In the first instalment of this four-part series, I argued that there are six ways of using story and storytelling in our teaching. These are:
- To organise the curriculum and structure lessons.
- To aide students’ memorisation.
- To pique students’ curiosity and wonder.
- To relate the curriculum to the real world.
- To help promote inclusion.
- To prepare students for future success.
Last week, I focused on how to use stories to organise the curriculum and structure lessons. In part three this week, let’s turn to the second and third purposes of storytelling in teaching…
SecEd Series: The stories we tell
- Part 1: The power of stories in teaching (September 6, 2023)
- Part 2: Using story to organise the curriculum (September 12, 2023)
- Part 3: Using story to help students remember (this article)
- Part 4: Using story to promote inclusion (September 25, 2023)
To aide memorisation
Stories are easy to remember. In one study (Graesser et al, 1994), subjects listened to a set of stories and expository texts. Their memory was later tested and subjects remembered about 50% more from the stories than they did from the expository passages.
Daniel Willingham (2004) argues that causal connections provide an “effective web of associations”. He writes: “If you remember the goal of the main character, that is an entrée to remembering how the character tried to achieve that goal, which leads to memory for successive events.”
Willingham believes that story format has psychological significance leading to better comprehension and better memory. This is because we know what to expect in a story and these expectations are driven by a mental representation for story structure: “In most (but not all) cultures, stories entail causality and goals, and so that's what readers expect when they hear a story. This expectation is so strong that the listener will use them when remembering the story, even if the story lacked these elements.”
We can use story to introduce new material in a way that is both non-threatening and interesting. We might, for example, know of a story that complements the lesson's learning outcome in a way that’s less taxing, more fun, and more interesting. Biographies, in particular, are a great way of making curriculum content more relatable on a human level. Here’s what Willingham has to say on the matter:
“Biographies of scientists frequently read like detective stories, as they hunt for the solution to a scientific problem. Great scientists and mathematicians also set an excellent example for students through their passion and dedication. Students will gain an important personal perspective when they read an autobiography of an ordinary person who lived through a historical event that they are studying. Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl is a classic example, but there are many other fine works in this vein.”
Story and schema theory
Schema theory is a cognitive theory that explains how people organise and understand information in their minds.
Schemas are formed through experience and learning, and they influence how people perceive, think about, and remember information. Schemas can be activated automatically and unconsciously, which means they can influence our perceptions and behaviours without us realising.
For example, if someone has a schema for a “restaurant”, they might automatically think of certain things such as tables, chairs, menus, waiters, and food. This schema helps them quickly recognise and understand new restaurants they encounter.
Schemas can also be influenced by cultural and social factors, as well as individual differences. For instance, someone from a particular culture might have a different schema for a “family” than someone from another culture.
Schema theory can be used to explain how people learn and remember information, how they perceive and interpret communication messages, and how they form stereotypes and biases.
Using stories in our teaching can help students develop schemas. As we have already seen, students are more likely to remember information that is presented in a narrative format. One reason for this is that narratives help to create a sense of context and meaning around the information – thus creating ever-more complex schemas.
According to New York University (2023): “Stories can be used to explain and illustrate abstract ideas or concepts in a way that makes them accessible and attainable. Stories bring facts to life, make the abstract concrete and, through meaning-making, walk the listener through the mind of the scientist or mathematician to understand the value and application of such concepts.
“Storytelling is a fundamental means of meaning-making. Teachers are experts in their field and, as a result, are accustomed to using sophisticated language that can intimidate and overload a novice. Storytelling breaks down the communication barriers between experts and novices and forms an accessible bridge for both to meet intellectually.”
In a study by Banister and Ryan (2001), children remembered abstract science ideas more effectively when they were taught in a story format. Remembering isolated and disconnected facts and concepts is more difficult than recalling this type of content in a story because the information is presented in a coherent and connected way.
To engage students’ curiosity and wonder
According to Bruner (1986): "(Story) deals in human or human-like intention and action and the vicissitudes and consequences that mark their course. It strives to put its timeless miracles into the particulars of experience and to locate the experience in time and place."
Bruner argues that stories can help teachers reach students in ways that we could not do with traditional, dry, and deductive strategies. Stories can bring disparate information to life in a meaningful and connected way; they can engage our thinking, emotions, and imagination all at once.
Because stories teach us about the human condition, and are woven into the fabric of our lives, no school subject is beyond the art of storytelling. Indeed, while stories have always been a feature of the English and history classrooms, they can play a part in the teaching of every subject discipline.
There are many ways in which stories can be used in the classroom in order to pique students’ curiosity and engage their interest, including by:
- Teaching story-based lessons: We can use a story to illustrate – and make real – key concepts and ideas which can help students to visualise and thus remember information more effectively.
- Telling personal stories: We can use our own stories or those of our students to illustrate important ideas or concepts. This can help to make information more relevant and relatable for our students by “talking to” their own lived experiences.
