Storyline
News
updated 12 November
Storyline – Education for Sustainable Development in Entebbe, Uganda
Ylva Lundin
From the 10th to 19th of October 2008 I had the privilege to visit the fantastically beautiful and hospitable country of Uganda. The purpose of my visit was to give a full day workshop on how Storyline can be used to reach learning for sustainable development. The workshop was part of a conference for head teachers from Uganda and Sweden. More information...
Rendsburg Storyline Workshop
20 - 21st October 2008 for foreign language teachers of primary and secondary schools in Schleswig-Holstein
Gisela Ehlers IQSH-Kiel, Course Director
The workshop started on Monday with the creation of the story setting “Our Street” including houses, shops and a beach area. The very attractive frieze that was produced became the focus for lively discussion about second language teaching possibilities in primary as well as in secondary schools. While the teachers then created the characters who lived and worked in the street they became aware of the many opportunities for differentiating the language tasks for their learners. They were convinced that Storyline is not only an ideal strategy for developing language in an authentic context but also a good way for teaching in heterogeneous classes. This first course was led by Steve Bell and Tina Stute On the 21st and 22nd Oct. 2008 the IQSH offered a two day follow up seminar in which drama was explored as an additional element in Storyline. Through a practical workshop linked to the storyline frieze the participants experienced the wide variety of ideas and language tasks. Drama activities relate easily and effectively to such a context and establish a rich learning environment. The second course was led by Hannelore Tait and Gerhard Schroda.
News from Norway
Åse Paulsen Skiftun
Kvinesdal Upper Secondary school, Norway
Earlier this year I wrote about some projects going on in Norway using the Storyline-toolkit in teaching. It is very nice for me to tell you that this co-operation project with The University of Agder has been a great success. The Storyline-toolkit was used in the Didactic-Programme. The Toolkit was used to aim at one of the five main-goals of the Programme: Preconditions of teachers and students (the human-beings). The evaluation from the students was ” This is exciting!! ” Birte Simonsen and Kari Wigstøl, both from the Department of Teacher Education at the University, have been interested in the Storyline-method for a long time. They are so fascinated by the Toolkit, that they want to continue this co-operation until next Autumn. An application has been sent to Norway Opening Universities for money to do so. We are also still working towards an English version!
Storyline Diary
Since 2003 Yvonne McBlain, a Creativity Support Teacher for Falkirk Council Education Department has been encouraging teachers as part of a Creativity Inservice Team. This has involved her in exploring and developing thinking skills, creativity and Storyline. Recently, and supported by Quality Improvement Officer Liz Rose, she has published a record of the development of their Storyline work with teachers. This has proved to be of great interest to teachers not only in their own area but also in other council areas in Scotland.
“A Classroom with Six Languages”
Comenius Project creates Storyline for pupils of special schools from six European countries
Schule am Meer in North Germany’s Cuxhaven was the venue for the latest gathering of the Comenius funded “Stars Project”. From 22-26.October 2008 the group, involving schools from Germany, Denmark, Belgium, Hungary, Estonia and Ireland met for the 5th time, although it was the 3rd meeting to include pupils who all have special learning needs. Through the medium of modern technology, the teachers had already planned a storyline about an international song contest before meeting. The pupils brought the collage figures of the characters along. Together they drummed up the name “Stardust of Comenius” for the show. On the third day of the meeting they had the opportunity of experiencing the next stages of the storyline method under the watchful and very helpful eye of the invited guest, Ulf Schwänke.
He was surprised by the motivation of the children and the high quality of the representations produced by the pupils – one of which was the stage for the song contest. Though most pupils had no knowledge of the English language communication worked amazingly well with the teachers serving as interpreters for the children from their countries. All were convinced that it was a very successful meeting and a lot was learned and achieved by both teachers and pupils alike.
New Storyline CD
Glasgow City Council Education & Social Work Services
Ruth Barr, Quality Improvement Officer in Primary Education with the above Council, has been instrumental in a new initiative to produce a CD which provides rich Storyline resources for teachers at the upper stages of primary school. The very experienced authors, Lesley Dunlop, Creative Arts Link officer in Glasgow and Sallie Harkness of Storyline Scotland, have produced outlines for three topics – The Tropical Rainforest, Scotland: onTour, and World War II, (The Clydebank Blitz). These Storyline topic plans are supported by background information and relevant photographic material which provides the teacher with specific evidence for research purposes. Material like this should prove to be of tremendous benefit to teachers in their Social Studies planning. Within the Tropical Rainforest topic an early attempt has been made to identify the Social Studies outcomes in A Curriculum for Excellence that would be experienced by the children.
The CD can be purchased through the Education Improvement Service Catalogue at www.glasgowcurriculumpublications.org.uk
Book Launch in Aberdeen University
On Saturday morning 27th September 2008 a very successful Storyline Book Launch and Seminar was held in the MacRobert Building of Aberdeen University. The attendance was larger than expected and was supported by lecturers and students as well as teachers. Sallie Harkness made a presentation describing the use of Storyline for teaching in the Early Years, while Steve Bell followed with a description of the wide range of contents in the book. Many thanks are due to the committee of Early Education, Aberdeen Branch who organised the morning in conjunction with Aberdeen University.
Royal Danish Ballet Teacher Education
Cecilie Falkenberg is this year engaged in designing and conducting an educational course for those of the Royal Danish Ballet's dancers who teach ballet by using their rich experiences to help pass on their knowledge and skills to younger performers. Cecilie and her colleagues in KLEO, University College Copenhagen, have designed a new education that will provide the ballet teachers with a certificate on how to teach. The first week is designed as a Storyline project about an excellent ballet school in a small country with a famous ballet corps! During the second week some of the teaching philosophy necessary to understand children's learning is emphasised - with themes such as situated learning, tacit knowledge, reflective practice, intuitive expertise, appreciative inquiry, constructivism and similar important concepts. The education continues as an action learning project to support the changes in practice each participant ballet teacher would like to make by supervising, followed by a dialogue. To date the idea of using Storyline in the first week to open all the relevant pedagogical challenges for the ballet teachers has proven a great success. Cecilie (pictured centre) is finding it a really exciting challenge!
Courses in Germany
From 9th to 13th September 2008 four courses were presented to German primary teachers and probationers who teach English as a second language. From February 2009 all class one pupils in the primary schools in Nordrhein-Westfalen will be introduced to English. Gisela Ehlers, IQSH Kiel, director of a highly successful Comenius project using Storyline for this purpose and Steve Bell, Storyline consultant, led these inservice workshop courses. The first three – in Gemeinschaftschule Steinenbruck,Gummersbach (Mr Koster), Sparkassen Akademie, Münster, (Christine Gross & Stephanie Stecker) and in Albert-Schweitzer-Schule, Menden, (Lisa Hinse) were sponsored by the publisher Spectra and the final two-day event in Hotel Schweinsberg, Lennestadt Langenei was offered by Brigitte Stäsche and her Kompetenzteam. All the courses proved to be lively and interesting because of the interest and enthusiasm of the teachers.
