Using Storytelling As A Means Of Teaching: History
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Contributor:
Cecilia Medupin

Storytelling was an important part of my culture and an intrinsic part of people’s way of life. As I grew up and went to school, storytelling was one the ways of learning and conveying important information about the culture, world views, morals, expectations, norms and values. 

  • storytelling
  • teaching
  • ecology
  • perspectives
  • participation

1. Introduction

The function of storytelling has been identified as mediating and transmitting knowledge, wisdom and information across generations. While a person may have forgotten the lesson, they will remember the key elements of the story. Storytelling traditions vary all over the world, yet have many things in common, such as oral narration, moral teachings, use of gestures and repetition [1]. As a student, I was keen to learn about the science beyond the theory and the four walls of a classroom and to learn in such a way that I would know how the knowledge gained relates to everyday living. Studying ecology in the UK and developing an interest in freshwater aquatic invertebrates showed me that each organism’s structure and function tell different stories. Each of them performs a myriad of ecosystem functions, including water purification (e.g., mussels); the processing of organic matter (e.g., caddisfly larva, as shredders); the recycling of nutrients (e.g., through bioturbation affecting sediment geochemistry and benthic–pelagic coupling) [2][3]; the creation of structural habitat complexity that benefits other invertebrate and fish species (e.g., burrowing macroinvertebrates) [4]. Therefore, beyond looking at them physically, their lives are stories in themselves. A high diversity of freshwater invertebrates are insects, given the diverse habitat types available for colonisation, and there have been reports of the global decline of these organisms [5][6]. While reports showed that about 25% of these freshwater invertebrate communities were under threat of extinction (https://reports.peakdistrict.gov.uk/ccva/docs/assessments/wildlife/aquaticinvertebrates.html (accessed on 18 October 2023) due to anthropogenic activities, the decline in insect abundance could have negative consequences for ecosystem function and services. Although these issues were not lost on me because of my studies, I needed a type of knowledge and a means to convey this information. This is so that I can involve others in ways that can provoke change, instill norms and values and inform applied actions in daily living. Given the plethora of challenges faced by freshwater biodiversity, including urbanisation and pollution [7][8][9], I saw a gap in communication between the scientists, the lay public and students in terms of raising awareness and providing essential values needed to protect and conserve our freshwater aquatic invertebrates.

2. Storytelling and Learners’ Engagement

Storytelling can be used to capture the listeners’ attention, communicate information through clear messages and use language that is easily understood through the use of case studies, eyewitness accounts or the testimonials of others [10]. Storytelling brings the teller and audience into a reciprocal process of listening and telling, from which a fresh story of professional meaning and purpose can emerge. This form of communication helps listeners to connect what they hear and practice in their own lives [11]. Therefore, the listeners become conscious beings, build a rapport with the storyteller along with credibility and trust, promote participation and communication [12] and promote the values needed to effect change in society. The connections and relations between humans, and between humans and the animal world, are created through storytelling, and African people’s humanistic philosophy [13] is enshrined in the African concept of “Ubuntu”—which means “I am what I am because of you” [14]. The emotional and cognitive effects of stories [11] delivered by the storyteller could further make listeners engage with the context being presented by the storyteller. According to [15], African storytelling is a powerful pedagogical tool for communicating people’s knowledge and wisdom. It sharpens people’s creativity and imagination, shapes their behaviour, trains their intellect and regulates their emotions. This also aligns with the ecological systems theory of [16], which states that many different levels of environmental influences affect developmental processes, from the immediate surroundings of the individual to nationwide cultural forces. Thus, public engagement initiatives have been shown to promote effective storytelling strategies especially aimed at raising awareness of fundamental issues and where change is needed. By bringing to life the relationship between what is being shared and real-life experiences, all types of people, groups, individuals or institutions, can participate fully and share knowledge with the scientists and other visitors. This form of inclusive participation builds strong, sustainable relationships and strengthens connections within communities through knowledge sharing and gathering, while providing incentives for engaging in conversations [17]. This form of engagement through storytelling is important in communities, as it can give people greater influence over their environment, improve their sense of wellbeing and help them contribute effectively to decision-making processes. These outcomes could lead to a change of attitude and behaviour, and inform positive action and choices facing decision makers [18].

