English Language Teaching through Storytelling

This 15-hour course is aimed at practising, or recently qualified, teachers of English who wish to update their knowledge of how to use
storytelling for teaching purposes, to encounter new ideas and activities in order to enhance the way in which they deal with tales
in class, and to share their experience with each other. The course is suitable for teachers who have a good knowledge of English (ideally
CEFR B2 or higher).
The course consists of tutor-led input classroom sessions supported by in-depth discussion and trainee participation. This is coupled with tutor-
led project work, leading up to peer teaching practice on the final day of the course that will provide trainees with an opportunity to try out for
themselves the new approaches they will have been introduced to.
DAY 1: A selection of first day activities designed to help the trainees get to know each other (and the tutor) will be followed by an
introduction to techniques that can be used when storytelling to ensure that the learners take an active part in the session and that
the teacher doesn't end up having to do all the work. Howard Gardner's MI theory will then be presented and it will be shown how storytelling
is in fact the ideal medium for catering for all eight Intelligence types identified so far.

DAY 2: Emotional Intelligence involves knowing your emotions, managing your emotions, motivating yourself, recognizing emotions in others and
handling relationships. How to cater for all five of these domains through storytelling will be demonstrated, preceded by an overview of
the theory. The use of NLP in conjunction with storytelling will then be considered. Creating rapport by matching and mirroring another
person's behaviour and the use of guided imagery are nothing new, and have in fact been around for centuries. And through storytelling,
story making, and guided visualisation, trainees will be able to experience for themselves the transformative power of NLP.

DAY 3: The origins of storytelling will be considered today. This will be followed by looking at the Lesson as a Ceremony. A tripartite
ritual framework was explicated by Arnold van Gennep in 1909, consisting of separation from everyday life, the ritual proper, and
then reintegration back into everyday life. The model was later developed further by Victor Turner (1969). Cahill and Halpern (1991)
also suggest there are three distinct stages in ceremony which need to be honoured for the experience to touch us deeply - Severance,
entering Sacred Time & Space, and Reincorporation. How the model can be used in the classroom will then be demonstrated.

DAY 4: 'In seeking Wisdom, the first stage is silence, the second listening, the third remembrance, the fourth practising, the fifth
teaching' - Rabbi Solomon ibn Gabirol, 11th century (a philosopher, a poet, a Kabbalist, a prolific writer and a mystic). It will be shown
how the model outlined above can be applied in the classroom by making use of storytelling in the form of an information gap activity. 'Tales
of Power' will then be considered - conscious verbal constructions based on numinous experiences in non-ordinary reality, 'which guide
individuals and help them to integrate the spiritual, mythical, or archetypal aspects of their internal and external experience in
unique, meaningful, and fulfilling ways' (Kremer, 1988, p.192). Such stories can broaden our horizons, connect us to a vision and provide
an overarching narrative for our journeys through life.

DAY 5: What does the acronym ETPD stand for? What it does is to represents a shift in instructional strategy, from the way things have
traditionally been done, and one of the ways it can be applied in the classroom is through storytelling. Trainees will leave this session
not only with material they can make use of in class that requires no preparation but also, hopefully, with increased self-knowledge. The
rest of the day will be spent, by those trainees who would like to, teaching each other stories, making use of the different techniques
they will have been introduced to over the week.

The Tutor: Michael Berman PhD works as a teacher and a writer. Publications include A Multiple Intelligences Road to an ELT Classroom
and The Power of Metaphor for Crown House, The Nature of Shamanism and the Shamanic Story for Cambridge Scholars Publishing, and Shamanic
Journeys through the Caucasus for O-Books. In a Faraway Land, a resource books for teachers on storytelling, will be published in
April 2010. For more information please visit

            www.Thestoryteller.org.uk

Endorsements:

For me your gift is in the telling, in the reading, in the being with a group in a very special way that I cannot properly define. If you
were to do a storytelling session [for Pilgrims] like you did at Cesky Tesin [in the Czech Republic] I could see people flocking to your
session - Mario Rinvolucri, Author and Senior Teacher, Pilgrims Michael Berman, alias the Storyteller, is back with a new collection
of stories from all over the world. The carefully selected thought-provoking tales contain a rich vocabulary and provide language
learners of all age groups with hours of inspiring and motivating listening experiences. For the language teacher, there is an excellent
introductory section on how to use stories in the classroom and, as a welcome time-saving bonus, the tales come with photocopiable
worksheets that contain various kinds of exercises and discussion points designed to practise and develop learners' listening and
speaking skills. As an alternative worthy of consideration, non-native teachers who feel uneasy about reading out stories aloud in class can
of course use the material for reading comprehension purposes. A very recommendable book! Rolf Palmberg, teacher and teacher trainer,
Finland.
No further testimony is required to Dr Berman's authority in the fields of narrative genre and storytelling methodologies, but this is
a book very much written by a teacher for teachers. The truly international collection of stories it contains will transform the
learning environment of your classroom. Wayne Rimmer, Director of Studies, International House, Moscow.

Michael Berman's book makes good use of traditional tales and stories which students of different nationalities and of all ages can relate
to. The concepts lend themselves to conversation and successfully engage students in numerous activities. It's an easy book to use with
some very practical, hands-on ideas to assist teachers, and there are useful comments as insights into the stories. The book also
incorporates a variety of activities including guided visualisations, lettergrams and questionnaires and in so doing caters for different
learner styles. A book which teachers will no doubt find an indispensable part of their teaching, and which students will find
both entertaining and rewarding. This is yet another one of Michael Berman's masterpieces and its originality is a breath of fresh air in
the classroom. Makkie Malyari, BA, RSA Dip TEFLA , teacher and teacher trainer, Greece

--O is a symbol of the world, of oneness and unity; this eye represents knowledge and insight. The O-Books team of authors, editors,
designers, printers and distributors publishes almost 200 titles each year in several imprints on spirituality and religion, philosophy and
psychology, fiction and biography, culture and self help. All our titles are available in physical and online bookshops throughout the
English-speaking world. For more information please visit
            www.o-books.com