Brigitte Stäsche and Gisela Ehlers
Book Launch in Edinburgh
Wednesday 3rd September
A very successful book launch was held in the Scottish Storytelling Centre, Edinburgh, last Wednesday. Twenty-one participants attended from a wide variety of backgrounds. Guests Joan Parr, Director of Education for the Scottish Arts Council and Tim Wallace, Scottish Government Educational Adviser were joined by teachers, headteachers, advisers, lecturers from Edinburgh University and also members of the education unit of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. The editors Steve Bell, Sallie Harkness and Graham White were joined by David Betteridge, the proof reader of the book to staff this event.
Danish Members
of Parliament Visit Scotland
Committee of Education Study Visit
13 members of the Danish Education Committee visited Scotland this week from 26th to 29th August to find out more about the new Scottish Curriculum for Excellence and also about Storyline. On Wednesday 27th August at LTS headquarters in Glasgow they had a presentation from members of the Learning & Teaching Scotland team. They also heard from Marie Dougan and colleagues about GLOW the intranet support provided for Scottish teachers and pupils. It was a pleasure and a privilege for Sallie Harkness and Steve Bell to then have the opportunity to present on the Development of Storyline. In the photograph of the group Christine Antorini, Head of Delegation, is seated on the left next to Steve, Sallie and Marie Dougan, Director of GLOW.
“Stepping Out of the Picture”
Marie Jeanne McNaughton shows how the Storyline approach may give Drama practitioners an added dimension to their work. This article is based on her paper published in Storyline – Past, Present & Future ed. By Bell, Harkness & White and published by Strathclyde University.
Also contained in this edition of the journal is a very thorough review of the new Storyline book by Jane Thomson. She ends by saying “Storyline is clearly a powerful learning tool and this timely book will help academics, researchers and practitioners further their understanding of Storyline and learning.”
Storyline in South Korea
Sulany dos Santos is a Brazilian Lecturer who worked for many years as a teacher of English as a Second Language (ESL) in a university in South Brazil. During this time she had introduced Storyline into her teaching. Because of her husband’s work she moved with him to live in South Korea and was invited to teach at an ESL summer school organised for children of employees by the Company. For the first time this summer she designed a programme using a Storyline topic. Here is what she says about the experience:“‘R’ Island – a Storyline of Hope – was the theme of an English Summer Camp held in Seoul, Korea, for 12 to 18 years-old students in July this year. The results were amazing; the lively environment created through Storyline helped the students to interact in English and have fun. Although we have much to learn as to how to use Storyline for teaching ESL we were very encouraged by our first experience.”
The teaching team in the photograph are from left to right - Alicia Beking, Ray Kim, Jieun Kim, Sulany dos Santos and Boyeun HoAmerican Visitor
23 May 2008
Wendy Emo, an Academic Advisor/Instructor in the College of General Studies of South Dakota State University recently met with Sallie Harkness and Steve Bell for an informal Storyline seminar in Glasgow.
Wendy is a doctoral student working at distance with the University of York in England. At the end of a study visit there to meet with her educational supervisor she managed to include this Scottish visit.
Some years ago she attended a Storyline course presented by Elaine Smith and Colleen Vallerga in Culver near Bend in Oregon. Since then she has moved to a school in Washington State where she taught Storyline to 2nd and 5th grade students. “One really great thing that happened was that I had the same students in 5th grade as I had had in 2nd grade three years earlier and was amazed at the factual details they could recall about the topics we had studied. My own boys, now teenagers, did a few Storylines in their elementary years and still remember details from these. This kind of recall is so amazing!”
She continues that “Being such a Storyline fan I want to incorporate into my doctoral studies how writing their own curriculum affects teachers – if all goes as planned, I will be following this idea through those who attend a Storyline workshop.”Storyline in Alaska
We are delighted to learn from Ken Brown that he was selected as a Wal-Mart & Sam's Club Teacher of the Year in 2007 for Interior Alaska. He says “ I am certain that my use of the Storyline Method in the classroom was responsible for my nomination and selection for this award.”
Ken and his wife have spent 9 years teaching in remote Eskimo villages in the Alaskan Bush. These villages are only accessible by small airplanes. He explains “As you can imagine, it is difficult for children to experience the rest of the world when many of them have not even visited the nearest village 18 miles away. The Storyline Method is particularly useful in these remote areas, where you can't hop on a bus to visit a museum or historical site. I was able to give my Eskimo students the opportunity to experience life outside of the village by bringing the world to them through my use of Storyline.
I've also been able to use Storyline to teach my Eskimo students about their own culture, land, and language. One of my favorite activities was spending the night with about 20 third graders, in winter, inside a traditional sod house built into the side of a hill about 7 miles from Chevak, Alaska. We traveled by snowmobile and sleds to the sod house, cut firewood, and ate traditional foods prepared inside the sod house. My students left with a real understanding of what life had been like for their grandparents and great-grandparents just 100 years ago. But it was the Storyline Method that prepared them for that culminating event, and made it much more meaningful to them.
Click on ‘more info’ to read a newspaper article about my recent use of Storyline in Fairbanks, Alaska (ironically, it was printed during my visit to Glasgow for the Third International Storyline Conference).”
Storyline in Norway
The Storyline-method is growing in popularity in the Upper Secondary School system in Norway
Åse Paulsen Skiftun, Kvinesdal Upper Secondary School, Norway
I was recently participating in the Nordic Storyline Conference in Gothenburg, which was, as usual, very interesting. In one of the coffee breaks I met a Norwegian colleague. “It is really quiet about Storyline in Norway now”, he said. I have been thinking a little bit and I am not quite sure about that. It is a bit quiet in the Primary School just now, perhaps, but in Upper Secondary School it is quite the opposite. Kvinesdal Upper Secondary School is giving several courses every year to teachers in other secondary schools. The topic is: How to use the Storyline-method in Upper Secondary School?
In Norway the new curriculum emphasises documentation and evaluation of each student’s learning. We have the experience that we can do this in a good way with the use of the Storyline method and especially with using the interactive Storyline-toolkit. By joining the National Learning Network (Lærende nettverk) we have been given the opportunity to teach the topic “Social studies” according to the new subject Curriculum.
The first-year students of Lyngdal Upper Secondary School have been working all year using the Storyline-toolkit with very good results. And perhaps the most important thing: the students enjoyed working in this way. Recently, we have finished the work of adding a topic in the Natural Science Subject Curriculum into the Toolkit: “Eco-systems and sustainable development”.
The Students tell us that it is more interesting to learn together with their own imaginary characters and it is easier to understand the “connections to real life”. Wonderful to hear!
Currently, we are starting a very interesting cooperative project with The University of Agder. One of the teachers in the Practical Teacher Training programme (PPU) wants to use the Storyline-toolkit in his teaching in didactic topics in Autumn 2008. Exciting!
