According to studies and researches carried out it has been observed that learning and literacy development in schools has been directly linked to the art of storytelling. It has been argued that story telling is to be incorporated in the schools to increase learning in students. In some cases, it has been observed that multicultural learning is supported in classrooms if story telling sources belong to different cultures as this can be helpful in increasing the development of healthy self-concepts in the listeners (Evans, and Metzger, 2000, p. 78). In this case, it has been seen that for the purpose of an increase in students' imaginative powers, incorporation of stories highlighting traditional literature has been assured. Other than imaginative powers, these traditional literature stories can promise an increase in learning related to identity and morality. Important roles can be played by the dramatic formats used in western stories, as these can be the primary sources of effective teaching and learning in the classroom. Classic fairy tales are one of the best examples of stories that have been seen to engage children in imagination thus helping them in building their power of imagination (Fog, and Yakaboylu, 2005, p. 89).
It has been argued that looking at a story in its text phase is a western bias observed in the western culture. In this case, a story is prioritized to be captured in audio, video or the text format thinking that these formats are enough to grab a story in its true format. These manifestations in the stories have been responsible to strip away the soul and true relationship building powers of storytelling. Relationship building has been considered as the main component of storytelling (Stone , 2005, p. 78).
Many authors have argued that story telling is an important source to build stronger relationships. Storytelling has been considered as an art that connects the audience in such a way that they are unified. Regarded as a connective tissue, story is ligament that binds the audience. Not taking into consideration the length of the story, factors that bind a story teller and his audience is the setting in which stories are told as storyteller adds his personal life experiences. When story telling is carried out in an authentic way, there is a strong relationship building between storyteller and the audience. In addition to this it has been argued that story telling has an ability to strongly connect cultures and families (Miller, 2004, p. 70).
Purpose of Chapter
There is a role of storytelling in learning and building relationships. There is a need to highlight these important functions associated with storytelling. This chapter has highlighted some of the most important facts related to storytelling. Story telling is now being taken into consideration as a source of learning and skill development in children in schools. There is a strong link of storytelling with building relationships and this has been highlighted in this chapter.
Chapter II Literature Review
Description of Storytelling
Storytelling has been defined as an art of conveying events from the past by the help of words, images, improvisation and even embellishment. As an important role player in entertainment, education, cultural learning and instilling moral values, storytelling and narration has been given more importance than school education in some cases.
Storytelling and stories are composed of some most important and crucial components inclusive of plot, characters, along with point of view of the narrative.
The art of storytelling has evolved since many years and it has been seen that primitive forms of storytelling were inclusive of oral gestures and expressions that increased an interest of the audience in stories (Spierling, and Szilas, 2008, p. 34).
Recording Stories in Pictures
In the past storytelling was considered as an important part of religious teachings. An example of these can be the elementary drawings scratched on the walls of various caves regarded as a form of storytelling in ancient cultures. Many cultures have been known to invent different ways of storytelling as in the case of aboriginal Australians, symbols of characters belonging to certain stories used to be painted so that the storyteller could remember the stories. Afterwards, the storyteller told the story by using music, dances, arts and oral narratives in order to make it look even more interesting. In order to record the stories in pictures, certain kinds of ephemeral media as sand, leaves, carved trunks of the trees have been used (Kroeber, 2004, p. 67).
Recently, storytelling has been counted as a form of art that has received serious attention in many countries including United States. An evidence of this increasing interest is an increase in the number of organizations, and educational institutes that have grown around an ideology of storytelling. It has been identified by many authors that storytelling in the past was not just done to engage children and to make them stay, but storytelling was considered as an important source of making children behave and learn important parts of history not known to them (James, 2003, p. 56).
Many reasons have been identified for telling stories to the children. Along with factors of relaxing children's minds, a factor that adds to the value of storytelling is its educational aspect along with healing. Thereby healing has been introduced as a newer concept of storytelling as children in their most relaxed state of minds can use imaginations and can learn different ways of behaving and find new ways of being better human beings. In some cases, it has been seen that children face their fears in an up-close manner while listening to stories that can let them learn ways to face them and overcome them (Stanley, and Dillingham, 2009, p. 89). When children listen to stories that are packed with action and characters as idealized heroes, there is a desire in these children to be better human beings in order to be capable of saving and helping the ones in need. In some cases, it has been observed that adults end the stories without any specific solutions and children are asked to find solutions to these stories. Thereby children are engaged in brainstorming to find better solutions to problems highlighted in the stories.
Keeping in mind the decreasing level of imaginative skills that modern children have, there is a need to incorporate storytelling in educational institutes. This is very important as power of imaginations of children belonging to the modern generation is at stake and these are in need to be saved. According to a study, there is a phenomenal increase in children watching television and sitting in front of the screen searching for channels for hours and these trends have jeopardized the thinking and imagining abilities of children and these are to be saved. There is a strong link between storytelling and power of imagination. It is seen that storytelling increases the power of imagination in children. During the process of storytelling, pictures are created in the minds of these children that helps them follow the story (Langellier, and Peterson, 2004, p. 45) .
