SCOTLAND - The Home of Storyline
The skills and expertise involved in good teaching are common to the
classroom in whichever country the educator is working. Education systems
are, of course, affected by the societies in which they operate and
reflect values that represent current thinking in these countries. In
any democracy there is a fear about ‘controlling’ teaching by advocating
a particular methodology. Traditionally, teachers have been given great
freedom in selecting approaches that suit them individually and this
has often led to teachers selecting models of good practice which they
themselves experienced as pupils.
In Scotland, since the Primary Memorandum of 1965, the primary schools
have had a curriculum that includes integrated areas of study - environmental
studies and expressive arts, for example. Environmental studies cannot
be a subject because it is made up of several subjects – history, geography,
science, technology and health. How are teachers expected to behave
in the classroom when engaging children in an integrated study such
as this? There must be strategies or models that provide structures
on which teachers can build. These may be called methodologies, approaches
or just strategies.
The attempt to implement the holistic ideas in the Primary Memorandum
described above led to the creation in 1967 in Jordanhill College of
Education, Glasgow, of an Inservice Staff Tutor Team whose function
was to attempt to support teachers by working with them in this integrated
area of the curriculum. Over the following years a particular methodology
gradually emerged. The outcome is a strategy, originally called Topic
Work and now known more widely, internationally, as Storyline.
The main feature that differentiates this approach from others is that
it recognises the value of the existing knowledge of the learner. Thus,
through key questioning the pupils are encouraged to construct their
own models of what is being studied, their hypothesis, before testing
this with real evidence and research. The key questions are used in
a sequence that creates a context or setting within the framework of
a story. Together, learner and teacher create a scenario through visualisation
– the making of collages, friezes and pictures employing a variety of
art/craft techniques. These provide a visual stimulus for the skill
practice planned by the teacher. It seems a kind of paradox. The teacher
has planned a sequence of activities through the designing of key questions.
The teacher has the story but does not know the detail of the content.
Countless numbers of teachers, headteachers and advisers in the west
of Scotland helped to refine and develop this methodology over a period
of thirty years. It is very rewarding that something which started as
a practical solution to the problem of integrating the curriculum in
Scottish primary schools is now proving to be an attractive, effective
and flexible strategy for teachers in many different countries.
As the Jordanhill tutors travelled abroad the approach became known
in Germany, in the Netherlands, in Iceland and in Denmark. In 1986,
a chance meeting of enthusiasts in Iceland led to the suggestion that
an international association should be created. The European association
for Educational Design was formed and the following year the first seminar
was held at the headquarters of the National Institute for Curriculum
Development (SLO) in Enschede, the Netherlands.
Since then there have been ten meetings, two in Germany, two in Denmark,
two in Scotland, one in Iceland and two in the Netherlands. For the
tenth anniversary an international conference attended by over 300 participants
from 22 countries was held in Aalborg, Denmark from 6th to 8th November
2000. This was an incredibly successful celebration staffed by presenters
who were all members of the Golden Circle and the seminar followed on
the 9th and 10th November.
