The most fascinating thing about Special Education is that the students are even more diverse than those in mainstream classrooms. Although it can be an extremely challenging task to educate such a diverse classroom, it is also an enormously rewarding one. I discovered an article “Storytelling: Addressing the Literacy Needs of Diverse Learner” on using storytelling as a medium to teaching a wide range of learning abilities.
The main point of the article is that “Storytelling is a great way to bridge apparent ‘cultural divides’ by encouraging many interpretations of the core story the teacher is telling” (46). It does this in five different ways. First, it allows students a social context that they can relate to and learn from. Because the story is their own, the students do not feel threatened by not telling the story in the “right” way. There is no right way. By sharing stories with each other, the students are also able to learn about other cultures and traditions. The students are given insights about life in general, challenges, and interrelationships their peers are facing.
Second, it fosters creativity for the students. “Oral discourse encourages children to explain their ideas in an engaging and coherent way so that they can hold the attention of their audience” (46). When the students must find new ways to express themselves, both the performer and the audience are learning new ways to communicate their emotions. The kids can create gestures or voices that accompany the story they are telling to make it more memorable to their audience. All of this helps the students to learn.
Third, story telling “encourages role-taking and inferential comprehension” (47). This improves the students’ social skills by creating circumstances that lead to increased interaction. By role taking, the students are also able to take on roles that perhaps they might not try otherwise. It may leave room for students to break out of their shells and be someone they would like to be. Additionally, role playing gives students the chance to “co-construct a world view that integrates their mental constructs into the values, struggles, and beliefs of their family and cultural group” (48). Thus, the teacher also gets to see a side of the students that they might not see in the class. It is essential while teaching to really get to know the students and how their home life may affect them.
Fourth, the students begin to learn what is needed to make literacy understandable. If their story is confusing, then their classmates will question them. Thus, making the performer learn which aspects of stories may need expanding, while others may not have been as important. One of the points that this article also points out is that students will also be able to see that different people like different stories. To make literacy interesting, there must be various genres and tones.
Finally, by using students’ prior knowledge, storytelling makes it easier for students to remember information. If the students know the story, then they will be able to pay more attention to how the performer is performing and the different kinds of literacy techniques that are presented. When students know a particular story, they will also be more aware of cultural differences in a similar but different story. The example given in the article talk about how Cinderella in the Western cultures is about a girl with an evil stepmother and stepsisters. However, in Ireland, a similar fable is called Cinderfella and is about an orphaned boy, pursued by a princess. These clearly similar but different fairy-tales highlight the fact that different cultures have different values and traditions. The students will be able to learn and admire differences among their classmates.
The article did not present any results or conclusions, but they did offer examples of how to put storytelling to use and why. Storytelling is a lesson that can help with kids that have problems with language or that have learning disabilities. Stories aid in increasing communication skills, thus helping those with language problems. If the problem is because English is a second language, then perhaps something like reciting half of the story in the other language could be done. Then the audience is learning something new and the performer feels comfortable with their native language. Students with LD are at an advantage because they have many more options when reciting a story orally instead of writing a story.
The article offered strategies to help students feel comfortable with using storytelling as a teaching technique, which was also helpful. It talked about how it is beneficial to allow students to chose a personal story, one they have read, or a movie they have seen. The point of the exercise is not always in creative writing, but rather in expressing oneself. The article also mentioned that audience participation is key. This can be done with movements, board games, pictures, music, ect. Most importantly, make sure that all of the students understand what they are doing, why they are doing it, and are presenting it in a comprehensible and interesting manner to the rest of the students.
For the most part, I really enjoyed the article. I had not thought of using storytelling as a method of teaching in my class. However, the more I read the article, the more I realized that there are many benefits to having the students perform short stories. I feel that it has the potential to be an amazing form of expression and a way for not only the students to get to know each other better, but also a way that I can get to know my students better. I also liked how it gave a few strategies of teaching by storytelling. Although I think this article was focused more towards a younger audience, there are many aspects of it that can be used in my classroom when I teach.
One of the things that I did not like about the article was how it did not focus much on Special Education. I was hoping that it would offer more variations on teaching by storytelling. It seemed as though it was fairly mainstreamed. For example, what are some solutions to a child that has a speech impediment, or one that is terrified to get up in front of a classroom and share their stories. Thus, I really liked to content of the article, I was just hoping that there would be more. Overall, I would recommend this article for people to read. I feel that it is a method of teaching that has a lot of potential.
