Thursday, February 25, 2016

The Power of Story



"The world is not made of atoms. It is made of stories." 

- Muriel Ruykeser, poet



How We Know and Remember


When I was small, I read all of CS Lewis' books, The Chronicles of Narnia - that world was more real than my own.

 I'll never forget the day Lucy emerged from the wardrobe into the winter Narnian night.  I was at once bewitched - held hostage, like Edmund lured by Turkish delight, onto the sleigh of the White Queen. I could not tear myself away, such was the power and magic of the story - which to me, had become a living journey, the hero's journey, reflecting from each heroic character  the hero in myself.  

The most important question anyone can ask is: What myth am I living?" - Carl Jung

When we look through time at folktale, legend and myth, we see the stories of people, all people reflected through the archetypes who symbolize the desires, dreams, fears and foibles - of all humans.  Every culture has a hero, a villain, a queen, a prophet and a fool.  In every fictional and symbolic tale are great and universal truths, we as humans, understand. That is the power of story and that is why our own stories, empower and emancipate us when we tell them.

"The real difference between telling what happened and telling a story about what happened is that instead of being a victim of our past, we become master of it." - Donald Davis, American story-teller, author,
minister

In my ninth grade English class, we have been exploring the power of story.  We are beginning a project, similar to NPR's Story Corps, wherein people who have a special connection or who have shared a significant even,t interview each other, record their conversations and share, through audio or video file, with the world at large.  I've invited a guest speaker to come and do a presentation on journalistic writing. This educator runs the school newspaper. He and his students have started a column called "The Streets of Kalihi".  The students actually have a beat and go out into the community in search of news and human interest stories. What a great way to build sense a of place. I hope this project will help my students connect more fully with each other and with people in their communities and perhaps most importantly, help them find their own voices in the process. 

The telling of stories is significant because, as Donald Davis says, it can change our roles from the past - or at least alter our perception of them, perhaps from victim to hero. Re-telling our stories also give rise to the notion that our experience is important, and while unique also universal, others can relate and sympathize with our stories. That is empowering. That is how we create the building blocks for relationship.

"In my life, the stories I have heard from my family, my friends, my community, and from willing strangers all over the world have been the true source of my education." - Holly Near, musician


Stories not only resonate with symbolic familiarity, but they open new vistas - give us new eyes with which to view the world and in turn ourselves. Listening to the stories of others gives us a place from which we can reflect anew upon ourselves and our place in the world and how we choose to move through it. Stories guide us and create us  We speak the world and it emerges around us reflecting the color and tone and vitality of our words. 

As my students tell their stories, I see them a light. They are somebody and perhaps seeing themselves more clearly, as they describe their life events, their feelings. I see that they have become more open, more interested in what they are doing in class - they seem to want to do well.  I think articulating their experiences makes them feel valued. Through their story-telling, they are naming who they are. To reflect on and to define oneself is a true act of power.  



For more information on starting a story-telling project in your classroom see the following:


shttps://storycorps.org/storycorpsu/teacher-resources/


http://www-tc.pbs.org/nationalparks/media/pdfs/place-based-digital-storytelling-overview.pdf

http://www.pbs.org/nationalparks/for-educators/digital-storytelling/

Place-Based Digital Storytelling Modules

Here you will find eleven screencasts (video tutorials) and associated quick-start guides offering hands-on training in place-based digital storytelling. Using themes woven into the film and highlighted in the lesson plans, these modules train teachers how to integrate new media, digital storytelling, and online mapping projects in their curriculum to engage students in authentic learning.

Wednesday, February 3, 2016

The Importance of Relationships for Learning

Relationships for Learning

I'm going to go out on a limb to say that on the first day of school, the most important thing for any student is having or making friends. The second most important thing is to have a teacher who provides a safe and friendly environment where expectations and established protocols are clear, a place where learning can happen. 


My first day of school this term was at the start of the spring semester, where I entered as a "new" teacher in a school near a rough cluster of housing projects in Kalihi Valley in Hawaii, (Yes, there are projects in paradise). The students here had been together through the fall, without me, and the dynamic of each class was pretty much set by the time I got there. One of the classes was wild but willing - the other two vacillated between light-you-hair-on-fire chaos, to stonewalling me. They were not open to someone new replacing the teacher they had been with before. I began immediately to research what types of strategies work for building relationships with youth at risk. 

I wanted a) establish a space for learning, and b) live to tell the tale. Is that too much ask? Everyone, including those who haven't set foot in a classroom since their own high school days, has an opinion on how to do this, however, upon entering a class that is exuding high voltage hostility, it becomes painfully clear that is isn't as easy as "everyone" thinks. 
At this time I was in a master's program and had my professor to talk with. I also sought advice from peers, counselors, parents, and spoke to the Principal about what was (and wasn't) going on in the classroom. What I needed was the back-story on why things were so crazy out of control...and I would have to find a way for the students and I to come to some agreements on how to work together.

The topic of relationship building in classrooms has been heavily researched. According to  Interpersonal Relationships in Education: From Theory to Practice, this type of inquiry began approximately 40 years ago.  Later in 1984, the American Educational Research Association Special Interest Group on Learning Environments was established. There is now a wealth of information on the topic of relationship-building for education that is both interesting and practical, however, nothing prepares you well enough, except the thing itself, spending time in the belly of the beast, otherwise known as, a classroom.

One intriguing concept I read about was the importance of considering the micro view of the moment by moment interactions between teacher and student.  Things like greeting each student by name, at the door in the morning, looking each student in the eye during class lectures, and getting to know each student on a personal note, are all moment to moment interactions that establish a connection. Interestingly, these practices, along with shaking each student's hand upon entering the class every day, is a long-held tradition of the Waldorf Schools, established by 19th-century philosopher, social reformer, educator, theosophist, and biodynamic agriculturalist, Rudolph Steiner. More esoterically, Waldorf teachers have trained also, to envision the faces of each of their students before they go to sleep at night and imbue that vision with love and vitality. They believe this creates a positive feeling for and from the students on a daily basis.
The visionary Steiner also espoused A'o; the learning that happens not just from teacher to student, but from student to teacher, in his many writings. He stated that "even the wisest can learn incalculably from children", and that it is "the child who is the book from which we educate ourselves." Valuing the knowledge students bring to a learning space is elemental in building relationships with them.


In the book, Interpersonal Relationships in Education, the authors point out that because education is a fundamentally social enterprise, learning how to enhance the social interactions between teachers, administrators, students, and peers is essential for education. A student's perception of their teachers and of their learning environment also affects their learning outcomes.
(Wubbels, Brekelmans, Van Tartwjik, & Admiral, 1999: Wubbels and Levy, 1993)

Practical strategies are needed to create an environment that students will perceive as safe, non-judgmental, and open to their ideas in order to foster genuine engagement. A necessary component in such an environment is effective classroom management, which calls for "appropriate levels of dominance".  Appropriate dominance is a characteristic of effective teacher-student relationships and is defined as the teacher's ability to provide a clear purpose and strong guidance, in both academics and student behavior. (Wubbels, Brekelmans, Van Tartwjik, & Admiral, 1999: Wubbels and Levy, 1993)
Studies indicate that when asked about their preferences for teacher behavior, students typically express a desire for this type of action. (Marzano & Marzano, 2003) I'm in need of strategies that will work with at-risk high school students, many of whom do not have strong familial support, structure or security and I need to show them, that I will be there for them, day after day.