This book offers a selection of stories about teaching, learning, and school life that you can use in a variety of PD formats and settings. Grouped into four categories--students, teachers, administrators, and parents--these tales offer a powerful entry point for thinking and reflecting on your school environment in a new and meaningful way. Each…

This article examines the performativities of three marginalised "at risk" youth who participated in a longitudinal digital storytelling project undertaken in formal and informal settings in Singapore. Seeking to foster young people's agency, identity and multiple literacies, the three and one half year project developed a range of…

This article draws on the insights/questions that emerged while putting together a set of stories for children published in a series named "Different Tales." These stories, set in Dalit and other minority communities, problematize the normative grids through which we view "childhood" as they depict the complex ways in which…

Communication patterns and explanatory processes are culturally specific and not often compatible with research data-gathering approaches. Particularly in areas of medical research and health and health-care behavioral research, indigenous educators and researchers note their frustration when Western paradigms, academic traditions, and medical…

In north central Virginia there is a local tale--The Legend of Jump Mountain, which purports to explain the origins of the Hayes Creek Indian Burial Mound. A highly romantic legend, it immortalizes post colonial intertribal warfare during the early nineteenth century while ignoring the antiquity of the mound and the local descendants of its…

Storytelling is a wonderful way to share the rich emotions of life. It allows adults to connect with children in personal and powerful ways, building a sense of trust and community between the performer and the audience. In this article, the author offers an approach to learning and sharing stories. The author also provides twenty-two…

This qualitative study addresses the question "Does the use of storytelling motivate English language learners to engage in literacy practices more, or in a better way, and if so, how?". Storytelling of cultural tales related to fifth grade students' home cultures was introduced to provide a prompt for resultant student discussion and…

Storytelling-based arts projects offer a universal and inclusive pedagogy; challenging prejudices, celebrating diversity and promoting tolerance and resilience in participants. In addition they assist in the development of receptive and expressive language skills, provide a credible basis for understanding folklore, cultural traditions and social…

This conversation piece is intended to provoke thought on the relationship, if any, between education and thinking. It suggests that thinking requires more (perhaps less) than education.

This article provides a critical account of a selection of approaches that were used in the 26-month No Outsiders participatory action research project in education settings. The paper questions what challenges are presented to educators in critically exploring and challenging heteronormative sex-gender discourses. We revisit some of the tensions…

Throughout much of northeast Thailand (Isan), Lao is the dominant local language. Today, however, central and official Thai is rapidly becoming the dominant language throughout Isan. It is feared that Thailand may become monocultured and its citizens may lose their diversity in languages and culture. In this article, the author describes a…

The genre of tall tales is characterized by fictional, often intentionally ridiculous, stories that provide a reason for or origin of a natural phenomenon. Tall tales are often based on characters who are unusually adept or powerful; they are particularly appealing to children who are cognitively capable of understanding the tongue-in-cheek humor…

Since ancient times, humans have sought explanations for the mysteries of nature's beauty and variety. Like other kinds of folk stories, pourquoi tales can be considered parables about how humans and animals originated or why they look or behave the way they do. Pourquoi tales have high appeal, are generally simple and straightforward in…

As U.K. school exam results continue to rise, perennial accusations appear in the media of the "dumbing down" of the curriculum and of employers' complaints about school leavers' lack of basic literacy skills. In this context, Andrew Motion, the poet laureate, has raised questions about how to provide an inspiring English curriculum, the…

Describes the experiences over the past 11 years of the FOLKTELLERS, two librarians who became traveling storytellers. A sidebar offers several storytelling tips and lists Folktellers recordings and upcoming performances. (MES)