In case of educational institutes, it has been argued that storytelling should not be limited to the children but adults also should be given the chances to tell their own stories. In this case, when students are engaged in telling, there are chances of students engaging with other students and teachers thus an improvement in communication skills can possibly occur. Along with achieving a certain level of appreciation from cultures to which the stories belong, there is an increase in social engagement of these students with an increase in self-assurance and self confidence (McDrury, and Alterio, 2003, p. 67).
Connecting Storytelling to Adult Education
Currently storytelling has been approved as an important source of adult education. An evidence of this increase in popularity is seen as there is an incorporation of storytelling in storytellers' guilds, university courses and curriculums, artist-residency programs including international conferences and various kinds of publications. Based on these it has been realized that storytelling is a technological form of learning. Storytelling has been appreciated as a form of learning in kindergarten and preschool levels but these days storytelling has been increasingly incorporated in university curriculums as well in order to improve communication strategies in students with an improvement in imagination and thinking capabilities. Still there are many lags in an implementation of storytelling with its key areas of importance in educational institutions. Storytelling has not been observed to be an important part of the content areas and higher education grades. Moreover, there is a need that the teachers implement storytelling as a conceptual approach to storytelling (Horowitz, 2006, p. 56).
On the base of these arguments, researchers have argued that slowly there is an increase in an understanding of storytelling and its importance in educational institutions. There will always be a competition between storytelling as an art and a form of learning with media and computers. In universities and many educational institutions, there is an increased prevalence of computer technology, interactive technology and distance learning education programs that will increase the chances of storytelling being declined as a source of learning. One of the main factors that have been added in the list of decreasing rates of thinking capabilities in students include frequent use of hypertexts and media production used as a primary source of information (Cox, Albert, and Mellon, 2003, p. 78).
Impact of Storytelling on Learning
Teachers, children and elder students are now being considered as major users and consumers of traditional text in the modern society. An important question that needs an answer is that what roles are being played by folk storytelling in an understanding of adult education and human understanding. There is a need of additional research and studies that can study the impact of seminal and pre-historical ways of storytelling on learning in adults and children. Fewer studies have been carried out by the researchers to study the effects of designing curriculums based on story structures on ways in which student perceive their life and learn about history (Albert, and Cox, 2003, p. 56).
Storytelling and Identity Learning
Some studies have revealed that there is a direct link of an increased power of value and identity learning and storytelling. This has been especially observed when story telling is combined with post performance discussions in the classrooms. These discussions have been considered as an important source of value learning and perceptions in students. With the help of effective storytelling, students can have a chance to evaluate value systems along with a set of cultural perceptions that surrounds them. On the other hand, it has been observed that when stories from disparate cultural texts are presented to the students, conceptions and biases held by these students are placed under examination (Haven, and Ducey, 2007, p. 78).
Storytelling allows the students to talk about life conditions that they face daily thereby students are given a chance to look at their lives in a clearer manner. In many cases, it has been argued that self-consciousness and an individual's own personality are better creators of stories as these two factors are more linked when giving a concept to the story that can make sense in the outer world. Language is an essential part of storytelling thereby one main fact that has to be considered is the relationship between language and consciousness (Lubbock, 2006, p. 78).
A comparison has been made between pedagogy and andragogy styles of teaching based on storytelling. Pedagogy is the style of teaching followed in most of the schools and it is considered as a model of learning. It is known that in pedagogical teaching, teachers are to deliver the knowledge and student are supposed to absorb this knowledge. There is no necessity of interaction between teacher and student in this kind of learning. On the other hand, based on storytelling, another concept of learning given is known as andragogy. This learning concept highlights that rather than teachers, students play the major role in learning and what is being taught to them. Teacher only plays the role of a facilitator rather than an instructor. Thereby with an implementation of andragogy, there are better chances of increasing thinking and imaginative skills in students as most of the control of what they learn is in their own hands (McDrury, and Alterio, 2003, p. 78).
Chapter III
The Attractions Of Storytelling
Storytelling Is Natural And Easy
Since the past, oral storytelling has been considered as the most important, natural and an intimate form of storytelling. A strong connection is built between the listeners and storytellers during storytelling with a silent psychic bond that connects the audience of storytelling. By the help of storytelling, teller shares his or her experiences with the audience whereas listeners reveal and share their own life experiences. It has been argued that natural connection between listeners and the teller himself are better created with oral storytelling. There is an increased flexibility associated with oral storytelling that increases a connection between the listener and teller. There is an extension of a storyteller towards himself as the teller introduces his own personality and character to the story to add to the interest of an audience (Fog, Budtz, and Yakaboylu, 2005, p. 78).
