What have we learnt?

“...Loads of things like good storytelling, how to project your voice and be confident around other people.”
— Young Storyteller, KS2
 
“Stories are everywhere!”
— Participating Students

These key findings and quotes are taken from the end of project report written by the University of South Wales. Throughout the 3-year project research partners from the Storytelling and Education Departments at the university collaborated with the Artists, the Children and Class Teachers, and each Head of School and Multi-Academy Trust Leadership Team. The external analysis and support throughout every year of the project enabled an embedded research perspective to ensure evidence was gathered independently for reflection, CPD, and best practice. This resulted in rigorous data collected daily, termly, and yearly through interviews and observations, questionnaires, meetings, and INSET provision to capture impact from every participant. Their analysis resulted in an 84-page report, literature review, and several papers presented at: the World Education Summit 2023, the British (and World) Education Research Association annual conferences 2022 and 2024, for which the latter ‘Learning to listen to our voices: Reflection and Creativity in action’ received ‘Best Presentation Award’ with ‘Highly Commended Abstract’.

Key Findings:

 

  • The Project had an impact on all aspects of literacy, including oracy and vocabulary development

 

  • The project built confidence and self-esteem (both linked to achievement)

 

  • Pupil agency facilitates learning, particularly using the Mantle of the Expert approach

 

  • The project fostered key soft skills

 

  • The project developed key 21st Century skills

 

  • The project reinforced community links

 

  • The project helped teachers develop their own pedagogy and supported curriculum delivery effectively 

 

  • The project showed how important effective reflection and reflexivity is in developing pedagogy

 

  • The project highlighted the importance of teacher/school engagement in terms of pupil success

 

  • A mastery approach involves all children

 

  • The project has had a lasting impact on storytelling/oracy skills

 

  • The project provides a good template for future work between artists and schools

 

  • The project has highlighted potential issues within the curriculum that is content driven rather than skills based

“Now we tell stories at break time and after school to family, friends, even to pets and animals!”
— Group interview with 4 KS2 children.

These findings are linked to the aims, objectives, research questions, and measures of success.  They demonstrate engagement with the original aims of the project but also allow for ways in which the project evolved over the 3 years due to circumstance and conscious decisions to capture areas that became important as the project developed. As the evaluation team was involved throughout the project and not just at the end, we were able to work as a team to co-construct the evaluation and capture valuable information as our ideas developed.

If you would like to find out more, please contact Caroline Preston, Project Manager & Education Leader for Beaford.