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

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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

• info@openstorytellers.org.uk

• The Big Book of Storytelling™:

at home, in school

SENJIT, Institute of Education