Nicola Grove Identity and Friendship through sharing stories Lost for Words 17 th June 2011 Nicola Grove OpenStorytellers
Nicola Grove
Identity and Friendship through sharing stories
Lost for Words
17th June 2011
Nicola Grove
OpenStorytellers
Nicola Grove
WHAT WE KNOW
• Storytelling in schools is seen as a literacy based activity in the UK, in both mainstream and special schools
• Dominated by picture support and sequencing
• Emphasis is on structural recall and organisation, leading to writing
• Oral communication has been sidelined
Personal narratives
– Emerge early in development
– Centre around significant, “reportable”
events (Labov & Waletzky, 1967)
– Structure is simpler and more diverse than
fictional written narrative
– Strong cultural differences in styles of
telling (McCabe & Bliss, 2003)
– Co-construction is the norm (for adults as
well as children) (Norrick, 2000)Nicola Grove
Nicola Grove
Research evidence
• Children develop narrative memory through talking about experience (Nelson, 1991)
• Parental scaffolding supports narrative development (McCabe & Peterson, 1991)
• Stories are built around reportable events and the feelings they evoke (Labov & Waletzky, 1967)
• Personal stories are easier and earlier than fictional stories (Allen et. al., 1994;Hudson & Shapiro, 1991; McCabe et. al., 2008)
Children with
communication difficulties
• Language Impairments– personal narratives are longer and more complex
than fictional (generated) narratives
– poor correlation between fictional and personal narrative scores (McCabe 2008)
• Aided communication– Short, incomplete narratives
– Dependence on yes/no questions
– “And” predominant linking device
– Co-constructed ( Soto& Smith 2006)
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People with S/PMLDs
• Communicative interactions often dominated by requests/needs, social closeness & behaviour regulation (McHutchison, 2006)
• Families and staff find it difficult to recall personal anecdotes from the lives of nonverbal, pre-intentional communicators (Grove, 2007)
MODELS
COGNITIVE
• Fictional, literacy focus
• Intrapersonal origin(within individual)
• Emphasis on structure story grammar
• Told as monologue
• Mature telling not till c. 5y
Stein & Glenn,Applebee
SOCIAL
• Personal focus
• Interpersonal origin(between people)
• Emphasis on meaning
• Collaborative
• Process starts in infancyMcCabe & Peterson, Labov
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STORYSHARING™
BASICS• Oral storytelling is a fundamental act of
communication
• All stories are created around unexpected –or at least, non-routine – events
• Emotion and feeling lie at the heart of the story
• We learn to tell stories by participating in the act of storymaking and storytelling
• We tell stories collaboratively with others, who can help to scaffold narratives
• Personal stories are repeated over and over again
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Storysharing Principles
• An experience that is worth remembering and telling – reportable
• Separates story elicitation from story telling
• Collaborative telling – working towards independence (scaffolding)
• Repeated telling, gradually reducing the level of support
• Responsive listeners
• Accessible record
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PROJECT
• 4 schools (2 MS, 2SS)
• Shared sites, London & Somerset
• One day visits from storyteller(s), once a week for one term
• 30-40 min sessions, groups of 2 MS, 2 SS
• Each group 4-6 weeks input once a week
• N = 29 (14 MS, 15 SS)
• 19 English, 11 multi ethnic backgrounds
• SENs – EBD, Moderate, severe, profound ID, autism
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AIMS
• Develop empathy and friendship between children in mainstream and special schools
• Show children how to share narratives in a collaborative and supportive way
• Help the schools to work more closely together
• Data: interviews with families & staff, observations
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FINDINGS
• Children made relationships, demonstrated empathy and shared experience
• MS children reported being less anxious and fearful of SS children
• Raised awareness of disability among some children
• Contributed to closer collaboration between schools
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STRATEGIES : MS
children• Tellers
• Sign and gesture,
• Pausing, checking,
• Looking with attention at their partners • Anecdotal techniques such as repetition and
exaggeration.
• Listeners• Echo (speech, sound & gesture)
• Empathise
• Elaborate
• Watch and check
• Even skilled children however were inclined to revert to direct questions when faced with nonverbal partners
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STRATEGIES:
GROUPS
• Co-active movements and vocalisations
• Structured feedback responses
• Enactment,
• Big mac communication aid
• Selective use of props and artwork
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CONCLUSIONS
• Sharing stories really does lead to making friends
• Children can be taught the approach in a relatively short period of time
• It works across the range of ability
• Needs commitment and support from families and schools
How to build a story Stage 1
• Notice the experiences that can be made into stories
AND
• Help people attend to and remember the experience
•Use sight, sounds, tastes, smells and touch
•Use speech to react
•Say what the feelings are
How to build a storyIF YOU ARE NOT
THERE AT THE TIME
• Get the story – ask other people what happened
• Make sure you find out– What were the sensory cues?
– What did people say?
– What did people feel?
How to build a story Stage 2
• Create a record of the story
• Make the record one that is owned by the person, and is accessible to them in some way
• Collect props and illustrations
How to tell a story Stage 3
• Rehearse and practise
• Decide who will tell what part of the story
• Go over it together
How to build a story Stage 4
• Find a new listener
• Tell the story again
Over time, people will learn to tell more and more of the story themselves
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Listening
• Lean forward
• Look
• React – facial expression, body language
• Feedback – oh no, wow, really, fantastic
• Repeat what the child says
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WHAT CAN YOUR
PARTNER DO?
• Use voice
• Make a noise with an instrument or prop
• Use facial expression
• Use gesture or sign
• Show an object or a picture
• Use a communication aid
Rehearse
• Rehearse and practise
• Decide who will tell what part of the story together
• Go over it together
• Find a new listener
A
Storytelling Culture
• Telling and listening to stories are part of the formal and informal communication networks
• Stories are central
• Reportable events are foregrounded
• Everyone is involved
• Stories are visible
• Learning is recognised
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Storytellers and project
workers
• OpenStorytellers• Nicola Grove
• Vicki Ross
• Robin Meader
• Fiona Green
• Emma LaLohe, artist
• Michael Jones, Talk4Meaning
• Lindy Peacey , Researcher
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
� Somerset Community Foundation
� SENJIT (SEN Joint Initiative for Training): London University Institute of Education
� London Borough of Harrow
� Schools, teachers, families,
� Peer tutors from Openstorytellers
� Pathways School, Pretoria
� The wonderful kids
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Further Information
• The Big Book of Storytelling™:
at home, in school
SENJIT, Institute of Education