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.”