Australia’s Story Factory is impacting lives of marginalised kids
THE executive director of the Story Factory NGO in Sydney, Australia, Cath Keenan and volunteer manager Craig New speak to Carla Lever in this Q & A.
Can you explain a little about the local Australian context in which you work?
Our focus at the Sydney Story Factory is on working with students from any kind of marginalised background – we’ve had more than 10 000 students in our five years of operation!
There’s a wide range of literacy levels, from students who are struggling and behind, to students who are gifted but not being given the opportunities to challenge themselves.
Why’s it important? Well, just one example: Indigenous students are three times more likely to test below the minimal reading and writing standard. That’s not ok.
In South Africa, although we have 11 official languages, only 0.5% of children’s books are published in indigenous languages. Is it similar in Australia?
Yes. There were once more than 500 different Aboriginal languages in Australia, but many of those have sadly become extinct and you would be hard-pressed finding literature in any of them.
We sometimes encourage students to write portions of their work in their home language.
One of our storytellers is from the Nucoorilma Clan of the Gamilaroi Nation, and has a wealth of cultural knowledge that he brings to our programmes.
Set the scene for us! What does a typical week at the Story Factory look like?
Coffee . . . so much coffee! At the moment, we’re running about 35 workshops each week. There’s always lots of planning around these, as well as typing and binding of books children contribute towards. As a non-profit that relies on funding, there’s also a lot of grant writing, and of course a huge amount of administration support.
Why do you believe so strongly in linking creativity to education?
There’s always been debate in Australia over the merits of a creative arts education.
We obviously feel it’s incredibly important. These kinds of developments go a lot further than an entertaining story: they’re providing confidence and communication skills, and fostering an empathy for the world around them. And it all happens through being supported to explore creatively in a safe space . . .
An impressive 12 055 workshop hours last year? How is that possible?
It’s our massive volunteer base – we’ve trained more than 1 800 people.
Our workshops are led by expert storytellers, but it’s our volunteers who make all the difference: sitting at the tables with the students, asking questions and encouraging them along.
You’ve got staff positions like storyteller-in-chief – what a great title! What roles do you envisage adults playing in young people’s development.
We’re very much about student-centred education here, and our roles are primarily as guides. Our job is essentially to ask lots of questions and encourage when the going gets tough . . . so that students of any ability can engage and take something away.
Your executive director Cath Keenan was honoured with an Australian of the Year local hero award last year. Do you get government support for your work?
It’s complicated. We’ve been fortunate enough to receive some government funding but we seem to fall between the cracks a little between the category of arts and education, so they often don’t quite know how to classify us. Private funders really sustain us.
What are some of your most memorable moments?
One of my favourites was seeing a young student with autism stand up and read his story at the end of term after his mother had said there was no chance whatsoever he’d do that.
There’s the Aboriginal boy who spent more than a year actively resisting the workshops, then discovered something he could connect with and put his whole being into the story with amazing results for his confidence. Or the homeless teenagers who came in for a term to write protest poetry and proudly presented us with a framed copy of their work . . . I could go on.
Reading and telling stories with your children is a great gift to them. It builds knowledge, language, imagination and school success! For more information and to access children’s stories in a range of SA languages, visit: www.nalibali.org