items on the day were a silver dancing shoe; a silk scarf; a teddy bear and a mask.
From these diverse prompts the children made suggestions and original stories were evolved. Pupils, at first individually and then later in small groups, took the role of ‘storyteller’ and engaged in associated role play: the process remained inclusive as the rest of the class joined in with sound effects, suggesting new twists and turns that linked plausible but imaginative cause and effect outcomes. Collectively pupils wove a narrative for each object with a beginning, middle and end.
4
This whole introductory session aligns with creative process identified within the Creative Collaboratives premise, drawing from the evolution of habits related to the mastering of appropriate knowledge; planning for the unplanned; taking beautiful risks, setting meaningful problems and sharing ideas.
Sarah Bodman further endorsed these values, adding that additional benefits had been observed with regard to children who, in the past, would be less willing or able to engage:
All children fully participated in the story telling session. Children with behavioural difficulties and SEND were all immersed in the activity. They wanted to volunteer their own ideas...and children were also able to retell these stories [to others] beyond the session. 5
The session impacted beyond the experience, showing how new habits had emerged and became part of creative process, as Sarah endorsed:
After session 1, children naturally created their own stories orally with objects in the classroom.6
Interim between sessions – 2 weeks: Mindful that a visiting specialist can whirl in, deliver a specialised experience, then whirl away, barely leaving a mark, both Sarah and I wanted to bring the approaches back to the classroom, engaging the whole class together, and bring in more context and value.
This led to the evolution of the ‘Imagination Wand’.
Many creative practitioners have a talisman; something that acts as a ‘muse’ and helps set them in the mode for ‘flow’.7
Dahl had a special pencil, always the same make, yellow with an eraser on the top.
Dickens had small ceramic frogs and other related curiosities. He also always wrote with fresh flowers on his desk.
Other creatives cannot work without special chairs/types of writing paper/background music - these talismans and ‘muse’ like inspirers may seem fanciful, whimsical, but in fact they align with the human need for ritual. Such additional preparedness for a task evokes discipline and perseverance, identifying habits that can be nurtured and embedded. The ‘Imagination Wands’ offered a physical form of muse for the pupils; something tangible that connected to notions of ritual and habit, aligned with the invisible imagination and unconscious creative process.
It could be assumed that a craft-based activity such as the creation of imagination-wands’ will be engaging and immersive by default, but the wands offered demonstrable value beyond this. Although all pupils had the same starting point, each wand emerged as unique, and there was the additional intention that they would be important beyond the craft activity itself, bringing in purpose and meaning alongside relaxing and playful approaches. It has long been identified that play is an integral element in creative curiosity, and in weaving through the context of essential learning and enrichment the more playful and kinaesthetic pedagogy demonstrated, once again, engagement with those children who generally struggle more with focus and persistence.
Session 2: 2 hours x 30 pupils: This was a separate visit, and the initial half of the morning was spent creating the imagination-wands, offering a practical, visible (and very sparkly) aid to imagination.
However, the wands were evolved to move beyond the realm of ‘magical’ as they enabled the potential for core Creative Collaborative’s practices, and can be identified as both a tool for preparedness for creative thinking per se, plus a means for pupils to take time and space to both think, and reflect.
For the second half of the morning, setting up a second oral ‘storyteller’ session, the second initial presentation focused on ideating, how creativity works. Into this was embedded the premise that even with oral storytelling, which suggests reactive and instant responses, the process of taking time to think, rather than rushing for solutions, enables deepened and more original possibilities to emerge. Pupils, even at Yr1, were familiar with the Creative Collaborative’s terminology and able to express themselves, and their ideas, in terms of ideating, exloring possibilities, and the importance of being persistent. The intention here was also to identify, and enable, points where pupils could take time to reflect and advance creative thinking, in this instance still within the context of original storytelling. However, the taking of time was not an extended process, but rather a moment… a focused pause before reacting to a possibility or decision.
Dr Helen Lees (author of Silence in Schools8) positions this as a pedagogy within education in her discussion around the ‘pause’ as a means to impact behaviour and harbour energies - a reflective moment which gives a positive space between words and action9, and in my own research I have observed that taking such a space as a pedagogic methodology enhances focused thinking and can be used to actively generate ideas.10 This second ’storyteller’ experience, therefore, required pupils to use that pause to contemplate, using their imagination-wand as both a muse and facilitator to stimulate creative thinking - an internal environment, as opposed to the external discussed in the original, hall-based activity:
Children [had] enjoyed making the imagination wands. From this, the wands /holding an object appeared to focus the children's imagination and creative skills more.11
Pupils developed new oral narratives taking their starting point from combining their imagination-wand, and the pause, in relation to a new prompt from the ‘bag of ideas’. In role as storyteller they considered ways a story might begin. Remaining inclusive, once the opening scene and premise was decided, the whole class were invited to make suggestions, adding sound effects and stretching their imaginations around the less obvious solutions. Pupils took turns to be ‘the storyteller’, and each had agency in terms of peer ideas and what happened next.