The Kindergartens in central parts of Oslo are also doing Storylinesl! In March 2008 about ninety employees were gathered to learn about this method. Åse Paulsen Skiftun and Bente Rom Øysæd from Kvinesdal Upper Secondary School were the leaders of the course together with two teachers from the preparatory school - Laxens fõrskola. Most of them became very enthusiastic about this. A few days afterwards we got a message from them : now we have started!!
assk1@isyd.no
Nordic Storyline Conference
Storyline – Learning for Sustainable Development
11-12 April 2008 Gothenburg, Sweden
315 delegates from ten countries attended this Second Nordic Storyline Conference which was organised by Storyline Sweden. The theme Storyline - Learning for Sustainable Development provided a very creative target for all involved, whether keynote speakers or workshop presenters. By general consensus the two-day event was a big success. Everything had been so carefully planned – from the ‘Seek & Find’ wall which encouraged participants to involve themselves in networking to the show of work from the pre-conference courses which provided a colourful visual display of related topics. The exhibition hall buzzed with interest at each break. Teaching materials, books and examples of classroom work were studied with care. The English speaking delegates were amazed at the flexibility of programming that allowed them to feel at home in their choices of workshop – a credit to the planners. Even students from the Further Education College which was situated in the building used as the conference centre became eager helpers as they explained that their course was in tourism and that they welcomed the opportunity to work with international clients. They acted as guides and were always available to answer questions or solve problems. Congratulations are due to the team Storyline Sweden seen below – Mait Adegård, Eva Marsh, Ylva Lundin & Sanna Ranweg (from left to right)
Creative Teaching
with Storyline Scotland
Joanna Bremner Smith
On 18th February 2008 the Scottish Storytelling Centre welcomed Steve Bell and Sallie Harkness of Storyline Scotland to a day-long education event exploring Creative Teaching and how storytelling skills can help bring to life the Curriculum for Excellence. The event brought together 30 teachers, storytellers and community workers from across Scotland to the storytelling hub on Edinburgh’s Royal Mile. Also contributing to the event was Judy Paterson, storyteller and designer of the Scottish Storytelling Centre’s Storyboxes, and Elaine Kent, a teacher and former Cultural Coordinator from Renfrewshire who has pioneered storytelling approaches in her local authority area.
The Scottish Storytelling Centre believes that the Curriculum for Excellence can achieve its goals only through imaginative teaching. The aim of the day was to explore, through a series of workshops and discussions, different ways of supporting children’s learning in the classroom through interactive activities, storytelling skills and approaches. This included a focus on communication through stories, storymaking and cross-curricular story-lines. Storyline Scotland’s dynamic approach coupled with its imaginative tools helped to make the day a great success.
The Scottish Storytelling Centre is now planning to work together with Storyline Scotland on a full agenda ideal for the Curriculum for Excellence. Use of the Storyline approach will feature as part of the Scottish Storytelling Centre’s CPD event, Scottish Culture in the Curriculum, taking place on 27th October 2008. The event will explain how a confidence in our own cultural diversity makes for outward looking, confident learners through the primary and secondary stages.
Comments about the Creative Teaching event on 18th Feb:
“Inspirational, practical, interesting and good fun!”
“The Storyline workshop was superb as was their presentation! Adored it, so full of ideas.”
“I found the workshops informative and inspiring.”
“At last, something useful and practical to use in class.”
The Storyline Journey Begins
Kinnaird Primary School
The opening of a brand new school has provided a rare opportunity for the staff of Kinnaird Primary School to make fundamental decisions about what they want to teach and how they want to teach it. They believe that ‘Storyline’ will be extremely useful in helping them implement the major curricular change happening within Scottish education at this time, particularly in relation to curriculum flexibility and cross-curricular working.
Steve Bell and Sallie Harkness began their Storyline journey by delivering a one-day course for the whole staff on 15 February 2008. Teaching and non-teaching staff alike thoroughly enjoyed their day and are already putting what they learned into practice.
The school was keen to ensure that parents also had an understanding of what Storyline was about. Headteacher, Pamela Adamson, delivered the same one-day course for parents on 7 March 2008.Their evaluations highlighted their enjoyment of the day, and the benefits to them in supporting their children’s learning at home through their increased understanding.
Visit of Student Teachers
from The Faroe Islands
Carol Omand, Headteacher, Gartconner Primary School, Kirkintilloch
Everyone at Gartconner Primary School was delighted to welcome Sonja Jacobsen and Oda Friduflotum, two student teachers from the Faroe Islands who travelled to Scotland to spend the month of January at the school to study the Storyline approach. Headteacher, Carol Omand said that it was such a memorable experience for the whole school. We learned a lot about the Faroese way of life and also about their education system. Sonja and Oda spent the majority of their time in a Primary 3 class where the children thoroughly enjoyed their involvement in the Storyline work they were doing. The students said that they had learned a great deal during their month’s visit and they plan to take this experience back to inform their continuing studies. Our final day with Oda and Sonja was very emotional as we had grown extremely fond of them. We were treated to their most beautiful singing as part of their farewell. We have all learned a great deal from this experience and we send our warmest wishes to Sonja and Oda for a very happy future. We hope our paths will meet again.Storyline – Past, Present & Future
Our new book is HERE!
Published by Strathclyde University
Apart from the introductory chapters this book contains papers presented at the Third International Storyline Conference held in Glasgow in late October 2006. Academic texts and articles on the implementation of Storyline are reasonably extensive in Scandinavia, the Netherlands, Germany and the United States but the literature is less well developed in its country of origin – Scotland. Now this anomaly has been redressed and this publication is being introduced at a time of exciting change in the Scottish Educational System with the aims of the Curriculum for Excellence matching significantly with Storyline principles.
For more information about postage & packaging click on
enterprising-careers@strath.ac.uk
Storyline Courses in Thailand
January 2008
Sallie Harkness & Steve Bell
At the invitation of Mr Noppadon Hor-thong, Director of The Institute for Resource in Education Development, Sallie Harkness & Steve Bell were invited to present three two-day Storyline Workshop courses in different centres in Thailand. We extend our sincere thanks to him for providing us with this marvellous opportunity.
It should be noted that our arrival in Thailand was shortly after the death of the King’s sister, a highly respected Princess. Our courses coincided with a period of official mourning and it will be noticed from our photographs that all involved in the courses wore either black or white as a token of respect.
The first course on Saturday & Sunday 12th & 13th January was based in the Nakhon Sri Thammarat Rajabhat University situated on the southeast coast of Thailand and was organised by a team from their Faculty of Education. The Vice Dean Dr Aphinphorn Sathitpakeekul, acted as our interpreter and we were greatly supported by several willing assistants and especially Waradee Lertgrai and Chiraporn Nhoorit. The topic selected for all three courses was Animal Rescue Centre – very topical in modern Thailand. On this course it was interesting for us also to meet three teachers of ‘ English as a second language’ coming from America, England and Canada.
The second course on 17th & 18th January was based at St Antony’s School in Chachensao, 70 miles to the east of Bangkok. It is a large private school with some 3,000 students run by the St Paul of Chartres Congregation. The school principal Sister Karnchana Soddprasert and her staff organised the course very efficiently and we were very grateful for the tremendous support from Noi & Anne. We were delighted that an old friend Dr Walai Panich from Chulalongkorn University was able to be our interpreter on this course.
