The Value of the Story: Where Learning Meets Understanding

Abstract

Storytelling began quite possibly as early as 15,000 bc, with cave drawings of animals and a man. Enduring because of its appeal to the human spirit and imagination, stories illuminate and inspire as well as bridge a gap between fact and fiction. From the time we are little children, stories have taken us on a journey. Whether simple or complex, we use them to remember; we use them to create; we use them to disrupt. But there is a Part Two to the power of a story that can be found in telling it – in the act of becoming the storyteller. In either presenting a narrative or sharing the narrative as the character, one transforms from a learner to a teacher. And in that transformation is found deep understanding and learning. There is a story at every turn in education – in history, in languages, in maths, in science – everywhere. This chapter will discuss the tremendous value of the story, not just in the telling but as the teller.

Citation

Swanson, J.B. (2020), "The Value of the Story: Where Learning Meets Understanding", Heuvel, L.L. (Ed.) Living History in the Classroom, Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 27-42. https://doi.org/10.1108/978-1-78973-595-620201005