Children Writing Stories

205 Pages·2006·2.67 MB·English

by  Michael Armstrong

Children writing...pb 6/1/06 10:10 am Page 1
CHILDREN WRITING STORIES
“Children Writing Storiesconfirms that we all
have a story to tell if we are enabled to develop
enough self-belief... Unlock the chains, let the
light in, and this is the kind of writing that will
flow, this is the kind of intellectual and emotional
growing that can transform young lives.”
Michael Morpurgo, Children’s Laureate 2003-2005
“What a splendid book! Michael Armstrong pays
attention - thirty years of it - to the stories that
children write. We get two for one: the children’s
own delightful and intriguing work - I want to
rush off and write some Wally (age 5) stories of
my own - and Michael Armstrong’s intense
interpretations. ”
Allan Ahlberg
“This is real learning at its best, teaching by
example, through painstaking scrutiny of the art
of young writers. Absorbing, moving,
enlightening, inspiring.”
Morag Styles, University of Cambridge
In Children Writing Stories, Michael Armstrong
reveals the creative force of children's narrative
imagination and shows how this develops
through childhood. He provides a new and
powerful understanding of the significance of
narrative for children’s intellectual growth and for
learning and teaching.
M I C H A E L A R M S T R O N G
The book explores a series of real stories
written by children between the ages of five and
fifteen, and traces the growth of literary
consciousness from the dawn of written
narrative in the kindergarten, through the early M
years of schooling and on into adolescence. I
C
Each chapter opens with a story or stories,
H
which the author then goes on to examine in
A
detail, so that the book may be seen as both a
E
select anthology of children’s stories and as a L
critical account of children’s narrative practice.
A
This original and provocative book will appeal to R
teachers, parents, students of education and M
readers with an interest in literacy, children's S
writing or narrative theory. T
R
O
Michael Armstrongis visiting professor at the
N
Bread Loaf School of English, Middlebury
G
College, Vermont. He has taught at every level
of education from infant school to university,
including 18 years as headteacher of Harwell
Primary School in Oxfordshire. He is the author
(cid:10)(cid:11)(cid:12)(cid:13)(cid:14)(cid:4)(cid:15)(cid:5)(cid:5)(cid:6)(cid:15)(cid:7)(cid:8)(cid:1)(cid:2)(cid:9)(cid:15)(cid:16)
of Closely Observed Children(1980).
Cover design: del norte (Leeds) Ltd
www.openup.co.uk (cid:1) (cid:2)(cid:3)(cid:4)(cid:5)(cid:5)(cid:6) (cid:7)(cid:8)(cid:1)(cid:2)(cid:9)(cid:9)
CHILDREN WRITING STORIES
‘‘Here’sabook,awonderfulbookthatenablestheenablertoenable.ThefirstbookIever
compiled35yearsagowasacollectionofchildren’swriting.Iwasateacheratthetime,andI
wasfiredbythefreshness,theeagerness,thehonestyofthewritingmystudentswerepro-
ducing.HereisaworthysuccessortoTedHughes’PoetryintheMaking,thebookthatenabled
metogaintheconfidencetobegintofindmyownvoiceasastoryteller.
ChildrenWritingStoriesconfirmsthatweallhaveastorytotellifweareenabledtodevelop
enoughself-belief.Somuchofournaturalcreativityissmotheredduringourschoolyears.
Teachersandchildrenfeelhemmedinbythestricturesofacurriculumwhichsimplydoes
notallowroomforcreativitytobreathe.Unlockthechains,letthelightin,andthisisthe
kindofwritingthatwillflow,thisisthekindofintellectualandemotionalgrowingthatcan
transformyounglives.’’
MichaelMorpurgo,Children’sLaureate2003–2005
PayAttention!
‘‘Whatasplendidbook!MichaelArmstrongpaysattention–thirtyyearsofit–tothestories
thatchildrenwrite.Wegettwoforone:thechildren’sowndelightfulandintriguingwork–I
wanttorushoffandwritesomeWally(age5)storiesofmyown–andMichaelArmstrong’s
intenseinterpretations.There’saddeddepthheretoo;hewastheirteacher.Hisknowledgeof
thechildbehindthestoryenricheshiscloseobservations,roundsthemout.Myfavouritetale
is,probably,‘GirlToday,HareTomorrow’byRebecca(age11).You’llassuredlyfindyours.
Readon!’’
AllanAhlberg
‘‘Ageniusobserverofyoungchildren,MichaelArmstronginspiresallteacherstolook,listen,
andenterintoconversationswithchildren,theirart,andtheirwritings.Hispatience,unique
insights,andclosereadingsofchildren’sstoriesbearwitnesstothepowerofteacherintuition
opentothewisdomthatcomesfromyearsoflearningwithandfromchildren.’’
ShirleyBriceHeath
‘‘Thebookisbothtimelyandtimeless,toweringabovethebanalityofofficialendorsements
of children’s creativity and the current structures of classroom literacy. Armstrong most
beautifullydemonstrates,onceandforall,thatchildrenarenotthelittleghostsofadults,but
powerfulthinkers,dreamers,socialcritics,satiristsandvisionariesintheirownright,andin
waysoftheirowninvention.Thisisnotatextbook,butoneofthoserarebooksthatwill
exciteandinspire;itwillbereadforpersonalaswellasprofessionalbenefit,notinorderto
passexams,ormeetstandardsofcompetence.’’
MaryJaneDrummond
‘‘Michael Armstrong’s brilliant interpretations of narratives by children teaches us that
children’sstoriescanbeanalysedwiththesamerigorasthosewrittenbyadults.Alongthe
way,healsomakesanimportant,evenradical,point:Youngchildrenthinklikeartists,and
thebestteacherstakeadvantageofthisnaturalpassionbyputtingcreativityatthecenter,
ratherthantheperiphery,ofeducation.’’
SamSwope
‘‘OneofMichaelArmstrong’sstrongthemes–‘teachingasinterpretation’–mayseematfirst
asurprisingidea.IknowfrompersonalexperiencehowMichael’sintenserespectforeach
individualstory-makerhasprofoundlyinfluenced20summersofteachersinhisclassesatthe
BreadLoaf SchoolofEnglish.Now, withthisbook,manymorecanlearnfrom thisgifted
teacher.’’
CourtneyCazden,HarvardGraduateSchoolofEducation
‘‘What a joy! Homage to Tolstoy apart, a whole book dedicated to insightful analysis of
children’swrittenstoriesbyagiftedteacher.ArmstrongtaughtusinCloselyObservedChildren
howtolookandlistentochildrenandtaketheirartisticendeavoursseriously.Thisbooklives
up to its excellent predecessor. Forget the tangled webs of the National Literacy Strategy
wastingmillionsoftreesandpoundswithitsprescriptive,mechanisticmessage.Thisisreal
learningatitsbest,teachingbyexample,throughpainstakingscrutinyoftheartofyoung
writers.Absorbing,moving,enlightening,inspiring.’’
MoragStyles
CHILDREN WRITING STORIES
MICHAEL ARMSTRONG
Open University Press
OpenUniversityPress
McGraw-HillEducation
McGraw-HillHouse
ShoppenhangersRoad
Maidenhead
Berkshire
England
SL62QL
email:[email protected]
worldwideweb:www.openup.co.uk
andTwoPennPlaza,NewYork,NY10121-2289,USA
Firstpublished2006
Copyright#MichaelArmstrong2006.
Allrightsreserved.Exceptforthequotationofshortpassagesforthepurposesof
criticismandreview,nopartofthispublicationmaybereproduced,storedina
retrievalsystem,ortransmitted,inanyform,orbyanymeans,electronic,
mechanical,photocopying,recordingorotherwise,withoutthepriorpermission
ofthepublisheroralicencefromtheCopyrightLicensingAgencyLimited.Details
ofsuchlicences(forreprographicreproduction)maybeobtainedfromthe
CopyrightLicensingAgencyLtdof90TottenhamCourtRoad,LondonW1T4LP.
AcataloguerecordofthisbookisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary
ISBN-10:03350219764(pb)0335219772(hb)
ISBN-13:9780335219766(pb)9780336219773(hb)
LibraryofCongressCataloguing-in-PublicationData
CIPdataappliedfor
TypesetbyYHTLtd
PrintedinPolandbyOZGrafS.A.www.polskabook.pl
CONTENTS
Preface: Thinking aboutchildren’s stories ix
1 Conscious creativity: Reflectionsonanessay byLeoTolstoy 1
The Life ofaSoldier’s Wife, byFyedka,age11 1
2 Origins of apractice: Afiveyear old’smythology 27
NineStories,by Wally,age 5 27
3 Image and text:Enteringaliterary world 43
The PoorlyMouse, byJessica, age 6 45
The LittleGirl WhoGot Lost, byMelissa, age6 57
4 Encoding themarvellous:Narrative thoughtat nine yearsold 85
Six Tales,by Lydia,age8–9 85
5 Appropriating Trickster: Thestory of Laura andtheworkshop 121
UpsetterFinds the FourLeaf CloverCircuit, byLaura, age9 121
6 Into thebeyond: Imagination and reality 137
Threetales of theimagination,by Rebecca,ages11 and 16 137
7 The pedagogy of theimagination 166
WalkingThrough the Wood, byLeoTolstoy 182
References 187

