Power of storytelling in education

 Tell me a fact and I'll learn. Tell me a truth and I'll believe. But tell me a story and it will live in my heart forever.

                                      - Indian proverb.

I must confess, as a child my special bonding with my grandparents was mainly due to their ability to weave wonderful tales. There were so many of them and were full of various characters like brave kings, princesses, demons, wise sages, evil landlord, hardworking peasants....... Though the storyline varied every time, yet they all never failed in captivating my attention. Besides that they taught me something significant at the end. I didn't realize their deep impact on me and their role in building up my personality until I grew up.

Everyone loves to listen to or read a story. They teach us and we don't mind to learn from them!  Stories are a form of oral history. They tell us about different cultures. If anyone wants to have a look at the richness of any language of the world, then stories are the perfect resource. The proverbs, idioms, metaphors add unique flavor to them.

Storytelling is an art.  The moment a teacher announces in her class that she will tell a story, silence falls right away signifying the hundred percent attention granted to that poor teacher who would otherwise be trying so many 'different methodologies' (that she learned in a workshop and must incorporate in her lesson ) to 'gain' the attention of her learners. Have a look at this short video and watch for yourself the power of storytelling:

To tell or write a story, one has to be creative. Storytelling demands from a person to be imaginative. Hence learners must not only listen, but also be encouraged to tell/write the stories in the class. Telling a story would make them think at a higher cognitive level and build up their vocabularies. The teachers' endeavor to inculcate creativity, writing and public speaking skills amongst them (especially the shy ones) will be fulfilled so simply.

Kid Cartoon by Andertoons

Stories cast tremendous influence on the affective domain of the learner (which plays a vital role in learning experience). The personality of a learner is shaped largely by the way he/she makes some sense of his/her world. Stories are entertaining, motivating and inspiring & each learner constructs his/her own meaning from a story. 

Usually we all think that stories hold significance exclusively in elementary classes where they help in building language skills amongst the young ones. But this is not so; they have epochal role to play in higher education also. Have a look at another video which explains it better than I can.

References:

• Koki.S, (1998) Storytelling: The Heart and Soul of Education. Retrieved November 11,2011 from http://www.prel.org/products/products/storytelling.pdf

• Storytelling as a Teaching Strategy in Higher Education.[Video] Retrieved November 11,2011 from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kvj11DuppPA

• The Power of Storytelling.[Video] Retrieved November 11,2011 from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KGsnz1eUK5I&feature=related

• Quotation. Retrieved November 11,2011 from http://www.dailycelebrations.com/storytelling.htm