Abstract
This research investigated the contemporary storytelling revival in England and Wales, arising from my involvement in the revival as a teacher-storyteller. It aimed to discover skills and working methods used by tellers of traditional tales, and to offer a context for their craft. It asked whether this craft has anything to offer to the education of primary age children, and sought to determine ways children work with stories. The research began by defining the oral tradition with particular reference to storytelling, through a literature review and a chronology of the oral tradition in a theoretical context, with a focus on the educational importance of storytelling. An empirical study of contemporary practice in the storytelling revival was conducted through a questionnaire survey of professional storytellers. Further empirical research consisted of three case records of storytelling residencies, presenting evidence of children's work with stories, in which the stance of participant observer was adopted. An interplay between the storytelling revival and the oral tradition was identified, showing that contemporary storytellers are grounded in a living tradition resulting from the experiential rediscovery of a body of craft knowledge, comparable to storytellers' working methods in ancient oral cultures. Storytelling was defined as performance art, and revival practice connected to traditional strands of bardic, fireside and educational storytelling, taking a feminist perspective on the role of women storytellers. The research identified storytellers' techniques for working with stories which could enhance children's learning, particularly mnemonic strategies and graphic and inner imaging. It presented a new conceptualisation of Vygotskian scaffolding, suggesting that metaphoric scaffolding created by previous storytellers exists in the structure and pattern of a traditional story. The need for a praxis of storytelling was identified, and the following framework was proposed: i) knowledge of the oral tradition's history ii) understanding of revival storytelling crafts iii) a metalanguage for storytelling drawing on narrative, poetry and metaphor.