Reflection  –  Storytelling

Challenge  &  Selection   Storytelling  is  a  great  tool  that  I  use.  I  am  a  freelancer  and  like  to  teach  to  students  of  all

grades.  It  is  very  difficult  to  teach  students  of  all  grades  as  each  student  have  different

behavior  or  characteristics.  They  respond  in  a  very  different  way.  So  there  is  no  one  size  fit

for  all  technique  to  teach  students.  But  there  is  one  thing  that  all  the  students  relate  to  that  is

a  story.  I  use  the  story  as  a  conversation  with  the  students  so  that  they  better  interact  and

open  up  their  ideas  or  point  of  views,  this  creates  different  perspectives  and  ideas  to  discuss

which  eventually  help  them  build  on  their  imagination.     Application   I  have  a  story  about  using  storytelling.  One  day  I  was  teaching  my  students.  We  were  having

a  healthy  discussion  on  Religion.  Both  advantages  and  disadvantages  were  put  by  the

students.  The  depth  of  discussion  was  going  to  a  great  extent.  But  suddenly  one  of  them  got

offended  and  started  crying.  All  of  this  created  chaos  in  the  group.  For  a  moment,  it  was

difficult  for  me  to  calm  that  student.  I  believe  that  each  one  of  us  has  a  different  opinion  and

view,  and  if  we  have  the  ability  to  speak  against  someone  then  we  should  also  keep  the

capacity  to  listen  if  someone  is  speaking  against  us.  So  there  was  no  right  or  wrong  in  that

current  situation  as  each  of  the  students  was  placing  facts  and  then  using  that  fact  to  come

to  the  inference.     Insight  &  Approach   I  used  the  art  of  storytelling  so  that  everyone  in  the  group  understands  and  listen  to  me.  So  I

told  them  my  story.  I  shared  that  my  parents  believe  in  only  Hindu  religion  whereas  I  believe

in  all  religions.  We  were  facing  some  difficulty  because  our  shop  caught  fire  and  we  were

facing  a  financial  crisis.  My  parents  being  Hindus  thought  it  was  because  of  my  Muslim

friend  whom  I  work  with.  My  friend  told  me  it  was  fine  how  my  parents  thinks  about  him  and  it

didn’t  matter  to  him.  He  was  not  offended  by  this.  He  told  me  that  his  family  had  same

thoughts  about  me.  So,  we  all  had  different  mindsets  and  instead  of  fighting  over  religion,  he

helped  me  in  building  my  shop  from  scratch.      So  I  told  my  students  that  all  the  religion  talks  about  Humanity  being  the  greatest  of  all.  It  is  a

way  of  thinking  and  how  we  perceive  the  world.     This  course  made  me  see  storytelling  as  a  tool  and  art  in  a  new  way.  When  I've  done  it

before  it  was  basically  "ad  hoc,"  but  now  I  can  prepare  ahead  and  think  of  stories  that  will  aid

me  in  presenting  my  ideas  and  best  illuminate  people.     I  had  a  teaching  background  but  I  believe  I  can  use  this  tool  of  storytelling  to  inspire  people

and  work  with  them  to  achieve  goals  in  a  sustainable  manner.

