ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the importance of using stories when teaching history in primary schools. It explores the idea that stories can help children not only better understand history, but also relate past events to their own experiences in the present. A small-scale piece of qualitative research is described in which a group of six Year 2 children were told historical stories in a whole-class teaching session and then interviewed individually. The three clear themes that emerged from the data were:
the veracity of previously held knowledge;
the ‘all things are possible’ past; and
the persuasiveness of the story-teller.
