THE POWER OF STORY TELLNG
Tina stubbs • January 13, 2020
I'm gonna tell you a story...
My most memorable introduction to storytelling was through a teacher called Mr Rooney. He was a true master, rather like a conductor with an orchestra, building up-tempo and rhythm, emotion and suspense. The Irish ghost stories he told had his class of eight-year old's full attention and on the edge of their seats
His Irish tones effortlessly conjured up images of shrieking banshees and ghostly horse-drawn carriages dressed in funeral finery. I was totally mesmerised as he relayed his native folktales, which no doubt was told to him as a child and many generations before him. His ability to bring the stories to life just through expression and speech was truly magical.
The characters and scenes he described swirled in front of me before disappearing into the ethos as another image quickly replaced it. With no help of any device or VR headset. I was virtually reliving what he said by just using my own imagination!
OK, so in today's' education system Mr Rooney may well have got into trouble for telling some of the darker tales, but he did make a huge positive impact on me and at times scared the living daylights out of me too! But having experienced the powerfulness of storytelling, I do know it to be an effective way to relate and explain situations to kids.
So next time you're struggling to bring up a subject because it's going to be a task to engage the child, or it is a bit delicate. Remember it doesn't have to be all about using similes or metaphors to explain it, how about using pictures or make up a play with puppets and props?
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There's a lot to be said with this age-old tradition to illustrate moral or spiritual lessons. We've seen the evidence of it since the beginning of time drawn on cave walls and embroidered into magnificent tapestries.
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Having studied with the Open University for six years, Linda attained an Honours degree in Psychology. This enabled her to become a Graduate Member of the British Psychological Society. She is also a member of the Society of Authors and the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators. Linda has a keen interest in Mental Health issues, particularly where these issues are affecting children of primary school age, and this is why she wrote her book. Inspired by tales of woodland animals told to her by her father as a child, Arty the Bear was created.
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