A sister school, St Joseph’s in Bangkhla, Bangkok, was the centre for our final course on 19th & 20th January. Around 120 delegates participated which made this the largest course of the three but the spacious accommodation and the wonderful resources meant that the workshop ran very smoothly. On this occasion our interpreter, Indi, was an English teacher at St Antony’s School and Noi and Anne were also present to add their support.
Sister Somjit Chompaisarn was a gracious hostess and deserves sincere thanks for her hospitality. We would like also to thank both principals for the generous gifts we received.
A special mention must be made of the wonderful help and assistance rendered to us over the second and third courses by our friend Patchara Poomachati. She was our guide and supporter throughout.
Methode Glasgow Lernen in Handlungsfeldern
10 November 2007
At the invitation of the Primary Teachers’ Association for Schleswig Holstein Steve Bell presented a one day course for 60 teachers in Bickbargen Primary School. Halstenbek/Krupunder. Several members of the organising committee are experienced in using Storyline and had attended courses in their home state over the last twenty years but for the majority the approach was new. A Christmas Market was the topic selected and great fun was had in the building of the setting and the construction of the stallholders and customers. As usual the activities led on to reflection and much discussion about the theories involved. It will be interesting to observe what happens now in the participants’ schools. The committee members were Beate Blaseio, Bent Hirschelmann, Andrea Klimmek, Michael Lorbeer-Andresen, Susanne Rink, Jutta Schweitzer & Sabine Jesumann.
Storyline in Second Language Teaching
Martinshaus Rendsburg
Tina Stute
A four day course for a group of German study leaders and primary teachers was held in Martinshaus Conference Centre from 17th to 20th October 2007. The event was organised by Gisela Ehlers and colleagues from IQSH Kiel. Steve Bell led a workshop course for the first two days and then presentations were made by invited guests including Prof. Werner Bleyhl and Verna Blandford from the Institute of Education in the University of London. Gisela chaired the whole course and Hannelore Tait organised English film entertainment on two of the evenings. The last day was spent in designing new Storylines for language teaching purposes. It was a very productive and enjoyable experience for all.
Storyline Curriculum “Palliative Care”
Ulf Schwänke
The Storyline Approach has been increasingly used with adult learners. An outstanding example is a curriculum on palliative care developed by the German Robert Bosch Foundation. The idea was to create a course for nurses and auxiliary staff in nursing homes. Due to the demographic change in Western societies more and more people spend the last months of their lives as residents of nursing homes. So it has become most important to train the staff in dealing with life-limiting illness,dementia, pain, and other distressing symptoms. The aim of a palliative approach is to improve the quality of life for individuals and their families by reducing their suffering and their physical, psychological, and spiritual needs.
The one-week-course on palliative care uses a Storyline, in which an old woman moves into a nursing home and lives there for some time. Then her condition worsens, she suffers from a number of physical symptoms as well as from dementia and eventually she dies. In following this narrative the participants of the course get to know the main aspects of palliative care. These do not only include the relief from pain and the offer of support for an active life until death. Even more important is the fact that palliative care is an attitude of empathy towards the patients and their families.An article describing the curriculum in more detail was recently published:
Klapper, Bernadette/Kojer, Marina/Schwänke, Ulf (2007). Palliative Praxis – Ein Curriculum zur Begleitung alter Menschen am Ende des Lebens. In Heller, Andreas/Heimerl, Katharina/Husebø, Stein (Eds.). Wenn nichts mehr zu machen ist, ist noch viel zu tun. Freiburg (3rd ed.) p. 445 – 456
Norwegian Visit
10 - 11 October 2007
One hundred Norwegian student teachers met Steve Bell and Sallie Harkness at the Pearce Institute in Govan. Lecturer Marit Storhaug and her colleagues from Oslo University College were visiting Glasgow together with their students for the third time. In the Lithgow Theatre at the Institute, Steve and Sallie gave their introductions to the Storyline approach. They visualised different Storyline principles and how a Storyline can be designed through engaging the students in different examples and typical Storyline tasks. Many of the students had already heard of and were fascinated by the Storyline method. It was therefore a great pleasure for them to meet the Storyline founders. The student and their teachers had an interesting and playful morning creating families visiting the capitals of Europe. Steve and Sally gave vivid examples of Storylines for different age groups and learning situations. The students, who will have training in schools in January and February, went home with new inspiration and ideas.
Nordic Storyline Conference
Friday & Saturday, 11th & 12th April 2008 in Gothenburg, Sweden
Intending participants and conference presenters can now view the full programme for this conference by going to www.conference.storyline.nu and clicking on 'programme'. Each of the days can then be viewed in detail. As can be seen, the organisers,Storyline Sweden, have designed a very full and exciting choice for the international delegates. Note - those presenters who have not yet sent their photographs for inclusion can do so by e-mailing eva.marsh@storyline.nu
Mini-beasts Storyline
Battlefield Primary School, Glasgow District Council, Scotland
Catriona Brown
Battlefield Primary School in Glasgow incorporated Storyline Planning across the school from January to March 2007. The staff were allocated additional hours for the brainstorming and planning of the term’s curriculum through an integrated topic. Catriona Brown, Principal Teacher, had attended the Storyline Conference in Glasgow 2006 and was able to share with colleagues the storyline approach. The approach was not entirely new to the school with several teachers having used it pre1990 and was welcomed with open arms.In Primary 4 the main environmental studies topic was set as Minibeasts. Catriona decided to teach the term’s work using Roald Dahl’s James and the Giant Peach for inspiration and line of development. An emphasis was also put into the big visual display, an important element of storyline, with James and his friends prominently displayed.
Even from the outset the story lent itself to integration across the curriculum. The term’s Personal and Social Development included James when he was orphaned and sent to live with his cruel aunts. The Community Policeman was able to include child cruelty sensitively and meaningfully as he used James as his way to capture the children’s attention. Research into mini-beasts, their characteristics and their habitats were taken on with gusto when the children made paper mache large beasts, environmentally friendly bug catchers for the playground and mini-beast hunts in the local park. Children were encouraged to use KWL grids to record their discovery progress. Talking, listening and writing tasks flowed throughout each chapter with the children making predictions and writing their own telegrams to the queen!
A highlight of the topic was making wormeries and the children working in their teams to collect worms.
An additional positive outcome was the increased co-operation
and confidence in the children.
This very memorable project ended with a celebration of work. Every child contributed to their small group and visited another class in the school. Props and work from the topic were shared. Of course the class also enjoyed eating peaches – for some their first time.
Very Early Warning for 2009
International Storyline Conference 4
Portland State University & Storyline Design, Oregon
It is with great pleasure that I am now able to give early warning that Storyline Design and Portland State University in Oregon, USA, will host the next International Storyline Conference 4. Jeff Creswell has just informed me that the reserved dates for this will be from Friday, 7 August through Sunday, 9 August with a preconference day on Thursday, 6 August 2009. The planning has now started. The conference will be held at Portland State University, a large state university in downtown Portland. The university has a lovely campus which includes a park. The site is centrally located to all the attractions in the city as well as being close to the Willamette and Columbia Rivers and the snow capped peaks of the Cascade mountains including the majestic Mt. Hood and the active volcano, Mt. St. Helen's. Portland offers many opportunities for sightseeing before or after the conference including the Columbia Gorge Scenic area, Crater Lake, and a spectacular coastline on the Pacific Ocean, all within a few hours drive.
