The Story Guild: Mentoring with Myths, Legends and Folktales

Welcome to the Story Guild!

This is a small group class in which we dig deep into stories from around the world - myths, legends, folktales, urban legends and whatever other stories come up in our conversations.

I will be your 'Myth Mentor', and as our group gets to know each other, we will shape the stories to fit our personalities and interests. 

Each week we will begin by catching up on what's going on in our lives, before launching into the main story of the day - this will start with me selecting them for us, but over time, the design of the class will be shaped by you and your suggestions. 


COMING UP



JAPAN: War and Peace

FRANCE: Tales from France

GLOBAL: Creation Myths and Huge Floods





IN THE PAST!

The *Real* Story of the Minotaur and the Labyrinth
We will look at the story of King Minos of Crete, the birth of the Minotaur and the creation of the Labyrinth. Is the story actually a metaphor for a real place, the Palace at Knossos?

Stories of Strange Lights. Kitsune and Will o' the Wisp.
We will look at stories of odd illuminations in different cultures, focusing on Japanese myth of Kitsune and the English folk tales around the 'Will o' the Wisp'.

Where are the women tricksters?
We will talk about trickster tales from around the world, and chat about why most of the tricksters are male. We will then share tales of female tricksters, including Atë (Greek), Delilah the Wily (Arabian Nights) and the archetypal witches from Fairy Tales. We will talk about if it is acceptable to change old stories to bring them into the modern day.

Rats
Every four weeks, we will select a random animal and try to find stories from different mythologies about them. We will start with rats, and will tell the German tale of The Pied Piper of Hamlyn, and the (hideously true) story of Ratkings.

The Ridiculous Labours of Herakles
Yes, you heard it right. In this lesson - very much an old-school throwback to Greek of the Week - we are learning about the entire story of the Labours of Herakles, and acting it all out, in 55 ambitious minutes. Do your stretches beforehand, it'll be a wild one.








After sharing the story, we will look at the culture that it comes from, and consider the big questions it might make us ask. We will discuss and share our ideas together, and think about how it might link to our lives in some way.

The stories will be drawn from a range of world cultures and mythological and folkloric story traditions including - but not limited to - Greek mythology, Norse mythology, Caribbean folk tales, Arabian folk tales, Japanese mythology. Where possible, the stories will reflect the cultures and interests of the students in the group e.g. if we have Spanish-origin students, we will look for Spanish folk tales and myths.

The class is very interactive and social - students are supported to connect and relate well with each other, to create strong and lasting friendships. The purpose of the class is to build social bonds through story. Students will engage in read-aloud role-play every week, will pose and respond to questions and will be guided to interact with each other.

The small class size reflects the class design - I want this to be a place for high-quality meaningful interactions, with me and with the other learners.


My teaching style is highly interactive, sociable, warm and child-centred. I am a very confident educator which allows me to be informal without losing control of the interactions. I have 14 years experience teaching primary age students, and teach in contexts worldwide - all of this experience goes into how I educate in this class.

The cost of the class, slightly higher than my large group classes, reflects the fact that I keep this group intentionally small, private and selective. Also, as I am creating the content to reflect the learners, it involves substantial additional work for me between sessions.