Narrare humanum est (Att berätta är mänskligt)
En kvalitativ intervjustudie om berättande som undervisningsstrategi i historia
The purpose of this essay has been to do a study on narration as a strategy in history education. By taking a starting point in the perspective that Shulman calls ?wisdom of practice? and other studies I interviewed three teachers that were all experts in narration. This to have an insight in how they looked at the oral narration and on its role in history education. Is there a common view among the interviewed techers and to what extent are the traits and qualities of story telling described in litterature linked to the teachers? answers?My results show that the oral narration is not a straight and exclusive teaching strategy; it differs from teacher to teacher. The decisive factor that makes the difference is their main view point on story telling. These three teachers show three different styles of narration; the narrative subject, the above narrator and the anecdotic narrator.Furthermore, I found that the main argument for the use of narration in history education is that oral narration has a great capacity when it comes to passing on information and making the students remember it. But how ever strong the arguments are for using one special strategy of teaching, variation is very important; not only because of the risk of making student bored, but also because it isn?t possible to stay in line with the national guidlines that the teachers must follow.In the process of this study, I have concretisised four advantages and three disadvantages of narration.1. It is easier to remember information passed on in stories because it creates a context.2. Oral narration creates an interest in students due to an internal and external meaning.3. Stories fulfil fundamental needs because of its ability to explain.4. Oral narration differs from other teaching strategies and creates a creative variation.1. Narration has the ability to affect students, which may lead to a less critical approach to information sources.2. Illusory coherence may appear in a story because narration strives to create coherence.3. When creating a story meant to be told orally you risk loosing focus because of an indistinct purpose.