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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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Nicola Grove
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
Nicola Grove
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
Nicola Grove
STRATEGIES:
GROUPS
• Co-active movements and vocalisations
• Structured feedback responses
• Enactment,
• Big mac communication aid
• Selective use of props and artwork
Nicola Grove
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
Nicola Grove
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
Nicola Grove
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
