Storytelling and teaching and learning
We all tell stories, but why? Some stories are used to convey information, or perhaps to motivate colleagues or friends (McDrury & Alterio, 2003), but many stories are used to help us make sense and meaning of our experiences (Abrahamson, 1998; Matthews-DeNatale, 2008; McDrury & Alterio, 2000). Storytelling has long been recognised as a means for storytellers - or learners in an educational context - to give meaning to their own particular experiences, to demonstrate their own understanding of the world (Miley, 2009; Nygren & Blom, 2001: 372). In this respect the sharing of stories is an important element: “For a story to be a story, it must be shared” (Orech, 2008). It is by sharing our stories that we can obtain a deeper insight into their meaning.
Stories can be created as personal narratives, stories to inform or as critical analyses. In whatever context they are used educationally the process of developing a story engages the students in cognitive strategies:
[In the story] construction process judgments and inferences are required at two levels: about discrete items of information and the adequacy of the unfolding story. Selecting, comparing, inferring, arranging and revising are activities which we regard as cognitive strategies. (Robinson & Hawpe, 1986)
In particular, creating a story is a powerful stimulus for reflection.
Digital storytelling
Benmayor (2008: 198) identifies digital storytelling as a social pedagogy, approaching learning as a collaborative process. The opportunities for collaboration within the digital storytelling process exist at multiple levels.
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