There is something profound about connecting with students and learning from a story. I remember vividly having a different definition of storytelling in education until I was forced to read
One Native Life by Richard Wagamese and discuss it in class. For some reason I found the story confusing and disjointed until I realized that the author was doing that on purpose. You see there's a common theme in native writing where the disjointed and hard to understand nature of the story is a manifestation of the confusing and broken nature of the authors life. Upon realizing this my perception of storytelling was changed forever. There's something profoundly human about connecting with someone when you listen to them tell a story. It's even more real if it's a first hand account. True education is about understanding, and a well told and personal story is one of the best ways to do this.
As we move into a digital world, I think our possibilities for storytelling are increased. Now we have the power to share not only important and profound stories with others, but also to share our own personal story with others, fostering deeper connections. Being a former history teacher, the possibilities of forging connections in our students minds with real life events is like having the golden ticket to the chocolate factory. I think the onus is on us, as teachers, to not just create digital stories to help our students, but to also find the ones that will reach out and impact our students the most.
Article Source:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zP6CeGLPuOY
Picture Source - Accessed via the creative commons license - http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/55/Millais_Boyhood_of_Raleigh.jpg
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