- Using role-play and simulations: Role-playing and simulations can be used to create a story-based learning experience that engages students and helps them to develop important skills, such as critical thinking and problem-solving.
- Engaging in creative writing: We can encourage students to use narrative in their own creative writing, such as short stories or essays. This can help to develop their own storytelling skills and enhance their understanding of narrative structure and techniques.
- Using digital storytelling: With the help of technology, we can create multimedia presentations that incorporate audio, video, and images to tell a story or illustrate a concept. This can help to engage students and make learning more interactive and engaging.
According to an article by Vanessa Boris entitled What makes storytelling so effective for learning (2017): “Telling stories is one of the most powerful means that (we) have to influence, teach, and inspire.”
What makes storytelling so effective for learning, Boris says, is that it “forges connections among people, and between people and ideas”.
She continues: “Stories convey the culture, history, and values that unite people. When it comes to our countries, our communities, and our families, we understand intuitively that the stories we hold in common are an important part of the ties that bind. Good stories do more than create a sense of connection; they build familiarity and trust, and allow the listener to enter the story where they are, making them more open to learning.”
Let’s take the example of the science classroom…
Melanie Green, an associate professor of psychology at the University of Pennsylvania, writing for the Association of Psychological Science (2004), says that: “As (a teacher), you can capitalise on the inherent narrative structure of research as the quest for knowledge. Science is the process of solving mysteries; in fact, writers of journal articles are often advised to make their findings into ‘a good story’.
“Psychologists often start out by confronting an intriguing problem. For example, why are bicycle riders faster when they are racing against another person than going around the track by themselves? Researchers also encounter and overcome various obstacles in their quest to understand a phenomenon. For example, when researchers tried to replicate social facilitation effects, sometimes the presence of others improved performance, and other times it harmed performance. Why would that be?”
Green says we should “take advantage of the suspense that this chain of events can create. Telling the story of how researchers became interested in a particular issue, without immediately providing the resolution, will motivate your class to think of their own approaches to solving the problem.”
She continues: “They can share in the sense of discovery. Understanding the process of solving a research problem can generate excitement, as well as an increased appreciation for the ‘detective work’ involved in (science).”
Green also reminds us that characters are an important element of any story and that stories can help make curriculum content concrete and memorable by putting a human face to it: “Students may remember the peril of HM, the patient who could not form new memories, long after they have forgotten other details of brain anatomy or memory research. If they remember the concrete elements of the story, they may then be able to reconstruct the abstract lessons illustrated by the story.
“Furthermore, listeners may identify with the protagonists of your stories, and thus might be better able to relate course material to their own lives. Making the material personally relevant can lead to increased thinking about the material and a greater ability to apply the new knowledge.”
Coherence is another hallmark of a good story. Remembering a list of isolated concepts and definitions is difficult, but recalling the flow of a story is easy.
Stories can help create vivid mental images, a cue for recall. Because stories provide natural connections between events and concepts, mentioning one part of the story may help evoke other parts of the story, just as hearing one bar of a familiar tune may bring the entire song to mind.
Some students may be intimidated by abstract concepts or may doubt their ability to master or understand new material. A story may provide a non-threatening way to ease students into learning. A narrative opening may seem simple and straightforward, allowing students to relax and grasp a concrete example before moving into more technical details of a theory or finding. Sometimes stories can even be about the learning process; tales of previous students who struggled but then succeeded might serve as inspiration for current students.
There is a wealth of sources for teachable stories with which to pique students’ curiosity – current events, history, television programmes, classic literature or drama, and personal experience (your own and others).
Next time
In our final instalment we will explore the remaining three purposes of story and storytelling in teaching – to relate the curriculum to the real world, promote inclusion, and prepare students for future success.
Matt Bromley is an education writer and advisor with more than 20 years’ experience in teaching and leadership including as a secondary school headteacher, principal, FE college vice-principal, and MAT director. Currently, he is a public speaker, trainer, school improvement advisor, the author of numerous books on education and co-host of the award-winning SecEd Podcast. Find him on X (Twitter) @mj_bromley. Read his previous articles for SecEd via www.sec-ed.co.uk/authors/matt-bromley
Further information & resources
- Banister & Ryan: Developing science concepts through storytelling, School Science Review, 2001: https://bit.ly/3ORwzAs
- Boris: What makes storytelling so effective for learning? Harvard Business Publishing, 2017: https://bit.ly/3MLjllX
- Bruner:Actual Minds, Possible Worlds, Harvard University Press, 1986.
- Graesser, Singer & Trabasso: Constructing inferences during narrative text comprehension, Psychological Review (101,3), 1994.
- Green: Teaching tips: Storytelling in teaching, 2004: https://bit.ly/3qjrZkf
- New York University: Storytelling in teaching & learning (article resource), accessed June 2023: https://bit.ly/3MEm14O
- Willingham: The privileged status of story, American Educator, Summer 2004: https://bit.ly/3ozSRfl