Book Review
Classroom Tales - Using Storytelling to Build Emotional,
Social and Academic Skills across the Primary Curriculum
Jennifer M. Fox Eades
ISBN 1 84310 304 4
Jessica Kingsley Publishers
Reviewed by the Editor of Play for Life April 2006
Jennifer M. Fox Eades has an MA in Psychoanalytic
Observation and a background in special needs teaching. She currently works as
a freelance education advisor and is a member of the editorial board for 5-7
Educator magazine.
This title makes an interesting comparison with Trisha
Water’s Therapeutic
Storywriting. Waters covers story writing as a therapeutic technique
and includes a lot more informing theory whereas Fox Eades is concerned with
storytelling and only really introduces theory in her last chapter. However
this contains an interesting concept – WWW – What Went Well. This is influenced
by the work of psychologist Martin Seligman to counteract the Zeigarnik effect
(at the end of the day or an event it is what went wrong that is at the front of
your consciousness, not what went well). Since Classroom Tales is intended to
help build emotional, social and academic skills and the emphasis is on the
craft of storytelling, there is less danger that it will create confusion among
teaching staff providing therapy without adequate training than Water’s book.
Classroom Tales is very easy to read, clearly presented and
delivers on most of its promises. Fox Eades shows how Storytelling is a crucial
element of children's education that can enrich the school curriculum and
encourage social and thinking skills. The author discusses the different kinds
of story that are useful in the classroom context, including traditional
stories, fairy tales and sacred stories, and explores the impact of individual
and group dynamics on the telling and reception of these stories. She provides
a series of sample stories and gives practical tips on adapting these to suit
different situations and meet different needs. She also advises on a range of
techniques such as using props, allowing reflection time and prompting
interaction. Sections on collective stories and the child as storyteller
explain how children can be inspired to compose their own tales that offer
opportunities to practise self-expression and negotiation.
It does not however provide all the tools and techniques
needed to use Storytelling effectively, especially in the therapeutic area. As
with Waters, Fox Eades omits references to important contributors to
therapeutic storytelling such as Cattanach, Milton Erickson and Joyce Mills
although Nancy Mellon is acknowledged. However the book is particularly good as
a source of material from which therapeutic stories may be developed. Also the
section on turning real life and school events into stories is valuable. There
is a useful list of web sites related to storytelling.
The book is a recommended buy for Teaching/Learning
Assistants/Mentors, SENCOs and Teachers in primary schools who are undertaking
training in therapeutic play. Experienced Play Therapists are unlikely to
benefit sufficiently to justify purchase unless they are urgently in need of
plot and characters to construct their therapeutic stories. It is worth their
while to think more about the WWW approach and investigate Martin Seligman’s
work. Perhaps they should ask their library to obtain a copy or share the cost
with colleagues.
