Research

Measuring social-emotional competence development

For the quantitative research the following tests were chosen: Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ), Teacher’s assessment list of social behaviour (LSL) and Questionnaire on emotional and social school experiences of primary school children (FEESS).

The SDQ and the LSL were filled out by the classroom teacher for each pupil. The FEESS is done by each pupil. That holds true for the experimental groups as well as for the control groups.

Hypothesis I

According to teachers, the regular telling of fairy tales and stories by a professional storyteller leads to a reduction in the psychosocial stress of students at increased risk. (measured with the problem-oriented scales of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire; Goodman 1997)

SDQ
-    emotional problems
-    lessening of fears
-    behavioural problems
-    problems with peers
-    prosocial behaviour = empathy
-    hyperactivity

Hypothesis II

According to teachers, the regular telling of fairy tales and stories by a professional storyteller leads to improved social and learning behavior of students under increased risks.
(measured using the test procedure Teacher Assessment List for Social and Learning Behavior, Petermann and Petermann)

LSL
- self perception
- cooperation
- self control
- capacity for empathy and helpfulness
- appropriate self-assertion
- appropriately expresses own opinion
- social contact
- concentration
- autonomous learning

Hypothesis III

The regular telling of fairy tales and stories by a professional storyteller leads to a significant improvement in the social and emotional school experiences of students at increased risk.
(measured with the four scales of the questionnaire on emotional and social school experiences of primary school children FEESS 1-2 and FEESS 3-4, Rauer and Schuck 2003; of FEESS 3-4 we used the adapted questionnaire of Prof. Hennemann with his permission)

FEESS
-    class climate
-    self-concept of school readiness
-    feeling of being accepted
-    social integration

Measuring Instruments

To measure the development of imagination, the instruments are: annual reports of the storytellers (amongst others in regards to develop of students’ listening skills), teachers’ questionnaire and interviews with each pupil at the end of the 3-year project.

The Teachers’ Questionnaire

This questionnaire asks the teachers to evaluate the project.
In Belgium there are school grade teachers, meaning grade 1 is always taught by the same teacher. So in our project three teachers filled out a questionnaire.
In Denmark our teacher left after 2 1/2 years and a new teacher took over for the rest of the year.
In Germany the teacher was in the project for all three years.
In Greece each year another teacher and translator accompanied the group.

Questionnaire for Teachers »

The filled out forms can be found in Qualitative Results.

The Pupils’ Questionnaires

Here, the students were asked about the project and their feelings about the stories in more detail.
We had to develop two different questionnaires. One for Germany, Belgium and Denmark and another for Greece as the study had to be adapted to the specific circumstances of the refugees.

Questionnaire for Pupils »
Questionnaire for Pupils Greece »

The filled out forms can be found in Qualitative Results.

Live Storytelling

With the help of a weekly storytelling session we want to improve or awaken the pupils intelligences or talents.

Comments of children after listening to a live storyteller:

„We were on the stage of life !“ (Kololo Dalcha, 7 Jahre Nigeria)

„It is a film!“ (Ranim, 7 Jahre Marokko)

When Albert Einstein was asked by parents how they could promote their children's intelligence, he replied: "Tell them fairy tales!" What do telling fairy tales and intelligence/abilities have to do with each other? What kind of intelligence is meant? Is it about measuring mathematical-logical and verbal-linguistic intelligence, the two that are recognized and therefore measured and promoted in the current education system? Or did Einstein also mean the development of other forms of intelligence, such as emotional (intrapersonal), musical, spatial, creative, social (interpersonal), a sense of ethics, orientation in the social and physical environment, existential intelligence, intelligence in pattern recognition. Talents that we need for today and tomorrow, if Pablo Picasso had his way. Abilities that may lie dormant in children who we have previously considered to be "particularly in need of support" or who have experienced a different socialization due to their environment.

Why did Einstein say „to tell“ and not „to read aloud“? According to Prof. Dr. Michael Page from the University of Texas, there is a kind of decoding system in the brain that allows for the acquisition and processing of knowledge. He distinguishes between 6 types, mechanisms and ways. These include rhythm, logic, language and movement. Every person has one or two peaks. If the teacher uses these, learning can take place and is even easy. When telling a story, all mechanisms are addressed, so that every listener is able to absorb, understand and process knowledge. If that were true, storytelling would definitely be an enrichment for school lessons.

Objective

Listening to fairy tales promotes talents and thus one's own potential, develops skills, contributes to the development of imagination and creativity, helps with personality development, includes tolerance education, leads to school integration experiences (reducing xenophobic attitudes, exclusion of those who are different) and language acquisition. Storytelling would therefore be an integral part of school classes in socially disadvantaged areas or classes with inclusion.

Procedure

How long would children have to listen to fairy tales to manifest Einstein's claim, among other things? In the opinion of Regina Sommer, who has been working as a professional storyteller in socially disadvantaged schools with long-term storytelling projects for over 25 years, it is a three-year process that consists of two years of listening (input) and one year of telling the story herself (output).
During her 13 years as a storyteller for the Yehudi Menuhin Foundation in the area of ​​the Mus-E project from 1999 to 2012, she was able to gain relevant experience. As an artist, she worked in elementary school classes in socially disadvantaged areas. Here, children of all kinds met each other. Children who had experienced exclusion, children with ADHD, children with learning disabilities, lacking language skills, E-children. Everyone listened to the fairy tales. Here, all disabilities, all problems disappeared. The children listened and then painted their picture. Everyone worked for themselves in the community. As an artist, Ms. Sommer was not bound by any educational guidelines. It was just a matter of respecting the children in the spirit of Menuhin: "… means accepting what is already there, what the child carries within itself, and allowing it to develop and blossom. The gifts, the abilities, the talents that they all have from the beginning and that are too often distorted by our society."

The Stories

For year 1 the tales had to be chosen according to the cultures represented in each class. For year 2 the tales were picked according to the themes of the pupils.

(The initial idea was to publish the tales thus providing a paper or digital version. It was given up as it was not possible to get the approval oft the various publishing houses. At this point we can offer the lists of stories that have been told during the project in the different countries as pdf files.)

Year 1

Albania, Bulgaria, Camerun, Russia, Croatia, Syria, Nigeria, Spain, Afghanistan, Ukraine, Turkey, Vietnam, Irak, Pakistan, Romania, Slovenia, Macedonia, Hungary, South Sudan …

Belgium – List of stories told in year 1
Denmark – List of stories told in year 1
Germany – List of stories told in year 1

Year 2

Ghost stories, tales of angels and devils, fairytales of the Brothers Grimm, animal stories, magic stories, sports, Halloween stories, Christmas tales, giants and witches of the world …

Belgium – List of stories told in year 2
Denmark – List of stories told in year 2
Germany – List of stories told in year 2

Greece
As the children here only stayed for a short time and because the language barrier was very high, the concept of inventing stories in year 3 could not be realized. You can read about the circumstances in the „Voices of Participants“ the storyteller’s report. Instead, stories were told during all three years.

Greece – List of stories told in year 1
Greece – List of stories told in year 2
Greece – List of stories told in year 3

Year 3

Pupils as Storytellers
During year 3 of the project the pupils start to invent and create stories of their own. Imagination, a sense of structure and team work manifest themselves in the books and booklets. You can browse through them in Results – Pupils’ Booklets.