I mean, when I'm in a classroom with kids the last thing on my mind is some vague set of ideas which are supposed to keep me on track. The longer I have been working with the Scottish Storyline method, the more I am convinced of the need to pin down a set of guiding principles. Behind all good practice is sound theory. As a teacher and a professional, I need to be able to articulate why my practice is effective. A core set of principles can also help us to determine what is and what isn't the Storyline method within the context of broad interpretation.
Principles guide our practice and shape our planning, our thinking and our assessment.
Without them, the Storyline method could be reduced to a set of clever art activities planned to enrich a traditional subject by subject curriculum. The European Association for Educational Design, or EED, is the organization of Storyline educators that sponsors the international Golden Circle Storyline Conference. They have generated a set of principles which I find quite useful. I have defined them in order to assure that we all understand them in the same way. I am certain that as you read them you will recognize in their simplicity the powerful qualities that make the Scottish Storyline method so effective.