3. Emotive and Cognitive Elements of Storytelling

Chinua Achebe, in his book Anthills of the Savannah [19], explains that there are three elements to a story.It entertains, it informs and it instructs. Stories support and reinforce the basic doctrines of a culture. The emotional and cognitive effects of stories impact on the listeners and the storyteller, which therefore makes storytelling a profound tool for engaging a wide range of non-technical listeners [20]. With its ease of comprehension, storytelling could help people to reflect on the different parts of a story that affects them individually, i.e., based on their lived experiences and values. They would then in turn be more inclined to share these experiences with others, ask questions, seek clarification, retain information or include additional information in the story as necessary [10][21][22]. The concept of inclusive public engagement and storytelling aligns with the ideals of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal of including everyone in collective environmental protection. While storytelling is an ancient and powerful practice [23], it has been adapted over the years to occupy different spaces, including lecture theatres and summer schools.

4. Use of Storytelling and Students

In order for learners’ interests to be sustained for a longer time, learning by listening and enjoyment are fundamental. The authors of [24] observed that emotions have a substantial influence on the cognitive processes in humans including perception, attention, learning and problem solving. To promote enjoyment, the storytelling format, which included diverse oral, physical and hands-on activities, created opportunities for learners’ abilities to develop, while the conversations between the participants enhanced common affiliations, interests and knowledge development. Thus, far from being a mere source of entertainment, the storytelling process helped to sharpen people’s creativity and imagination, to shape their behaviour, to train their intellect and to regulate their emotions [15].
The communal participatory experience, style and structure of the teaching sessions align with African storytelling traditions, which start with an introduction and end with some moral lessons [1][13][14][19][25]. All the venues chosen for the activities created a welcoming atmosphere that fostered conversations and enabled participation [17]. Through conversations, discussion and connections with other people in welcoming teaching spaces, participants are helped to openly express feelings of despair, optimism, support and hope. The authors of [26], through the project Performing Sciences, argued that by employing strategies from the Arts sector, science educators could facilitate opportunities for pleasure and for collaborative and social learning.
Furthermore, the introductory session which sets the scene enabled the participants to engage with others during the middle and closing sessions, when lessons and take-home messages were collated. The attention and enthusiastic responses elicited from the participants in the feedback revealed the levels at which they have been captivated by the exercises and the oral renditions in the process of field sessions, laboratory sessions and lectures.
The learners had positive perceptions of the use of storytelling as a learning resource as it allowed them to relate taught contents to real life issues, they felt a part of a community/at home, they worked as a team and they needed more time for the discussion and interpretation of their data. The students stated that storytelling enabled them to work in collaboration with others. Collaboration is a key aspect of using storytelling as a pedagogical strategy [21] and makes the process a success. This form of knowledge acquisition through collaboration creates social interactions which help maintain recipients’ interest in the story contents over a long period of time, and thereby enables prolonged engagement with the story content [27].
While the emotions, connections and, passion expressed by the engaged participants will impact indelibly on their minds [11], the exercises initiated a motivation for learning and for change, i.e., to protect their rivers and organisms, and to create their own stories. The feelings of pleasure in learning could help lay people reflect on how they can contribute their quota to environmental and river protection, and in small ways leave some ecological footprints [28]. This, therefore, suggests a call to be more intentional with the delivery of scientific information and to connect the content with real life issues. The enjoyment, interest and confidence demonstrated by the participants revealed that storytelling promotes not only social and emotional benefits, but also comprehension and application, and helps retention in long-term memory [27]. By keeping teaching fresh and interactive, storytelling serves as a good pedagogical tool with many intrinsic benefits [10]. The process of learning using stories not only addresses the affective component, i.e., to make the recipients more open to new experiences, but is also more likely to approach novel information.

This entry is adapted from the peer-reviewed paper 10.3390/educsci14010018

References

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