About

Supported through the Teacher Development Fund (TDF), the Story Exchange project was developed between Bowling Park Primary in Bradford and Story Makers Company. The two-year project led by Story Makers Company at Leeds Beckett University aimed to provide more equitable opportunities for expressive arts in school. Seven primary schools in Bradford utilised drama pedagogy to bring the curriculum to life through an oral storytelling and story making approach called Drama Worldbuilding (Stephenson, 2023).

The ambition was to place an explicit focus on children’s verbal and nonverbal communication, diverse literacies, and socio-emotional learning, creating an imaginative, culturally relevant curriculum for children in Years 3 and 4 across schools. Five artists co-planned, co-taught and co-reflected with teachers across schools, using a coaching approach as they embedded a story making curriculum within focus the foundation subjects. This impacting on 3100 children. The curriculum approach is currently being developed across 8 Primary schools in Doncaster.

Why Story?

Stories can link home and school worlds.  For many children, oral storytelling draws from their cultural literacy practices more than writing and text through diverse modes of communication such as movement and sound. This project uses drama pedagogy to frame curriculum content from the foundation subjects. In Drama Worldbuilding (Stephenson, 2022) children co-create stories, with elements of active social problem solving, inquiry bases learning alongside teachers and artists. Within these fictional contexts, they are challenged to work collectively, coming up with ideas which draw from their diverse perspectives. This means that they are applying curriculum content, such as geographical or history topics, using a range of critical inquiry and communication skills which foreground communication and relationships. Story can be an effective way to frame curriculum content.

Why now?

We need to create new ways to embed meaningful approaches to pedagogy, curriculum, and assessment in relation to social and emotional literacy. This includes reflecting the diversity of children within our classroom. Our project has co-created a Dispositional model of Expressive Communication assessment across 2 years with teachers, artists and children which focusses on collaboration, conflict resolution and socio-emotional literacy.

Why now?

If teachers are to be well equipped to support the development of the expressive language and communication of their pupils, then future studies should seek to refine and extend our understanding of cultural approaches.  We need to empower children as compassionate and critically reflective thinkers, communicators and change agents. This is central to their wellbeing.

Contact Dr Lisa Stephenson for further information.

Project Team

Dr Lisa Stephenson - Principal Investigator

Ana Sanches de Arêde - Project Coordinator

Professor Rachel Lofthouse - Co-Investigator

Project Artists

Hywel Roberts

Alive and Kicking

Daniel Ingram Brown

Michelle Scally Clarke

Chol Theatre

Siara Illing Ahmed

Juice Vamosi

Project Schools

Bowling Park Primary

Margaret McMillan Primary

St Matthews CE Primary School

Holycroft Primary

St Stephens C of E Primary

Bradford Academy

St Joseph's Primary School