Centenary Storyline
Grange Primary School, Falkirk Council
Yvonne MacBlain
Grange Primary School in the Scottish town of Bo’ness is celebrating its centenary this year. To enable pupils to appreciate and participate in this event more fully, from September 2006 until June 2007, they worked on a special project using the Storyline method. This project was co-ordinated by Falkirk Council Creativity Support Teacher Yvonne McBlain who supported the staff through co-operative planning and delivery.
The main character in the storyline is a little boy called James who actually attended Grange Primary on the day it opened in August 1907. To reflect the industrial heritage of Bo’ness, James came from a coal-mining family and lived very close to the school.
The whole project was orchestrated to allow pupils to discover and explore their own community past and present through James and his family. This involved a wide range of activities including many opportunities to go out into their local area to study the changes 100 years have made.
The pupils of primary 4/3 took James and Janet out for a wee walk around Bo’ness
This highly successful project ended with a whole school celebration day during which most staff and pupils dressed in Edwardian style and took part in a range of Edwardian school activities.
On Celebration Day the pupils each invited a guest and gave them a tour of the whole school storyline display.
This adaptation of the storyline approach used real characters and the historic setting to pose key questions about everyday life past and present. It enabled pupils to collaborate across all stages in the school by passing their research and discoveries about the characters from one stage to the next.
Storyline Reunion
August 2007
Sallie Harkness joined Jeff Creswell of Storyline
Design, Portland, Oregon to teach a Storyline Reunion course on Book-based Storylines. Teachers attending this three day course were all experienced Storyliners who came with an exciting selection of books. In addition to sharing information about the Storyline work completed. In 2006/7 participants had time to work together on planning a book-based Storyline for use in their classrooms in 2007/8.
Storyline 1
The popular Storyline 1 class was held once again in Park Rose High School. This year's topic was 'Farmers' Market' and the teachers began by listing the stalls they thought would make a good market. Pairs signed up for the stall of their choice and began to create it using a shoe box and various junk materials. Stall holders were made in the form of 'little people'. Following an episode considering a variety of tasks for the stall holders the teachers created customers and then suggested a series of incidents likely to happen at their 'Busy Bee' Market. The first part of the course is very practical as the teachers experience a Storyline example. Later in the week they are required to reflect on this experience, to undertake a curriculum analysis and listen to practitioners describe their classes' Storyline experience. After that participants work in small groups to plan a Storyline for their own classes. Attendance at both these classes along with successful submission of the required paperwork will bring credit from Portland State University.
Nordic Storyline Conference
Gothenburg, Sweden, 11th & 12th April 2008
speaking educators and that there will be possibilities for those with English as their first language to follow a reasonable programme over the two days. For more information about the programme and how to apply please click on www.konferens.storyline.nu
Björkhagens skola
Mait Adegard & Steve Bell
Stockholm, Sweden
At the invitation of the school management team Steve Bell was invited to present an end-of-term Staff Development Storyline course over Tuesday and Wednesday 12th & 13th June 2007 in Björkhagens skola, Johanneshov, Stockholm. A total of 66 teachers from both primary and secondary stages attended and participated with great enthusiasm. An atmosphere of ‘serious fun’ meant that all involved seemed to appreciate the aims and objectives of this teaching philosophy.
The Rock & Roll Café
Lynn Wilson & Gillian Lumsden
Gartconner Primary School, East Dunbartonshire
As was mentioned in a previous news item the Storyline Topic entitled the Rock & Roll Café proved to be very popular with pupils in class P 4/5 of Gartconner Primary School. The official opening ceremony followed a whole class presentation at a school assembly with staff, children and parents on 23rd March 2007. Here are some of the photographs from that happy day.
The Zoo
New Topic in German
by Ulf Schwänke
German teachers looking for Storyline topics now have another choice. The Zoo is the second booklet of a series called ‘Storyline practical’ (the first one was a topic on the Fire Brigade). It was written by Ulf Schwänke, lecturer at the Hamburg University and author of the teacher’s book ‘Die Storyline-Methode’.
The new booklet aims at Primary classes 1 and 2. It contains a short introduction to the Storyline approach, the topic outline and additional information for the teacher.The book was published in June 2007 by Auer Verlag, Donauwörth, Germany.
High School of Glasgow Junior School
a Welcoming School Community
Geraldine Low, Singapore
As part of a 6-month “Leaders in Education Programme”, 6 Vice-Principals, 1 Principal and a lecturer from the National Institute of Education, Singapore, visited the High School of Glasgow Junior School on 21 May 2007. Steve Bell had very kindly made the arrangements for the school visit and he and his Storyline colleagues, Sallie Harkness and Graham White, as well as the Head Teacher, Karen Waugh welcomed us warmly when we arrived at the school.
Swedish visitors
to Falkirk Council School
Gunnel Sköld and Åsa Eriksson, Antnässkolan, Luleå, Sweden
In early May 2007 we spent two very interesting days at Larbert Village Primary School in Falkirk, Scotland. We were invited by their headteacher Mrs. Pamela Adamson as a consequence of a meeting at the Third International Storyline Conference held in Glasgow last November 2006. Both our schools work with Storyline and it was very interesting to exchange experiences about that work and to meet with Steve Bell. We also got the opportunity to see the children at work and we realised that we have a lot in common. We hope that this visit is the start of future and closer contacts.
Cyber-bullying
In a recent article by Douglas Blane in the Times Educational Supplement Scotland (Friday March 30th 2007), Helen Glen, headteacher at Springhill Primary in East Renfrewshire, described how she had identified a problem with a P6 class as being caused by cyber-bullying. Pupils were using mobile phones and computer chatrooms to bully other children in the class. What could be done to deal with this dreadful situation? "We went back to something I had used many years ago which was developed at Jordanhill College, by Steve Bell and Fred Rendell." she says. "We got the parents in to work with the children on creating a community, with houses, shops, and people with all their individual histories. The initial aim was to get the class to work together on a creative project, with lots of chat and constructive engagement. But there was more to it than that. The people who lived in the street all had names and personalities. The kids called it Cherry-blossom Lane. They built a frieze and put it on the wall. Once they had done that and were really involved with the people in the street, I sent them for a bite to eat in another part of the school. While they were away I 'vandalised' Cherry-blossom Lane. When they came back and saw what had happened there was a stunned silence...... We got them to talk and write about those feelings of hurt and how we can prevent it from happening." The next session will focus on cyber-bullying.
