Building the arc

I love hearing people's stories. How did they get to the point they've arrived at? What do they think has had the biggest impact on their journey? What do they think lies ahead?

As I got to know Rakhi for the first time, I was struck by how her story had changed her. From a young, bubbly girl, living in the heart of bustling Mumbai, to the anxious quiet teenager whose face was etched with a pain no child should know. Rakhi's life growing up in India had not been easy, her story was filled with loss, betrayal and trauma. In fact, her childhood had been robbed by the city that she used to love. She lived in constant fear that someone would take her father away, like they had her mother. She knew of the horrendous crimes lurking in every corner of her shantytown. On the horizon, as she looked out over the corrugated iron that made up her roof, she could make out the silhouettes of some of the tallest skyscrapers in the world; towering columns of wealth and excess dwarfing the flat-pack cells of the shantytown Rakhi called home.

Rakhi and her friend being interviewed by Sue Perkins for her 2015 documentary

For Rakhi, there had always been a stream of injustice running through her city. How could the wealthy live so close to those with nothing and not hold out their hand? How could a one-mile stretch of road begin with sky-high swimming pools and luxurious supercars and end in crime-filled slums where people struggle to feed their families?

Rakhi's experience of Mumbai had changed her. Her story had begun with the inevitable enthusiasm of youth, travelled through numerous painful horrors and left her at a crossroads- what would she have to do to ensure her story ended happily?

Why am I telling you about Rakhi?

Well, the truth is I don't know Rakhi at all- at least not personally. I learnt of her story through a documentary the BBC produced a few years ago. The show saw comedian and presenter Sue Perkins embark on a return visit to India, where she had met Rakhi as the bright, bubbly young girl I described. Throughout an emotional piece to camera, Perkins explains the transition she has seen in Rakhi's character; from hope-filled to hopeless.

As we put together our currriculum, we are looking for stories that will grab the interest of our students; stories that allow us to dig a little deeper into core themes and concepts with the necessary context. When we study India in lower key stage 2 in our Geography sessions, it's through Rakhi's eyes.

You could argue that one girl's view of India restricts the content coverage, limits the points of view we can bring to light or even puts a cap on the knowledge we can explore. But powerful learning finds its home in the heart of stories, as we get to know people and hear about their experiences. Of course, we ensure that we are hitting NC objectives and building on prior knowledge- that's part of the parcel of good curriculum design - but we are also looking for a way in to the topic that engages, excites and encourages discussion and deep thought.

Whilst it's true that our students don't know Rakhi personally, they learn so much about India through her story. They begin to appreciate the diverse range of experiences even within one city, they start to understand what growing up is like in this economically advancing, highly populated country, and they develop their empathetic skills as they learn from others' experiences.

I'd argue that stories don't rob children of knowledge, they put that knowledge into a context- they are a lens through which a child can understand new information. Building an arc of understanding, that sits outside of the standalone lesson, is at the crux of effective curriculum design.

Because they have got to know Rakhi, when our students get to year five and begin to look at the harrowing experiences of children on the Mexican border, they can identify similarities between Rakhi's experiences and the experiences of children in a completely different country and context. And it's through this identifying (gaining the wider context of people's experiences) that we truly begin to appreciate the differences in people's stories. Not just the differences between Rakhi struggling through her teenage years in a shantytown in Mumbai and a child being separated from her parents in Mexico, but they can also begin to recognise the difference between those experiences and their own experiences of comparative privilege. In doing so, they begin to understand the world a little better. They can see how the physical geography can impact on a country's population, they can consider how poverty, belonging and education impact the trajectory of a person's story and, perhaps most crucially, they become increasingly intrigued to learn about other people's stories.

Build the arc, tell the stories, give them something to pin the knowledge to.

LINK: Sue Perkins and Rakhi ( https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p05kpsp7 )