Reflection – Storytelling Tool

Challenge  Working at an NGO - a school for the poor of Karachi - managing teacher affairs was not an easy  task. Teachers were usually at a loss for motivation and, more often than not, were absent from  work. As part of the teacher training, and admitting process, my team and I were working towards  improving student-teacher interaction, increasing class participation, and bringing better learning  to the classrooms. We were to conduct a program, encouraging teachers to look into the problems  they face in the classroom, and working towards achieving the best for their students.    Selection  My team and I used the tool of Storytelling. Leaders and organizations rarely realize how useful  the tool storytelling is, in the workplace. When thinking of solutions to problems or having to  improve workforce motivation, storytelling proves more purposeful than one could imagine.  Through the power of storytelling, one can inspire their audience, share with them a vision, bring  new ideas to the table, teach valuable lessons, define workplace culture, values, and commitment,  and most importantly, give a reason for why one believes what one believes.    After much debate and discussion, my team decided that storytelling was most apt to convey to  our teachers how we wished to revamp the education system at our school. Along with making  classes more interactive and engaging, we wanted our teachers to build a strong bond with their  students. We wished for school to be a safe space, a friendly environment, a nurturing point where  children would enjoy their friends, celebrate their achievements, and whole-heartedly engage in  learning and grooming. For us to achieve this, our teachers needed to be dedicated, focused, and  passionate about their subjects, their theorems, and their values.   We chose to use storytelling as a tool to guide their thoughts and motivate their actions towards  the primary purpose of our school – building brighter futures. We hoped to convey our vision,  through storytelling, to our teachers to enable them to perform efficiently in the classroom.  It was a challenging path ahead, but small stepping stones and we were definite we would achieve  our goal.    Application  The workshop was planned to take our teachers through a journey of the initiation of our school.  We wanted to connect them as part of the mission of our school and enable them to see how each  one of them had contributed immensely to the upbringing of many children – improving lives, and  indeed building brighter futures.    We began with a video of the original school building. The school was founded ten years ago by  a lady who took a deep interest in the life of orphan children. She was a widow at an early age and  spent a more significant part of her life devoted to educating and grooming orphaned children in  her vicinity. The original school building was, thus, a small room in her two-bedroom apartment.  Hardworking as she was, she was soon able, in a matter of two years, to rent a little place in a

cleaner locality to cater to the needs of more children. After five years of initiation, the school  became more known, and with many donations, the new building was rented out. The video of this  journey played on the screen of the multimedia. It showed the continuous growth of the school.  Teachers joined, children increased, and many grew up and began working in big organizations  while many got small jobs, enough to manage their daily affairs.  Most teachers sitting around could see themselves on the screen, and how they had come so far,  moving and encouraging lives towards growth and light. As much as this was a poignant time,  teachers realized how fruitful their hard work had proved. They realized their value, how much  they had grown as people, and how much the children needed them as guiding stars and parental  figures. The story of the school, through the video projection, enabled us to convey to our teachers  that they mattered most to us and that without them educating children and building brighter  futures was not only unlikely but highly impossible.    Our next goal was to encourage teachers to bring better ideas and interactive learning sessions to  the classroom. To achieve this, we divided the teachers into groups of four and presented them  with a pyramid. The pyramid had certain words written on it – from the base to the pinnacle, on  all five tiers. These were descriptive words that described the overall performance of a class. From  the bottom to the pinnacle, the five adjectives were in ascending order of rising energy levels. The  teachers were asked to select any one word from the pyramid to describe the average performance  of their class. Most chose the middle tier word, i.e., average performance (not too energetic, not  too dull). We now told them to discuss in groups and identify situations when their classes  performed exceptionally well and when they performed not too well. This allowed the teachers to  share stories of different class settings and engage with one another in understanding teaching  methods. This also proved fruitful as most were able to bring new ideas to the table in terms of  better, more interactive ways of teaching a particular subject.    We finally shared with our teachers unique and interesting cases of satisfied students who had  performed exuberantly well in their careers, moving on to holding key positions in some big  organizations. We invited some of these students to share their stories with their teachers. The  teachers were thrilled and delighted to see their students, while the students took great pleasure in  returning to their school to thank those who had shown them the light.  It was a joyous experience for everyone!    Insight  The workshop proved to be a great success, but it enabled me to learn and understand that however,  much each of us may grow in our minds and understanding, we are all children on the inside. With  hearts and souls that desire good stories, we are motivated by the hope of making a good narrative  for future generations to learn, see, and believe. It does not take much to hear a good story, but it  takes great ordeal, willingness, and sheer determination to write a good one.  The storytelling tool allowed me, moreover, to see a problem in different ways; to analyze it and  understand it in depth before running for a solution. The prop which we used, the pyramid, led to  more stories and interaction. It enabled teachers to realize where they stand and how they should  improve. The more valuable aspect of this workshop was the reassuring stories the students shared.

They made their teachers more determined to continue to strive and work towards the growth and  achievement of their current students.    Approach  Thinking of a different way to attempt this workshop, I may conduct the activity at the end of the  session after projecting the videos and having the students share their stories. This will build a  sense of determination and perseverance in the teachers to pull along and continue working hard.  It will motivate them to think of new ideas to improve their teaching styles and increase interaction  with their students.

