Through the Lens of Story Workshop: Untethering the Prescriptive Bounds of Traditional Literacy
Date
2017-04-28
Authors
Takhar, Helena
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Abstract
The new BC Curriculum honours and recognizes that the world is changing, and that students need more than the basic reading, writing and arithmetic skills to succeed in the 21st century. The revised curriculum puts an emphasis on the need to provide children with opportunities to explore their passions and interests, develop their critical thinking and collaboration skills and have access to personalized learning opportunities. Story Workshop is a classroom structure first introduced by Opal School in Portland, Oregon, where children are invited to develop and enhance their “language and literacy skills through play and exploration of materials such as clay, paint, props or blocks”. Story Workshop is an authentic way to evoke past memories, provoke curiosity and ignite the inner story that is within each child. Dewey’s (1929) theory of hands-on learning supports the intention of Story Workshop as it aims’ at children’s interests as a vehicle to knowledge acquisition. Story Workshop honours the Universal Design for Learning platform, embracing ways of learning that appeal to the critical habits of mind, strengthening skills like perseverance, critical thinking, flexibility, innovation, wonder and joy. Story Workshop is a progressive approach to infusing literacy in an authentic manner into the classroom.
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Keywords
Story Workshop, materials, loose parts, student voice, funds of knowledge, funds of identity, culturally responsive teaching