Storytelling is Entertaining
An additional ability in children to follow the narrative is seen and it develops in smaller ages. This capability in children to follow the narrative is known as an innate and a natural capability. As compared to an ability to follow the narrative, another capability, which is not considered natural, is an ability to analyze the abstract. This is an ability, which is learned and is to be used in schools or at work and this is the ability that makes an individual overworked and tired. This ability has thereby been compared to an event of storytelling, which in most cases is defined as exhilarating, refreshing, energizing, invigorating and interesting. Thereby an effect of storytelling is related with immense pleasure and refreshment. There is an invitation to the listener to imagine a different world. Upon noticing reactions of the listeners to a story, the storyteller increases the elements in the story which are in resonance with listeners adding value to their interest and activity (Stone, 2005, p. 23).
Storytelling is Energizing
If events are explained in an analytical manner they can become tiring and this is not required where understanding and learning is the main aim of storytelling. It has been observed that when listeners listen to story, reaching to an implicit idea of the story, there is an increase in listener's energy. There is an increase in the interest, energy, excitement and enthusiasm of the listener. These are the factors of creation of newer energies in the minds of listeners (Spierling, and Szilas, 2008, p. 67).
Storytelling Helps in Understand Complexity
The best example to define complexity is the world itself. In order to make the world look simple, simple linear phenomena are taught in schools, which are a rarity in the real world. The world is full of non-linear phenomena and scientists have recently found this. A lot of complexity resides out there and people have been coping with this complexity since millions of years. It has been studied that one of the earliest ways used to cope with this complexity has been personification of complex events and in this way, the listeners are made to anticipate all non linear behaviors. Thereby stories are considered as the simplest way of conveying the world's complexity to the listeners (Kroeber, 2004, p. 78).
Storytelling And Changes In Perceptions
It has been argued that any idea that appears to be logical in its retrospection does not have to be logical in its foresight. Any idea being bigger, bolder and different can have the chances of looking illogical and this is because of perception powers of listeners. Thereby stories can be a way to introduce newer ideas and newer concepts to the listeners in a way that they comprehend the idea and understand it.
Stories: Easy To Remember
All of the earlier complex events can be reconstructed with the stories. Hindsight of a newer idea helps in reconstruction of a marked sequence of events that leads to a clear-cut outcome and in a story, causal sequences are provided by the narrator himself. Once the sequence of events has been grasped by the listeners, a wide range of phenomena and ideologies are used based on experiences and understandings to mark the outcomes to a series of events.
Stories Take On Our Feelings
There is an inherent capacity in stories to engage the feelings of an audience in order to reach to the deep cores of meanings and concepts hidden in the stories. Stories are made to define irregularities in lives as they point towards the things that are different from normal, arousing a certain level of curiosity and fear. Life with regularities is considered monotonous thereby no attention is generally received by regularities. Regularities have been considered as background noise to lives, not linked to irregularities of life. Within stories, main component that attracts the attention of a listener are irregularities that have been regarded as a threat for an individual for taking control of his or her life. Thereby stories not only engage brains of the listeners to understand the irregularities of life but stories have an inherent capacity to engage the emotions of listeners in way that can help in the perception of well being of an individual (James, 2003, p. 89).
Discussion
Better teachers and mentors are known for their capacity to connect with students. They are able to make connections between subjects, students, subject matters and real life in ways that can make students weave same kind of connections. In the past, it has been observed that story telling was used to teach children the values, beliefs, morals, history and life skills. Same importance is still held by storytelling, as it has become a strong instructional tool in many classrooms and lecture halls in educational institutes. Curriculum is indigenized by storytelling. Teaching is about making relationships with the students rather than teaching and reading out the course lists to students who need to communicate. Thereby it has been realized that a caring community is harbored by storytelling while in some cases it has been argued that storytelling is way of teaching through analogies. In case of implementation of storytelling in schools and universities, it has been argued that there is an increase in culturally responsive teaching by the help of storytelling. Storytelling has been considered as an oral institution that encompasses within itself a depth of knowledge about values, morals, honesty, respect, relationships, humility, responsibilities, trust and sharing. In the modern world, in schools and universities, storytelling can be an important method to incorporate learning and thinking skills in students along with an increase in communication level as stories are the perfect way to increase communication with teachers and peers.
Conclusion
Storytelling has been regarded as a tow way communication mode as compared to media which is a one way communication mode. The way to answer questions in regards to real lives and the complexities surrounds real life. Classroom connections can be created in effective ways by the help of storytelling. There are varieties of ways in which various phenomena are answered and explored by storytelling as these can allow the listeners to expand their thinking processes so that problems that are faced by listeners, especially the students are understood and comprehended at a better level. Modern times are known for an increased feeling of uncertainty in children and students. Schools are places that provide identities to students where students share learning experiences and identities.