Storyline in East Dunbartonshire
Carol Omand
Carol Omand, Lynda Bancroft, Steve Bell and Sallie Harkness presented a one-day staff development course for 22 teachers working in East Dunbartonshire schools on Monday 26th February 2007. The feedback has been very positive and teachers have asked for a recall day to carry out practical activities and to gain more expertise in using this approach. The teachers at Gartconner Primary school where Carol is now Headteacher have been involved in a very successful Cafe Topic using the Storyline approach. The teachers have said that they have got back the joy of teaching and the children have enjoyed having a lot of responsibility for their learning. They presented a superb assembly to parents and invited guests just before The Rock & Roll Cafe was officially opened by Steve Bell on Friday 23 March. All the children and staff in Nursery and school were treated to a variety of juices and biscuits to celebrate the opening. The teachers responsible, Mrs Lumsden and Mrs Wilson are very proud of the children and all of their fantastic work.
Greek Storyline Eco-holidays
Steve Bell / Ifigenia Iliopoulou
Ifigenia Iliopoulou, a PhD student and assistant lecturer at the University of Volos, who is the author of the first Greek Storyline book, has sent me an open letter which I think may be of great interest to many who visit this website. Last year Gudmundur Kristmundsson of the University in Reykjavik, Iceland, and I were honoured to be invited to speak at a teachers' conference in Ifigenia's university. While staying there we were taken on a tour of the amazing Pelion mountain region. It is a landscape that has retained much of its ancient character and charm and provides a rich environment for visitors to explore. To read Ifigenia's letter click here.
Virtual class for Storyline Approach
Ghent, Belgium
Staying on top of educational topics can be time consuming for teachers, certainly when following courses includes traffic jams, parking problems or rescheduling teaching hours in different schools. Therefore, the department of Education from the city of Ghent started two years ago with a virtual class for Storyline Approach. The Storyline class is part of an e-learning project for teachers, offering them several educational courses by computer. The virtual Storyline class is offered to the Ghent teachers in combination with real time consultancy in their classes or meetings amongst colleagues. E-learning is for the developers just another tool in their assortment to stay in touch with the Storyline teachers. More information...
New German book
by Ulf Schwänke
This is the first booklet of a series called ‘Storyline practical’. The idea behind it is to supply teachers with a few designs of learning units. So those who read the formerly published book ‘Die Storyline-Methode’ (also by Ulf) now have a supplement for their teaching practice. The book contains a short introduction to the Storyline method, the topic outline for ‘The Fire Brigade’ and additional information useful for the learning process.
The book was published in January 2007 by Auer Verlag.
Requires a Framework
Don Skinner of Edinburgh University from the Times Educational Supplement Scotland (TESS) of January 19th 2007
Don writes the following in relation to implementing the Curriculum for Excellence.
"... there is no better bet for handling the projected blend of subject and interdisciplinary thematic work than the Scottish 'Storyline' approach. This has become increasingly influential in America and Europe. Why is it still neglected here? Storyline, and other Scottish developments in thematic teaching, looked set to to overturn the superficiality of earlier project work until cut short in 1987 by the pedagogically myopic 5-14 programme. In a globalised context, international pressures are inevitable and much can be learned from others. But comparative educational study recognises context is crucial. We have home-grown ideas and principles, among the best in the world. It's time to exploit properly their rich potential."
Staff Development Course
in a German Special School
20 January 2007
The Schule am Schillerzentrum in Cuxhaven is a special school for mentally handicapped children. Participating in a Comenius project some teachers had been invited to Denmark a few months ago. There they got to know the Storyline approach and became immediately enthusiastic. So they wanted to know more about this way of teaching and learning. On the internet they discovered the Storyline-book written by Ulf Schwänke and asked him over to run a course for the whole staff.
Comenius in Gdansk
Lorna Karetnyk of Kirkymoorside P School, North Yorkshire
Representatives from four schools met in Gdansk, in Poland at the beginning of December to begin a British Council School Development Comenius Project. Malgorzata and Dagamara, our hosts from Szkola Pszczolki in Poland, Ivana Binkova from ZS Paulouska in Czech Republic, Bjorg Eiriksdottir, a well know Storyliner, from Karsnesskoli in Iceland and Gill Hardacre and Lorna Karetnyk from Kirkbymoorside School in North Yorkshire, are undertaking what is initially a year long project using the Storyline method to study similarities and differences in myths and legends in our respective countries. Click here for more information.
Swedish Study Tour in Scotland
27-29 November 2006
Three participants in a school leadership course organised by Farsta Community in Stockholm recently spent three days touring Scotland to visit schools and to meet with Educational Advisers. For Tomas Hultqvist, Mats Huge and Berit Cederborg it was their first opportunity to observe pupils at work in Scottish schools. After an introductory seminar at Ross Priory on Loch Lomondside, the staff club for the University of Strathclyde, they visited Gartconner P School in Kirkintilloch. Their second day was spent in East Ayrshire observing work in Gargieston P. School in Kilmarnock and then in Auchinleck Academy in the village of Auchinleck. Finally they had the opportunity of meeting Glasgow Education Authority adviser Ruth Barr who did her best to answer all their many questions. On their return they used their many photographs to present an informative report to their colleagues. They record their thanks to all those who made their visit so stimulating and valuable.
Norwegian Film Team
Pal Karlsen & Knut Aage Teigen from Snoball Film, Oslo, Norway were among the delegates who attended the recent International Storyline Conference 3 in Glasgow and they seem to have enjoyed it according to their newspage on the Snoball website.
Shetland Islands – Storyline Courses
Steve Bell, 9-10 November 2006
The Continuing Professional Development conference for all the teachers employed on the Shetland Islands took place over two days in the Anderson High School in Lerwick on the above dates. Two hour Storyline workshops were offered in the programme on both mornings and both afternoons and they were well-attended. The new Curriculum for Excellence fits very well with the aims of Storyline and the teachers were encouraged to learn of strategies which will help them reach the desired aims. Many who attended had had previous contact with Storyline in its early form and were most interested to hear about how it had travelled and developed.
International Storyline Conference
Caledonian University, Glasgow 27-29 October 2006
Steve Bell, Conference Chairman
The general reaction of the 336 delegates to the conference was extremely enthusiastic. The keynote speakers - Dr Willie Haughey, Prof John MacBeath, Prof. Jonothan Neelands, Jackie Murphy and Prof Brian Boyd - provided valuable insights from their various educational experiences into promoting an exciting array of ideas, techniques and philosophies which linked seamlessly together to form an exciting and stimulating message. The creativity and imaginative thinking they illustrated painted a picture of education that supported and added value to the Storyline approach. Around 50 presenters from 12 countries were responsible for the menu of workshops which were offered over the two days providing a rich choice for the delegates. These sessions were also well-received by the participants. The real test of success however will come from what happens next. We look forward to hearing from those who are putting those ideas into practice.
