Why We Teach Storytelling

In our fast-paced, media-driven world, children are bombarded with information and stimuli.  Careful listening and clear communication is becoming harder for them to learn. Storytelling is a way to teach children that their spoken words are powerful, that listening is important, and that clear communication between people is an art. The Story Arts Institute lists these important reasons to teach storytelling:

Gaining Verbal Skills

Becoming verbally proficient can contribute to a student’s ability to resolve interpersonal conflict nonviolently. Negotiation, discussion, and tact are peacemaking skills. Being able to lucidly express one’s thoughts and feelings is important for a child’s safety. Clear communication is the first step to being able to ask for help when it is needed.

Imagination

Both telling a story and listening to a well-told tale encourages students to use their imaginations. Developing the imagination can empower students to consider new and inventive ideas. Developing the imagination can contribute to self-confidence and personal motivation as students envision themselves competent and able to accomplish their hopes and dreams.

Passing On Wisdom

Storytelling based on traditional folktales is a gentle way to guide young people toward constructive personal values by presenting imaginative situations in which the outcome of both wise and unwise actions and decisions can be seen.

Shane Snow is chief content officer at Contently and a freelance writer whose work has appeared in Wired, Fast Company, and many other publications. He recently wrote an article,Why Storytelling Will Be the Biggest Business Skill of the Next 5 Years, for Hubspot, a marketing blog.  In it, he says, “Stories make presentations better. Stories make ideas stick. Stories help us persuade. Savvy leaders tell stories to inspire us, motivate us. That’s why so many politicians tell stories in their speeches. They realize that “what you say” is often moot compared to “how you say it.”

“There’s a Native American proverb on my office wall that says, “Those who tell the stories rule the world.” As technology increasingly intertwines us, I believe that’s increasingly true. It’s our job as businesses and workers and leaders to make sure the good guys are the ones telling the best stories. And like any skill, we’re going to need practice at it.”

At the Episcopal School of Knoxville, we incorporate storytelling into the curriculum frequently and in many ways.  Through storytelling, reader’s theater, writing and performing stories, skits, fables, tall tales, legends and even chapel talks, our students build confidence and poise, improve expressive language skills, stimulate inventive thinking, build listening skills, develop appreciation of other ethnic cultures, and deepen their values.

Check out this video below of rising third grader Mimi Johnson with her retelling of the story “On a Dark and Stormy Night.”

Today’s blog post is written by ESK second grade teacher Lucy Tyler. Each year, second grade are often tasked with storytelling as it is an integral part of the curriculum.