The power and the story

This is an edited extract from The Stories We Tell by Matt Bromley, which is published by Routledge. It is available now. For more details, please click here.

Story is as old as civilisation.

Before the invention of writing, people told each other stories as a means of passing important information from branch to branch down the family tree, and stories have long been used as a conduit to convey a society’s values, morals, and customs. In fact, storytelling has played an important role in every society throughout history. In ancient Greece, for example, storytelling was integral to the culture, with myths and legends passed baton-like between generations. In medieval Europe, troubadours and minstrels travelled town to town, telling stories and singing songs.

The earliest forms of storytelling were likely oral traditions, whereby stories were shared through the spoken word and memorisation. But, with the invention of writing, storytelling took on new forms. Epic poems such as the Iliad and the Odyssey were written down, allowing them to be preserved and more easily shared. In the Middle Ages, stories were often written down in the form of manuscripts, which were painstakingly copied by hand.

The advent of the printing press in the 15th century enabled stories to be shared on a much larger scale, leading to the rise of the novel as a popular form of storytelling. In the 20th century, radio, television, and film provided more media for storytelling, allowing stories to be told to larger audiences and on a more epic scale.

Today, the art of storytelling continues to evolve with the rise of digital media and the internet. Social media, blogs, podcasts, short-form videos, and other types of digital content have given people new ways to share their stories with the world and have democratised storytelling, giving many more people a voice with which to tell their own tales. 

As such, despite myriad changes in technology and media – or perhaps because of it – storytelling remains a fundamental part of human culture, connecting us to each other and to our shared history. 

Stories give meaning to our lives and make us who we are. They shape our self-awareness, thus helping us to make sense of personal experiences, no matter how complex or difficult. Stories can also have a profound impact on our behaviours, values, and attitudes – as well as on our very belief system. 

Stories don’t just help us make sense of ourselves; they teach us important lessons and convey complex ideas, thus helping us make sense of the world around us. 

And stories help us connect with other people. When we hear a story, we often identify with the characters and their experiences, even if they are very different to our own. This connection can foster empathy and understanding, helping us appreciate different perspectives and experiences. In short:

Thus, story can be a powerful tool in education because, surely, this is also the purpose of schooling: to help learners make sense of their lives, make meaning of the world, and connect with others. Schools do not exist simply to shepherd learners towards certification, but rather to prepare them for the next stage of their lives. The product of a good education, in my estimation, is a well-rounded, happy, healthy, informed, and compassionate citizen of the world. Story is the secret to achieving these success criteria. 

And that’s why I have written The Stories We Tell…

You may well be thinking this is nothing new: stories have always played a part in school life. And you’d be right. When I was at primary school, I remember sitting cross-legged on a carpet in the corner of the classroom while my teacher read a story to the class. But my book is not about that. Reading stories to children in class is not new and there are plenty of other books on the art of storytelling. Instead, the book is about using story and storytelling techniques in more innovative ways. And it’s not just about teaching through storytelling; it’s also about the use of story in school leadership. 

My book is in three parts:

In Part 1, I argue the importance of stories to our everyday lives. I explain how the stories we tell ourselves shape our self-narrative and lend meaning to our lives. I advocate telling stories to our children to help them make sense of the world. And I argue that stories aid the development of literacy skills and thus are vital to helping children access and understand texts and engage with the world around them. I share some practical ideas for helping learners develop reading comprehension skills, as well as reading fluency, to ensure they can access the stories we tell in class and can craft their own stories to help them navigate the world around them. 

In Part 2, I assert that stories and storytelling can play a crucial role in teaching. Specifically, I argue that stories can help teachers to:

• Organise the curriculum and structure lessons.
• Aid learners’ memorisation. 
• Pique learners’ curiosity and wonder. 
• Relate the curriculum to the real world. 
• Help promote inclusion. 
• Prepare learners for future success.

In Part 3, I assert that stories can give meaning and structure to the process of school improvement. Specifically, I argue that stories can help school leaders to:

• Consult, communicate, and collaborate. 
• Articulate a vision for the future. 
• Build trust and create a no-blame culture. 
• Resolve conflict and manage people.
• Lead change and manage processes. 

I hope reading the book will help you to develop the tools needed to use story and storytelling techniques to:

• Plan an ambitious, engaging curriculum that talks to learners’ lived experiences. 
• Structure lessons around a compelling narrative or idea, lending purpose and focus to learners’ studies, helping them to manage the cognitive load. 
• Help learners remember (retain and apply) information and make sense of what you teach them.
• Connect what you teach in class to the real world and to learners’ future lives.
• Ensure every learner, irrespective of their starting points and backgrounds, is included at school and helped to achieve. 
• Communicate more effectively and compellingly with colleagues and others, thus fostering a collective will. 
• Frame the future and articulate shared values and beliefs, promoting collaboration over competition. 
• Lead on school improvement, overcoming setbacks and resolving conflicts. 

What you do with these tools is up to you. You can use them in our own teaching and leadership, you can share them with colleagues through mentoring or via a planned programme of professional development, or you can use them to audit your current provision and identify better ways of working. All I ask is that you do something! Make a change, tell your own story and, with it, make the world a better place one lesson at a time.