Vikings Invade Pearce Institute
Govan, Glasgow
On Thursday 12th October, 2006, more than one hundred Norwegians descended on the Pearce Institute, Govan, to attaend a Storyline presentation given by Steve Bell and Sallie Harkness. In the Victorian Gothic surroundings of the Lithgow Theatre Steve gave an introduction to the background and development of the Storyline approach. He then involved the students in group work inspired by 'Capital Tours'. In spite of the difficulty of working in a steeply raked 'theatre' groups were formed and families created. The students then took part in the map making exercise which is such a good example of the Storyline way of thinking. Later in the morning Sallie gave a presentation on book-based Storylines showing many examples of picture and chapter books which had been used in this way also including a variety of images of pupil work on these topics. The Norwegian students cames from Hogskolen i Oslo and were led by lecturer Marit Storhaug and her colleagues. Marit will be returning to Glasgow at the end of this month to attend the 3rd Storyline International Conference.
B Ed4 Moray House School of Education, Edinburgh
On Thursday 5th October 2006, by invitation of lecturer Barbara Frame, Sallie Harkness led a three hour Storyline workshop with 4th year student teachers. Following a short introduction extolling the benefits of using book-based storylines with younger pupils Sallie invited the students to list all the stories they could remember enjoying as young children. She then showed them how to build simple paper sculpture structures which could be adapted to create buildings, figure and trees. Each group selected a story to illustrate creating setting and characters as a table top layout. This begins the Storyline topic 'Land of Storybook' which will be developed by Barbara in future weeks. The students received a pack of handouts and watched a brief slide presentation showing school pupils' work on book-based topics. The morning passed all too quickly but seemed to be enjoyable for all concerned.
Herald Society Magazine Feature
Tuesday 3rd October 2006
Storyline at Aberfoyle
LT Scotland Website
The enchanted forest was the Storyline Topic designed by class teacher Lynda Bancroft and used with her primary one class to provide a delightful video record now available on the website of Learning and Teaching Scotland by clicking below.
Storyline Course at Gartconner Primary
17th August 2006
Carol Omand, the headteacher of Gartconner Primary School in Kirkintilloch, near Glasgow, designed this inservice day to introduce Storyline to her staff. It started with a short talk by Steve Bell about the history of the Storyline development and was followed by a hands-on workshop for the remainder of the day with Sallie Harkness..The topic explored was the Rain Forest.
Sarah Creswell
It is with great sadness that we learn of the tragic and untimely death of Sarah Creswell in Hawaii in July.
Sarah and Jeff (co-director of Storyline Design) were enjoying a wonderful family holiday in Hawaii together with their elder daughter Jennifer, her husband Ian and their young grandsons Liam and Graham when Sarah cut her arm on a doorway. At the time this injury seemed very slight but within four days the arm had become so badly infected by the dreadful necrotizing fasciitis that it had to be amputated and Sarah was on a life support system. Tragically, the toxins had already spread throughout her body making her death inevitable. Katherine and Joel, Sarah and Jeff’s other daughter and son, were able to reach the hospital to join the rest of the family when Sarah died.
We know that Jeff and his lovely family will be greatly sustained by their strong religious faith and by their many loving friends not just in the States but around the world. We send our deepest sympathy.
Maria Steingrimsdottir appointed Head of the Department of Primary Education
Akureyri University, Iceland
Maria studied Storyline on sabbatical for one year in Strathclyde University, Glasgow, in 1988/89 earning a diploma. She then went on to gain her master's degree in Iceland in 2005. In September of the same year she was a joint organiser with Rosa Eggertsdottir of the National Storyline Conference held in Akureyri when over 300 teachers participated in a very successful event. She has a wide educational experience as a teacher, lecturer, organiser and course tutor and it is with great pleasure that we learn that she has been appointed as Head of the Department of Primary Education at the University of Akureyri. Congratulations Maria.
UKLA Reading Focus Day
Nottingham University, 6 July 2006
In the photograph, from left to right, Sue Ellis, University of Strathclyde, who organised and chaired the UKLA Reading Focus Day with Dr Vivienne Smith and Steve Bell who were invited to make a presentation on Storyline and Critical Literacy. Storyline is essentially experiential and constructivist. It uses expressive arts and language to help children name, discuss, describe and explain their experiences, creating a curriculum that reflects the actual pupils’ lives and concerns. Literacy skills, including research and reference skills, develop as pupils search for answers and information that will lead to their next questions. As they record their ideas, understandings and responses in visual and written formats they create powerful classroom displays that reflect who they are and how they relate to their environment, as well as individual files of work. The presentation considered the possibilities of using Storyline for developing critical literacy and meeting the demands of new creative curricula.
English Teaching using Storyline
Sharon Ahlquist, University of Kristianstad
I thought readers might be interested in hearing about a course for primary teachers which we have just run at the University of Kristianstad in southern Sweden. I got the idea from The Street, which Jill Wells in Kirkbymoorside, North Yorkshire, has used. Teacher evaluations included words such as inspiration, fun, joy - they could hardly have been better if I had written them myself! I contacted the local press and they came along, took pictures and spoke to one or two of the teachers. To see the local newspaper and to find out more click here.
Storyline Course in Farsta, Stockholm
19-20 June 2006
25 teachers attended a two day Storyline workshop course held in Farsta Gymnasium on 19-20 June 2006. The enthusiastic and artistic participants created a story about a new hotel and the staff necessary to run it. There was much 'serious fun' as the story developed and the last period on the Tuesday afternoon was spent relating the practice to the latest educational theories. The course was organised, as is usual in Stockholm, by Mait Adegård and presented by Steve Bell who was greatly supported by Janne Bergström.
New Storyline book from the UKLA
More about Storyline in the TES
Storyline Article in Teaching Journal
Story and Storyline live
in Hamburg, Germany
Dr. Christoph Edelhoff, Chairman
At the end of May, teachers and teacher trainers for English in comprehensive schools from all over Germany assembled at the Hamburg State Institute for Education for their annual three-day meeting, this time to explore the potential of story, narration and the creative use of literature in the foreign language classroom. The group representing a minority of schools amongst a basically tri-partite selective school system has made itself a name in communicative language teaching in the last 30 years. Delegates were eager to focus on classroom tactics and good practice in the middle of a national debate that is mainly focusing on standards, evaluation and quality control.
Workshop Course for School
Management Teams in Farsta
13-14 March 2006
The management teams from 12 schools in the Farsta District of Stockholm spent these two days together on a workshop course exploring the qualities and values involved in providing an exciting, challenging and successful school. The course followed the pattern of a Storyline Topic and was presented by Mait Adegård, a project leader working for Farsta Council. This course was part of a series of events designed to raise awareness in the qualities of the participating schools. Future courses will concentrate on ways in which the schools can communicate effectively with their communities. Inger Norman, director of education and Lars Lindgren, assistant director are responsible for administering the plan and see this as an effective programme to assist schools to 'speak for themselves’. Steve Bell has been invited to act as a consultant and presenter.
