In the early 1990s a Joint Research Project, funded by the British Council, supported co-operation between the author and Britta Carlsson, a biologist working in the Faculty of Education at the University of Luleå. Three Storyline topics were designed on environmental issues and tested by Swedish teachers in local schools.
In 1996 the author was invited to speak at a large conference in Stockholm aimed at children in need of learning support. This was organised by Mia Garphult and her colleagues of Framnäs Skola och Terapi Center.
The above visit to Stockholm also gave an opportunity of meeting with the staff at WWF Sweden offices in Ulriksdals Slott and a tour of the Eco-Centre conducted by Gunilla Elsässer, an education officer.
Workshop courses have also been presented over recent years in Skarpnäcksskolan, Stockholm, at the invitation of Mait Adegård, vice principal of the school. As well as providing consultancy for the staff at the school, other courses are organised for teachers in neighbouring schools. Skarpnäcksskolan has become a Storyline Centre in the Stockholm area and has also sent series of teachers on short study visits to Scotland and to other Storyline schools in Sweden and Finland. In May 2001 Mait and Ylva Lundin, a colleague from Gothenburg, organised the first weekend Training of the Trainers Course for Storyline Tutors.
Click for larger imageSeveral schools in Alingsås, near Gothenburg, have been involved in study tours to Scotland and these visits were followed by an invitation to the author from an IT project based in Østlyckeskolan, Ängaboskolan and Äfzeliiskolan to speak at a very unusual Storyline conference. The audience of 350 listened to a lecture for 45 minutes and then visited an exhibition of classwork presented by five different groups from the schools. The evening, chaired by Ylva Lundin, was completed with another 30-minute lecture. A two-day workshop course followed this and was well attended by interested teachers. Erik Lindberg, a teacher in Østlyckeskolan has written a book of his experiences in using Storyline with 13 to 16 year old students. It is called Den Röda Tråden Storyline.
Ágneta Kristensson, at that time the headteacher of Äfzeliiskolan in Alingsås, visited Jordanhill Campus in 1995 having heard of Storyline on visits to Denmark. At that time also she made contact with Val Carson, headteacher at Echline School near Edinburgh and Barbara Frame, a lecturer in Moray House College of Education. The schools became linked in a European project which led to several exchange visits. On each of these there were opportunities for sharing more and more information about Storyline and Ian Barr and I were involved in making presentations to the Swedish visitors in Edinburgh. Ian was invited to speak at a conference in Alingsås in 1996 and Barbara and Val presented courses there in 1998. There has also been a rewarding Storyline exchange with the staff of the school visiting teachers in Skive, Denmark.
Ágneta is now the Director of Education at the National Agency for Education in Gothenburg.