“The best way to teach children is by telling a story.” (Kenneth H. Blanchard)
This quote leads us as (prospective) English teachers to the following question:
How is it possible to plan and teach English as if it was writing or performing a story?
Now picture it… Glasgow, the 1960s: two very creative teachers would like to change their current way of teaching. In search for an answer to that question above, they decide to go on an academic adventure. They explore different didactic ideas, become teachers who do not plan ordinary lessons any longer, but rather take the roles of authors inventing stories that follow interesting storylines to benefit their learners and get them involved in this new way of teaching and learning. The team of teachers road test their new lesson plans, modify them and finally invent a whole new teaching method that logically combines creating a story and its plot with learning English. These two teachers are Steve Bell and Sallie Harkness, and their method is called the Storyline Approach (or Method Glasgow).
In this seminar we will have a theoretical and practical look at how to apply this method and its specific elements when analyzing different examples and when planning units (Unterrichtsreihen) in small groups. We will explore how the Storyline Approach can become a creative, motivating and inspiring way of teaching all learners of English.
Let us follow in the steps of Steve Bell, Sallie Harkness and their many fellow Storyline teachers from all over the world and start ‘writing’ our own Storylines in this very practical and creative seminar. |
