De la memoria popular a las aulas: una propuesta para la formación lingüística y literaria del profesorado de educación infantil y primaria

Abstract

Our proposal arises from two main needs we identified in Teacher Training programs: to enhance the value of traditional oral literature in education and to reinforce the linguistic and literary skills of future teachers. Regarding the former, our experience is that, even though the genres of traditional oral literature are included in the curriculum at different school levels, they are usually neglected in favour of written literature. In reference to the latter, we detected that our students have several problems with oral expression, particularly in the Galician language, and that they are not familiar with storytelling techniques. For that reason, we designed a project which simultaneously meets those needs: we trained students to design and carry out a teaching activity related to traditional oral literature in school classrooms. Given the success of this activity, we decided to expand it so future teachers could come into contact with the living sources of this tradition, the elders, who also keep the Galician language alive. Thus, prior to their visit to schools, the students go to day-care centres and/or elderly people’s homes to compile folktales, legends, life stories, etc. These materials served as the basis for the teaching activity they designed and implemented at the schools.