Tell me a story

We humans are great at telling stories. We’ve told each other stories for as long as we’ve had language. Even before that–think of cave drawings and paintings. 

Stories helped ancient civilisations make sense of their world. Their creations passed from adult to child in a repeating cycle. Stories speak to modern civilisations. They give us an understanding of their lives.

It’s what we do when we teach. We assist students to understand and make sense of their world. Doesn’t matter the subject, topic or concept. We break it into pieces and then reassemble it for our students. 

The medium could be an oral retelling, a video, a podcast, a blackboard summary, or a multi-media presentation. The story is more important than the medium. It’s the story that shapes the understanding, the deep knowledge, the critical thinking.

During my first year of teaching, I was fortunate to be teamed with a highly experienced teacher. He helped shape the philosophies I carried with me during my career. 

His teaching methods focussed on unlocking critical thinking abilities, creativity and collaboration between learners, some thirty years before State Education Departments began running with them. 

How did he achieve this? He told stories. He demonstrated this through stories. He illustrated through stories. Conceptual understanding was paramount.

Three concepts came through over and over. They’re not new, but they made sense to a wide-eyed beginning teacher. And they stuck with me:

• Gather

• Organise

• Communicate