A lonely dinosaur story arose from a simple grey stone, a carved pony came alive and could fly, superpowers were evoked through the wearing of a golden mask , and, in fact, the whole world was saved. The lost art of oral storytelling had been found again and was clearly thriving in Wellow Primary!
Impact and Ongoing Potential: The session intention was not to provide a one-off, closed experience but to seek opportunities for the approaches to be continued beyond the initial sessions, and Sarah identified ways to embed the approaches so that pupils could regularly become storytellers. She surmised that the simple addition of a class box or bag of prompts can enable oral storytelling to be, potentially, a regular, and perhaps impromptu activity that could be dipped in and out of.
It was observed, during and after the sessions, that pupils who were previously not confident in talking about ideas were animated, engaged and keen to be included in the ‘storyteller’ role.
To give a specific example, following session one, a pupil who did not engage well with fictional scenarios, returned to class and made a working model (out of cardboard) of a whole fictional world - an approach to worldbuilding which is both creative and original and something that might be developed as further practice.
The second session saw many pupils keen to utilise their imagination-wands and either be the storyteller, or to input ideas for the emerging narratives, and all of this suggests that oral storytelling may have a place in terms of the Creative Collaborative project aims and processes: it identified at KS1 connections with the creative process linked to ideating, problem solving, communication; skills in spoken word, presentation and performance, and both reflective and collaborative approaches.
Sarah’s final response and feedback highlighted the ongoing value and approaches used beyond the session:
‘Children who normally find it difficult to be imaginative were able to use objects in the classroom to develop their own stories. Ever since the session the children have continued to use this strategy within their play and writing. After session had ended. Children worked in small groups. They were able to work collaboratively to create their own group stories. All children were engaged in this process. Children's story settings varied and there were a wide range of characters created in different plots.12
Additionally, although we have not yet taken this further, there would be value in identifying whether this confidence in the fictional ideations might have impact on subsequent written outputs, particularly for those who had been previously identified as reluctant writers. Once the storyteller voice has been established, and embedded, the confidence in individual creative potential for stories to evolve through both the oral, and written means. The voice of the storyteller can adapt, reshape, and speak out in all its meaningful, and powerful, forms. Through this, creativity itself can be truly heard.
Sarah Bodman Yr1 Class Teacher, Wellow Primary School
Dr Judy Waite, Visiting Specialist: Creative Collaboratives, Senior Lecturer Creative Writing: University of Winchester
1 Sarah Bodman, Class 1 teacher, West Wellow Primary School.
2 Nigel Krauth, ‘The Domains of the Writing Process’, Creative Writing, Theory Beyond Practice, 194.
3 Simon Blackburn, "Creativity and Not-So-Dumb Luck." In The Philosophy of Creativity: New Essays, by Paul, Elliot Samuel, and Scott Barry Kaufman, eds., edited by Elliot Samuel Paul, and Scott Barry Kaufman. New York: Oxford University Press, 2014. Oxford Scholarship Online, 2014. doi: 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199836963.003.0008. Accessed 29 April 2023, https://www-oxfordscholarship-com.winchester.idm.oclc.org/view/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199836963.001.0001/acprof-9780199836963-chapter-8
4 Paul Sowden, Marnie Seymour et al, Halterworth Creativity Collaboratives First Report, 2023.
5 Bodman, 2024
6 Ibid
7 Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, Flow, The Psychology of Happiness, 2002.
8 Helen Lees, Silence in Schools, 2012.
9 Helen Lees, https://www.academia.edu/2557003/Doing_nothing_in_a_pause_of_action_and_its_relationship_to_silence_and_education? [accessed 1 November 2023]
10 Waite, J. Tempus Tacendi – When Silence Communicates, Literacy Learning and the Language of Silence, 2023, pp283-296, : http://academia.edu/ https://alteritas.it/ricerca-3/pubblicazioni/ [accessed 1 November 2023]
11 Bodman
12 Bodman
Bibliography:
Blackburn, Simon, ‘Creativity and Not-so-Dumb-Luck’, in The Philosophy of Creativity, Samuel, E. and Czikzentmilhayli, Mihaly, Flow, London, Random House, 2002.
Kaufman, S.B. eds. Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2014.
Krauth, Nigel, ‘The Domains of the Writing Process,’ Creative Writing: Theory beyond Practice eds. Nigel Krauth and Tess Brady, Teneriffe, Australia, Post Pressed, 2006.
Lees, Helen, Silence in Schools, London, Institute of Education Press, 2012.
Lees, Helen, https://www.academia.edu/2557003/Doing_nothing_in_a_pause_of_action_and_its_relationship_to_silence_and_education?
Sowden, P. T., Seymour, M,. Warren, F., Spencer, E., Mansfield, S., & Martin, C. (2023). Winchester and Halterworth Creativity Collaborative First Research Report: Context, Knowledge, Agency, Pedagogies and Leadership for Creativity in Schools. https://www.winchester.ac.uk/creativity-collaborative/report
Waite, J. Tempus Tacendi – When Silence Communicates, Literacy Learning and the Language of Silence, 2023, pp283-296, : http://academia.edu/ https://alteritas.it/ricerca-3/pubblicazioni/