Stories We Tell

Matt Bromley is an education journalist, author, and advisor with 25 years’ experience in teaching and leadership. Matt is a public speaker, trainer, initial teacher training lecturer, and school improvement advisor. He remains a practising teacher, currently working in secondary, FE and HE settings; as well as writing for various magazines, authoring numerous best-selling books on education, and co-hosting an award-winning podcast. Find Matt on X @mj_bromley and at bromleyeducation.co.uk.

• Part One: Learning through storytelling 1. The power and the story 2. The stories we tell ourselves 3. The stories we tell our children 4. The stories of literacy 5. The stories beyond comprehension Part Two: Teaching through storytelling 6. Using story to organise the curriculum and structure lessons 7. Using story to aid learners’ memorisation 8. Using story to engage learners’ curiosity and wonder 9. Using story to relate curriculum content to the real world 10. Using story to help foster inclusion 11. Using story to prepare learners for future success Part Three: Leading through storytelling 12. Using story to consult, communicate and collaborate 13. Using story to articulate a vision and foster shared values 14. Using story to build trust and create a no-blame culture 15. Using story to resolve conflict 16. Using story to lead change

“Matt Bromley is quite-simply a must-read for the classroom teacher. Clear, practical, insightful – his advice draws upon years spent in the classroom and is immediately useful and inspiring for teachers of all levels of experience. That is why he has long been one of SecEd's most popular authors. This new book is no exception and offers a range of great ideas that you will feel inspired to adapt and adopt in your classroom. Matt remains one of the most important – and most useful – voices in teaching.”- Pete Henshaw, Editor, SecEd and Headteacher Update“In this thoughtful and inspiring book, master-teacher Matt Bromley reminds us of the unique power of stories to engage hearts and minds – not just as part of lessons, but as a framework for curriculum design and transformational school leadership. The style is highly readable, drawing on the author’s own engaging personal stories as a practical way of modelling his message, as well as on a wide range of research and a deep knowledge of how schools work.”- Jean Gross, CBE“It’s very encouraging to see the power of story set out in The Stories We Tell: How to Use Story and Storytelling to Improve Teaching and School Leadership. Stories and storytelling are an underdeveloped aspect of the curriculum and of school development and Matt Bromley has made a compelling case for using them to help us refine the curriculum and school improvement. A welcome addition to the field.”- Mary Myatt, Education Consultant "'The Stories We Tell: How to Use Story and Storytelling to Improve Teaching and School Leadership' is a comprehensive, practical and highly readable exploration of the power of stories and how they can be used to best effect in education. Matt's discussion of strategies is interspersed with his own stories which exemplify, elucidate and inspire. Each chapter ends with provocative questions to stimulate reflection and prompt action. The messages the book communicates are strengthened and underpinned by Matt's extensive reading and commitment to research-informed practice. He presents a compelling argument for how stories and storytelling, across the curriculum and in the hands of leaders, can 'enable people to read the world and to write their future'."- Jill Berry, Leadership Development Consultant