Teaching with stories

‘Never deliver the curriculum!’ This was the heartfelt plea of my PGCE course tutor. Of course, her intention was that we focused on inspiring our students first and worried about the exams they were to sit second. But the balance between inspiring young minds and coaching them for exams is tough to strike. One solution is to tell stories that enthuse students and that also explain something they need to know.

For example, let’s look at the new GCSE chemistry specification, with some dry learning outcomes added. Students now need to determine chemical equations from masses recorded in experiments; have a knowledge of cathode ray tubes in the context of the historical discovery of the atom; and calculate atom economy.

Tom Husband shares three curious tales to use when teaching determining equations, cathode ray tubes and atom economy.