The benefits of working with more than stories are many:-
Stories carry learning more effectively into long-term memory – you might say they’re a glorified form of mnemonic – that alone can positively affect exam and other results.
Stories engage the imagination, so people make their own neural connections about the ‘meaning’ of each tale. That building of fresh neural connections is important for life-ling learning and brain fitness. So stories are a form of ‘brain gym’ that will make students readier for learning even in field unrlated to the session topics.
Working with story structure, understanding and practising the process of story-making give many students an incredible boost to their confidence, which in turn has positive effects on their exam and interview skills, thus improving career or university admissions prospects, and even in less positive circumstances, enables them to have a more effective relationship with police or other authorities.
During the session, the students have fun. That’s important because the principles of accelerated learning and research into brain chemistry suggest that people learn and remember better when they are enjoying themselves. With my particular mix of techniques, that can open the eyes of ‘difficult’ students to the potentialities of education for their benefit, thus their behaviour in school.
For those who struggle to relate to conventional language-based approaches to teaching, experiencing multi-sensory story-work can open the doors of perception to reveal previously unsuspected talents, with an inevitable knock-on effect on wider learning outcomes.
To be (semi) flippant for a second, in the moment, both teaching staff and students get a break from the routine. It’s a bit like the Health & Safety breaks from working on a computer. Just doing it calms you down and perks you up!
Maybe it’s best put by the teachers and students themselves; see feedback
