Sheherazade is a Grundtvig Multilateral Project that wants to introduce storytelling and the use of storytelling techniques as an educational strategy and a pedagogical tool in formal and non-formal adult learning. The project focuses on the linguistic (mother tongue and foreign languages), interactive, performing, social, cultural and multicultural aspects of stories and storytelling and will help adult learners gain communication skills, develop imagination and creativity, develop foreign language skills, improve intercultural understanding and build competences for inclusion.

Sheherazade wants to raise awareness of the potential of storytelling as an educational tool and to develop new methodologies and materials for using stories and storytelling in adult teaching and learning. The end-target groups for the Sheherazade approach are adult learners in different social and cultural settings, low-skilled adults, disadvantaged and marginalized citizens, new comers and migrants, adult foreign language learners.

Introducing the use of stories and storytelling by the trainer is introducing a great tool. By offering subject content as a narrative, transformed into images, one improves the quality of the transfer of this content. Within the scope of the project, we will also work on “stories for intercultural dialogue, stories and values, stories and communication, mother tongue competences, stories for cultural competences, stories and heritage”.

Introducing stories and storytelling as a tool “performed” by the adult learners is a great way to improve creativity and social, emotional and artistic skills.

Creative and artistic: create your own story as an artistic product, building images.
Social: learn to listen, learn to communicate, expressing individual and/or cultural identity.
Emotional: connect with a group, connect with yourself, express feelings, hopes, dreams.
Cultural: connect with your own culture or the culture of others.

In order to reach these groups the Sheherazade material and methodologies target initial teacher training students and in-service adult educators teaching foreign languages and social workers and trainers working with disadvantaged groups, teaching cultural awareness and social subjects. Another target group are storytellers, to make them aware of the educational value and potential of their art and to help them find their way to adult education and teacher training organizations.

The partners will develop the theoretical background and pedagogy for using storytelling techniques in different training settings. They will also collect 20 examples of good practice in Europe and pilot a storytelling project in an adult education organization in the partner countries. In these pilots they will trial the material in a range of adult education organizations and social settings. All this will form the basis for a set of publications (manual, guidelines, teacher training modules) in English and in each partner language to be used by teachers, trainers and teacher trainers: a combination of theory, methodology, good practice and resources to introduce storytelling and storytelling techniques in adult learning.

Follow the story of Sheherazade on http://www.sheherazade.eu

Project partners:

Landcommanderij Alden Biesen, BE, coordinator.
Fabula, storyteller association, SE
Oslo & Akershus University college, NO
CVO Landen-Leuven, BE
Brunnenpassage, AT
Meath Partnership, IE
Superact, UK
ELAN Interculturel, FR
Sofia University, BG

For more info please contact the project partners: contact details on http://www.sheherazade.eu