Let me tell you a story…
At a certain period in my teaching career, one piece of feedback featured heavily in those after lesson observation conversations- particularly at A Level. Stories- I was telling too many stories- or, the stories took too long to tell. I accepted this suggestion for my development, I agreed that whilst a quiet room of listening students suited me well, perhaps they needed to be a little more active in their learning and I should reign in the narratives- or focus them more on measurable outcomes compared to the stated lesson intentions. I set out to tell less stories, with my year 12 and 13 in particular, and be more to the point. I even put a poster at the back of my room, for my eyes only “No more Jackanory Ms Marx!” But I’ve never quite shifted the (bad?) habit of telling stories to my classes. As religious studies teachers, stories are the bread and butter of our subject. Who amongst us can teach The Four Noble sights without the story of Siddhartha? What is the Khalsa without a re-telling of Guru Gorbind Singh founding it? And then bit by bit into our staff training days the idea of a story, a narrative, the wider schema began to seep back in. My ears pricked up as I saw on the page in front of me what my instinct had told me all along- children and young people learn from stories. When they have a bigger picture on which to hang the moments- and for us particularly in Religious Studies- what symbols lie within them. So instead of me freestyling at the front of the room, I’ve tried in recent years to set the stories down into something on a page- that students can see and highlight, that other staff can pick up and use. My personal favourite is a story of one woman, wandering in the desert and calling to God. A desperate mother, seeking water for her thirsty child- running between the hills looking for help. Yes, you can teach the Hajj Pilgrimage without mentioning Hagar but wouldn’t you miss out on a great story along the way? Islamic Herstory: https://tinyurl.com/herstoryhajj Through Susana’s Eyes: https://tinyurl.com/susanaseyes
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