and recounting stories is as natural as breathing to humans, and yet we are often not using this skill or capacity to deliver it to advantage our tamariki, our whānau, and our communities. If we don't use it, it is likely that we will lose it! There is other collateral damage as well. Oral stories mean that information, history, myths, and legends that don't make it to written publications are at risk of permanent loss. Gone forever. In my years working with kaiako, I've never found anybody who's told me that engaging with narrative practices is a waste of time. What I have found, though, is varying levels of practice quality and confidence. So, here's a question for you. How is storytelling/narrative pedagogy authentically and purposefully woven into your local curriculum? This year I've engaged with hundreds of early childhood educators in this space, and many are doing an absolutely fantastic job. Let's spell out what a fantastic job looks, sounds, and feels like. What does it look like? There are several places to look for in quality practice. The first would be in planning documents, vision and value statements, appraisals, and observation systems. If you step beyond the office into the learning space, you will see artifacts and provocations that directly link the stories that are being planned for and told. It could even go as far as the design of your centre and the learning space itself. We would see a place and space where oral stories come alive every day. If you look, you will see kaiako taking the opportunity to tell oral stories anytime they can. It's important here to mention that I'm not talking about reading from a text or a book. While this is an incredibly important practice, narrative pedagogical practices go well beyond books. You will see tamariki retelling to each other and retelling to themselves, playing characters from the story, drawing elements of a story, and they will have ownership of and have found connections. You will see them placing themselves in the stories they have heard. What does it sound like? It sounds like the whole community can tell the story. Kaiako can look out the window and tell the story of the maunga. They can walk on the banks of the awa and tell the stories associated with it. They can look at a provocation and tell the story of how provocation is connected to the tamariki in some way. You will hear tamariki chattering and conversation about story elements, characters, problems, and solutions. You will hear tamariki telling their favorite stories and taking ownership pride in the fact they know these and can share. What does it feel like? Having oral stories at the center of your local curriculum feels like you have found the missing piece of the puzzle. I like to think of a local curriculum as being like a giant jigsaw. There are some pieces and sections that are already there, and pieces of the puzzle are tricky to do, but with patience, time, and help from your friends, our whānau, and tamariki, you can get the puzzle completed. Having a kete of your own, local stories feels like your place is grounded, like you know who you are and where you belong. PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND SUPPORT With all of this in mind, at Coactive Education, we've developed professional development and resource solutions to support centres to implement quality storytelling practices, to connect with their local stories and local storytellers, and to build the important resources that kaiako need day to day. In the process of designing our solution, we asked kaiako about their storytelling experiences. We found out some interesting things: cKaiako knew that storytelling was important cThey knew that tamariki found oral stories highly engaging xMany kaiako thought they were not good at storytelling xMany were reluctant to tell local stories because they didn't feel they were theirs to tell xMany kaiako were nervous about the pronunciation of Te Reo Māori, so avoided stories and even books that included reo Māori xKaiako didn't know where or how to grow these skills We saw this as good news! All of the challenges were easily overcome with practical and systematic support. Mindset is a bit trickier, but we are all good on that front! HOW KAIAKO CAN GET STARTED ● Get feedback on your storytelling skills ● Make a plan to grow and develop ● Build a rich kete of stories that you can tell without reading December 2023 { 23 }
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