Challenge & Selection

I use storytelling all the time. I volunteer as a primary school teacher for an NGO. I teach kids from  standard one to five. They are mostly underprivileged and are not motivated to study or come to  school initially. Most of their parents are daily wage laborers who don’t understand the importance  of education. The kids often would cause ruckus and fight in class. Most of the students are  attending school for the first time and they only come to have their mid day meals.

I spend a lot of time talking to them and and finding ways to inspire them to open books. When I  work with seniors, I tell them to tell me their stories, about their parents, sisters and brothers. Who  is their favorite film hero, which games they play. Then I tell them my stories from my childhood.  This way they become comfortable with me and atleast want to sit in class. I also encourage them to  talk to each other and tell each other stories. For the first few classes I just let them talk, eat lunch,  play and tell me stories. This way school doesn’t seem like a scary place for them.

Application

I have a story to share. In one of the meetings with other teachers, everyone was discussing  punishments we could give the children in order to put them in line. I was strictly against  punishment and decided to tell them a story.

One of the children would be accompanied by his grandmother everyday to school. She sat outside  the school for the entire day and went back only with the child. One day I saw her and asked the  reason. She said she was scared the schoolteacher would beat him as he is very naughty. I promised  her that no such thing would happen and that her grandson would be alright.

The boy was indeed a bit difficult. He would throw stuff in class, tear his shirt, and sometimes even  try to run away. But he was only 5 years old. I saw a few teachers trying punishments with him. They  would send him out of the class or would make him clean the classroom etc. This made him even  more difficult. When it was my class, I would go sit with him after giving work to others and just talk  with him. I realized that he was actually very bright and just didn’t like being in school. But he liked  me. He would start smiling, acting differently when he saw me. One day, he even brought me a  chocolate. So I started to walk him home after school which was nearby. On the way I told him  stories about alphabets and numbers. After a few months when the exam happened, he topped the  class and actually became very sincere. I told this story to show the teachers that kids just want love  and want to feel important.

Insight & Approach

Basically the kid needed individual attention and love. It was not just a lesson for other teachers but  also for me. Even though I was just a volunteer and went twice a week, every time he saw me, he  jumped from his seat, run to me and hug me.

One day he told me that he had no mother and he missed his mom a lot. His elder sister who was  ten would make meals with his grandmother. He said sometimes they had to go hungry because  grandmother was sick. I told him the story about my childhood where I had to live alone for long  durations where I too would miss my mother. Sometimes, the food given by neighbors would go  stale by the time I came from school and I had to stay hungry till night when my mom came home.

The kid connected with the story and slowly started to remain happier.

When I told this story to the teachers, it had a big impact on people there. Punishments were  completely banned and volunteers and full time teachers became friendly with the kids. My

storytelling model was adapted throughout the school. Even today when I am no more working with  the NGO, I keep getting updates that the model is taught to new recruits as example.