Beyond Storyline
Jos Letschert, Beate Grabbe-Letschert & Jan Greven (editors)
This new Storyline book has just been published by the SLO Netherlands Institute for Curriculum Development ISBN 90 329 2238 6. It started as a concept in the mind of Jos Letschert and involved organising workshop courses for students, teachers and lecturers named 'The Villa Courses'. The two days of courses on Storyline were organised at the Teacher Training Institute Edith Stein/OCT at Hengelo in the Netherlands initiated by the 'Curriculum Academy' of the Dutch National Institute for Curriculum Development, SLO. The courses took place in an old historic villa on the campus. That is how they got their name. Tonny van der Vegt of the SLO filmed the workshops and these have been edited to form the DVD which accompanies this book. Besides the visual record of the courses the editors of the book organised an interview with Steve Bell which is also included. The book itself has many valuable essays written by Jos, Ian Barr, Alice Bell, Barbara Frame, Beate Grabbe-Letschert, Jan Greven, Wilmad Kuiper and Ulf Schwänke.
Enterprising Learning
New Danish Book
by Piet Conijn, Marianne Schuurmans & Dick Middelhock
This new book is about enterprising learning and is a combination of theory and good practice. It contains examples of research, Storylines, business plans and learning landscapes, inside and outside the school. It is beautifully designed and illustrated with a 'sky at night' cover which carries the message "The sky is the limit". That is what enterprising learning means for the authors - to cross the borders, to meet the challenges, to develop talents and to master these. It is written in Dutch but it is hoped that it will be translated into English.
by Cecilie Falkenberg & Karsten Enggaard
This is number 6 in the series of Storyline topic books published by Kroghs Forlag. Two very experienced Storyliners, Cecilie & Karsten have designed this new topic on a CAFE aiming at Mathematics and Danish curriculum for Classes 1 to 4. Karsten is the leader of CAND (Center for Anvendt Naturfagsdidaktik) and was previously a teacher in Folkeskole and consultant in Mathematics working in the Teachers Centre in Vejle Amt. He also has a long experience of working in the Danish Teachers' University now known as Jysk CVU. Cecilie has been very involved in using Storyline for the teaching of literacy. She was joint editor of Storylinebogen, the teachers' book, published by Kroghs Forlag in 2000 and was the organiser of the first two International Storyline Conferences held in Aalborg in 2000 and in Elsinore in 2003.
University of Thessaly, Volos, Greece
Early Education Conference, 17-18 March 2006
At the kind invitation of Associate Professor Domna Kakana, Director of Postgraduate Studies in Early Education, Gudmundur Kristmundsson from the Teachers' University of Iceland and Steve Bell of Storyline Scotland were invited to make Storyline presentations at this conference. A Storyline link has been established through the special interest of Ifigenia Iliopoulou, a doctor student, who took her master's degree in Strathclyde University, Glasgow, some years ago. She has recently published the first Storyline book in Greece. The new Greek curriculum aims at linking different cognitive subjects through interdisciplinary processes and so Storyline presented a strategy of interest to the many teachers and students who attended. Erasmus contracts have also been established between the University of Thessaly and the Teachers' University of Iceland.
Meeting with Bobbie Neate
Steve Bell, February 2006
Recently I had the pleasure of meeting with Bobbie Neate, author and publisher. As a former teacher, teacher trainer and a former president of the United Kingdom Reading Association she has a wide experience of early education and a special interest in literacy. In recent years she has been writing and publishing her own teaching packs entitled "Inspiring Role Play". Her material takes the form of packs with different themes – Garden Centre, On the Airliner, At the Pet Store and At the Café. Practitioners will recognise the value of the materials provided which are designed to support busy teachers in an imaginative and inspiring way. To find out more you can visit www.neatepublishing.co.uk
Mötesplats Carlssons Skola
Helena Sandell teaches English and Swedish in Grade 8 at Fredrikshovs slott skola in Stockholm. She enjoyed the course at Carlssons skola and decided to put the Storyline topic she experienced there into practice immediately. As can be seen from the model made by her grade 8 students they are now in the middle of the topic. She reports that the students have been very positive,creative and hard working. We wish Helena and her class all the very best in this exploration of Storyline.
Education about Road Use
and Public Transport
Gothenburg Road Traffic Department
Some time ago on this newspage it was mentioned that Camilla Henriksson of Gothenburg Road Traffic and Public Transport Department had commissioned Ylva Lundin to design three Storyline Topics for use with children of different age groups on themes linked to road use, road safety and public transport issues. Just recently these topic outlines have been translated into English – click on the covers to go to each book.
Mötesplats Carlssons Skola
Over 240 teachers attended a one-day Storyline workshop organised in Stockholm, Sweden, by Mötesplats Carlssons Skola. Following an invitation from Henrietta Göbel, Steve Bell, accompanied by a colleague Linda Brownlow, presented a workshop which was based on the Open Market Topic. After a short powerpoint presentation the 24 groups worked enthusiastically to produce the most beautiful visuals of the market stalls, stall holders and customers. This made a very colourful display which was used to illustrate the sequential process of Storyline work in the classroom. It also provided the focus for identifying the theories linked to this methodology.The school was responsible for organising the day and it did so in a most efficient and effective manner. Many thanks are due to Henrietta and her colleagues, Susanne Ridner and Magnus Ohlsson.
Leader of IQSH Neumünster, Schlwesig-Holstein
Dr Eckhard Kohls who was responsible for organising the first Methode Glasgow (later Storyline) courses in Germany during the 1980s retired on Friday 13th January. At his retirement party held in the Kulturzentrum Marstall in his home town of Ahrensburg, his family, friends and colleagues gathered to pay tribute to an extraordinary educationalist. Steve Bell first met him in 1979 at the University of Hamburg where Eckhard was a doctor student and Steve a visiting lecturer. When Eckhard was appointed as leader of the Grund und Hauptschule department of the IPTS (Institute for Practice & Theory in Schools) Ahrensburg in 1982 his centre became a regular base for 'Methode Glasgow' courses. As he moved on to IPTS Ammersbek in '86 and then to IPTS Neumünster in 1994 the warm relationship continued. Eckhard developed his own special interest in Lernenwerkstatt – landscape for learning which encouraged learning by sharing knowledge and experience. This involved students in self-evaluation, giving feedback to others and acting as 'critical' friends. He will be sadly missed at the IQSH but already he is chairing the planning group of the Marstall Cultural Complex in which we met where I am sure his organisational skills will be greatly appreciated. We wish him a long and happy retirement.
Serkan Guney, a teacher working in Istanbul, is already mentioned below on this news page. The previous article described Storyline courses he had been presenting to teachers. Now he has produced his own Storyline website which can be viewed by clicking www.storylineturkiye.com
Norrbottens Museum (Norrbotten is a region in the north of Sweden) working together with Sanna Ranweg, a Storyline teacher, have developed a Storyline on Sami History. Since 2004 schools in Norrbotten have been using Storyline with good results. Teachers in Överkalix, Luleå and Vittangi have worked with Storyline in their classes. If you understand Swedish you can read more about the project and view the storyline plan and materails in the Museum's website below.
Ifigenia Iliopoulou, who took her master's degree some years ago at Strathclyde University in Glasgow using Storyline as a special study is the author of this new Storyline book. It is aimed at Kindergarten teachers and those teaching early stages in primary school. Ifigenia now works at the University of Volos and is a studying for her doctorate while still engaged in teaching and in giving inservice courses to teachers. She is to be congratulated on this fine achievement.