for JennyGiles
and
inmemoryof
Brian Simon

PREFACE:
THINKING ABOUT
CHILDREN’S STORIES
Thisisabookaboutthestoriesthatchildrenwrite:abouttheirliteraryform,
about their aesthetic and ethical content, about their significance for an
understanding of intellectual growth, learning and teaching, education as a
culturalenterprise.Thebookisthesequeltoanearlierwork,CloselyObserved
Children, first published in 1980. In Closely Observed Children, I set out to
describetheintellectuallifeofaclassofeight-tonine-year-oldchildrenina
primaryschoolinruralLeicestershire.InparticularIwantedtodocumentthe
seriousness of purpose which I witnessed in children’s thought and action,
their ‘high intent’, as I called it (Armstrong 1980: 206). That seriousness, at
onceearnestandplayful,wasevidentineveryaspectofthesechildren’swork:
intheir writing, theirart, theirmathematics, their model making, theirnat-
ure study.I was led toconclude that
from their earliest acquaintance with the various traditions of human
thought, with literature, art, mathematics, science, and the like, [chil-
dren]struggletomakeuseoftheseseveraltraditions,of theconstraints
which they impose as well as the opportunities which they present, to
examine,extendandexpressinafittingformtheirownexperienceand
understanding.
(1980: 129)
Thelifeofreason,Iargued,wascoterminouswiththebeginningsoflearning.
Thepresentbooktakeschildren’shighintentforgranted.Mypurposeisto
explorethewaysinwhichthatintentismanifestedinoneparticulardomain,
that of written narrative. What follows is a sequence of studies in literary
imagination,aninvestigationintothenaturalhistoryofnarrativeduringthe
yearsofchildhood.Intheprefacetohisthree-volumemasterpiece,Timeand
Narrative(1984),PaulRicoeurdefinesnarrative,or,morepreciselytheplot,as
‘the privileged means by which we reconfigure our confused, unformed and
atthelimitmutetemporalexperience’(1984:xi).Ricoeurdrawshisexamples