Storytelling as a pedagogical tool in higher education

Abstract: 

This paper addresses the educational theoretic values of storytelling within higher education. Storytelling is found in all institutions within society, for it appears to greatly reduce depersonalization. Lively narrative format is being used increasingly in higher education, and it appears to be helping students think critically and understand factual content in a personalized fashion. Its use assists in defining technical aspects of texts by providing concise, concrete examples of the written material studied. Storytelling can clearly be viewed as the foundation of the teaching profession.

Introduction:

In the earliest of times, prior to the advent of writing, storytelling was the only tool available by which individuals within their communities could preserve and share their heritage. Stories not only explained life and preserved history, but also ensured the continuity of experiences from one generation to the next. Civilizations survived because of storytelling. The earliest reference to storytelling dates to 4000 B.C. and the Egyptian tales entitled "The Tales of the Magicians" (Sawyer, 1942). Stories were also utilized by the Romans, as well as the Gypsies, whose nomadic existence carried the tales far and wide. During the Medieval period, stories were related by troubadours who were welcomed in the courts and were in great demand at inns, where storytelling was used as a means of bringing together the lives of people, thus creating a sense of community and shared understanding. After the invention of the printing press in 1450, stories became more available in print. In the 19th century, Jakob and Wilhelm Grimm collected folk stories, researching ancient manuscripts and gathering stories from peasant storytellers. Followers of this tradition included Peter Christian Asbjornsen, Jorgen Moe, Joseph Jacobs, Andrew Lang, and Hans Christian Andersen (Baker, 1979). In his article entitled "Memory, Imagination, and Learning: Connected by the Story", Kieran Egan (1989) points to the power of storytelling as the link to more meaningful learning, placing it within the historical context of oral cultures who couldn't write, but who could remember and repeat their stories. Egan writes: "If one could code the knowledge to be passed on and embed it in a story form, then it could be made more faithfully memorable than by any other means (p. 456). In addition, Lucien Levi-Bruhl (1985) believes that memory in oral cultures is extremely accurate and emotional, thus the permeation of events with emotion makes them more memorable. The technique developed in oral cultures for orienting emotions with events was the story. There is little doubt that the Story is a technical tool that has provided a measure of order and stability to human societies for countless millennia. It appears through a review of the literature that the story is one of the most important inventions of humankind (Egan, 1989).

Abrahamson, Craig Eilert. "Storytelling as a pedagogical tool in higher education."Education, vol. 118, no. 3, 1998