What the Benefits of Storytelling in Primary Education?

Storytelling has been around for many years, and is most commonly known to be a way of sending children to sleep, through the use of calm fairy tales and legends. However in more recent years, storytelling is becoming a tool of education.

Storytelling is accessible to all children of all ages and abilities. Some teachers and parents may not see the value of storytelling within a lesson; however it is important that people do see the true value of it.  Storytelling is effective in distracting a child’s attention from other concerns and allows them to fully engage in the story being told. This entertainment and engagement in the story awakens their curiosity which turns into motivation for learning (Thomas and Killick, 2007). This is one reason why storytelling is beneficial in primary education.

Philip Pullman (cited in Thomas and Killick, 2007, p3), an English novelist believes that “storytelling is one of the most important, most humane, most liberating and most democratic things that human beings can do, and it should have a central place in every classroom.”  This is a very important quote as it has been seen that storytelling does have many benefits in a child’s development and education. 

Teachers are under lots of pressure in the modern day to teach basic skills, get good academic results and develop the emotional literacy and social skills of the children in their classroom. This being said, it is easy to see why some teachers may see storytelling/story time as a fun and entertaining activity that doesn’t have much educational benefits and therefore is a waste of time. However recent studies by psychologists have shown that positive enjoyment improves learning and as storytelling does contribute to all those mentioned area and is enjoyable for children, storytelling needs to be seen as a valuable activity for learning (Fox Eades, 2006).

Stories do have an obvious role in the teaching of literacy, as a child cannot be expected to write creatively if they do not get the opportunity to imagine it through storytelling (Thomas and Killick, 2007); however, they are also very important in other areas of the curriculum. Storytelling is a valuable tool for developing speaking and listening skills, as a well as providing a stimulus for discussion or for philosophy and thinking skills (Fox Eades, 2006). Stories can also be used effectively within Science – telling stories of how inventions/discoveries were made, in History – the past can be brought alive through storytelling which is far more engaging children than having to remember cold facts, and also numeracy – storytelling can help develop sequencing. Stories could also be used in Religious Education lessons to develop knowledge of how other cultures and religions live and to develop spiritual understanding. (Thomas and Killick, 2007).

Creativity is a skill that is often promoted as a benefit of reading and storytelling and this is crucial in our society today. Ken Robinson (2011) believes that creativity is a multi-faceted process which involves many abilities, skills and techniques. Respectively, Robinson believes that our education system often prevents the conditions that are essential for development of creativity and that children are entering school full of creativity but leaving with little to none. This is an issue that Robinson and many others within the education profession are keen to change and I believe that storytelling is the way forward.

Storytelling is also beneficial in developing emotional literacy.  Donaldson (2015) believes that children need the opportunity to explain their thinking, discuss their ideas and use language skills. This can be achieved through storytelling. When being told a story, children are free to become aware of their own emotions, teaching them the vocabulary they need to express them. Storytelling within a classroom allows children to introduce their emotions/feelings/thoughts in an educationally appropriate and safe environment (Fox Eades, 2006). This allows conversation about what is most personal, but without invading the privacy of a child’s inner life (Thomas and Killick, 2007). Learning to deal with conflicting emotions is something that is an important aspect of storytelling and using examples within stories can help children to reach higher levels of tolerance and respect for themselves and others around them (Marshall, 1998). Telling stories to children also helps children to become more self-confident and to understand themselves and others (Hibbin, 2016).

As I mentioned previously, storytelling is accessible to all children of any age or ability. This is positive as it allows children to gain all the benefits of storytelling, regardless of their age/potential disadvantage.  One way storytelling has been modified is through the use of ‘Story Sacks’. Created by Neil Griffiths, Story Sacks are bags that contain many items that relate to the book. Most contain a book, a few puppets/teddies that represent the main characters of the book, some props relating to the story, an audio recording of the story and an activity card with ideas for extended learning activities, as well as a checklist of the entire contents of the bag.

Story Sacks are most commonly used with groups of children between 0 and 8 years of age. Story Sacks are very beneficial in primary education and have been used specifically with children who have learning difficulties as they allow the children to visualise the book and characters easier than just listening to a story. Story Sacks are also beneficial when used with children who have English as a second language to read books written in English as they are able to better understand the story using the props in the sack. Story Sacks are multi-sensory and different to normal story books so children are often more engaged and it allows children to develop their listening skills as well and learning to take turns and understand repetition.

Below is a link to a video explaining the benefits of using Story Sacks in school and a link to a video of myself and friends using a Story Sack.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LAEZnuZ6LbU&feature=youtu.be

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LiP3Ncphfkw=youtu.be

Another way that storytelling has been modified is the introduction of digital storytelling. Digital storytelling has been developed particularly for children who struggle to write and read. Not only is it beneficial for this particular group of children, but in the modern day the meaning of ‘being literate’ is different to what it used to be and no longer only includes traditional literacies such as reading and writing. We now have what is known as ‘technological literacy’ which refers to the ability to use a computer to an adequate standard.  (Sylvester and Greenidge, 2010). These skills are essential as the digital world is becoming more prominent and it is vital that we can use these means to continue storytelling in education.  Furthermore, digital stories do provide an alternative way of expression for children who struggle to read and write traditionally (Reid, Parker and Burn, 2002, cited in Sylvester and Greenidge, 2010).

To summarise, storytelling can be a very beneficial tool within primary education. Donaldson (2015) stressed the importance of literacy, numeracy and digital competency being taught within the curriculum and in this blog, I have spoken about how storytelling can be beneficial in each of these areas. This shows that storytelling should not be seen as a waste of time within school as it promotes creativity and imagination and allows children to broaden their knowledge as stories can be influential in learning.  Storytelling allows for children to develop many areas including language, cognition, social and emotional skills, morally and spiritually (Thomas and Killick, 2007). Therefore, storytelling could be seen to aid holistic development in children. Storytelling is inclusive for all children, whether they struggle to read and write or have English as a second language and should most definitely be used worldwide in primary education.

References

Donaldson, G. (2015). Successful futures: Independent review of curriculum and assessment arrangements in Wales. Welsh Government.

Fox Eades, J.M. (2006) Classroom Tales: Using Storytelling to Build Emotional, Social and Academic Skills Across the Primary Curriculum. London:  Jessica Kingsley Publishers.

Hibbin, R. (2016). ‘The Psychosocial Benefits of Oral Storytelling in School: Developing Identity and Empathy through Narrative’, Pastoral Care in Education, 34(4), pp.218–231.

Marshall, C.S. (1998) ‘Using Children's Storybooks to Encourage Discussions among Diverse Populations’, Childhood Education, 74(4), pp. 194-199.

Robinson, K. (2011) Out of Our minds: Learning to be Creative. Chichester: Capstone Publishing Ltd.

Sylvester, R. and Greenidge, W. (2010) ‘Digital Storytelling: Extending the Potential for Struggling Writers’, The Reading Teacher, 63(4), pp. 284-295.

Thomas, T. and Killick, S. (2007) Telling Tales: Storytelling as Emotional Literacy. Blackburn: Eprint.