A Flickering Tale
The habitat our students and teachers live in is foreign, sterile and disconnected to the outside world. . .When I think of Guerrilla fighters, I usually think of someone who is an idealist. Firmly committed to a particular ideology and is willing to take on extraordinary measures to advance their philosophy.
Source: EdTech from just a little north of the Valley
As I walked into the Storytelling Festival held this past Saturday in San Antonio, Tx, the question going around in my mind was this--How can these people believe that storytelling is a valid activity when the rest of the Nation is focused on test-prep? Like a skeptic, then, I began my day at the Festival, awaiting the re-kindling of hope.
Then, watching the idealism, feeling the enthusiasm, I was drawn into the story of individuals from K-16 education, each holding firm to a powerful idea. An idea that brought them IN SPITE OF test-taking culture they worked in. Like a journalist reporting on a radical social group, each interview, each conversation brought me closer to the seeds of thought that had sprouted, taken root.
ASIDE: By the way, you can also experience the conference since I recorded every person I spoke to, including the keynote session by renown storyteller, Tim Tingle. While not all all the conversations are up yet, you can find them here as they appear.
In a moment, I realized that anyone could be a storyteller, anyone could learn to use storytelling in the classroom. They had only to believe the testimony of teachers, professors, and yes, regular people. It occurred to me that I stood in the midst of guerrilla fighters, planning their assault on the unassailable business our K-12 schools have become. In spite of the hopelessness engendered by NCLB, the disillusionment of the power of technology to transform teaching and learning, in spite of this and much more, these people came together...to tell stories, to find strength together.
Their strength came from an everyday activity for them, in defiance of those who said...
"I don't have time to do that in my class."
"That doesn't prepare kids for the test."
"My children wouldn't want to do that."
"My computer is too old to do multimedia."
"I don't do powerpoint."
"My principal is doing a walkthroug today and I can't do something that might not work."
Their strength came from the realization that they, ordinary people like you and me, could do something. That while they could not change NCLB overnight, that they had to "live with the reality of NCLB," they could do this instead of test prep and ENGAGE their children. Given dispirited learning environments focused on test prep, or engaged children telling stories as they developed their voice, their creativity, the decision became one of allowing creative connections.
Richard Florida, author of The Rise of the Creative Class, shares the following:
Monolithic notions of creativity, talent, or intelligence are discouraging in the same way. Either one has got "it" or one hasn't. Why bother to try if one's efforts can lead only to a slightly less dispiriting level of mediocrity? A very different attitude is possible for someone who sees creativity as based in ordinary abilities we all share, and in practiced expertise to which we can all aspire...Creativity is favored by an intellect that has been enriched with diverse experiences and perspectives.
That's the lie, isn't it? That you either have it, or you don't. You either have what it takes to pass the tests the children of the ruling elite don't have to take--because their children are in private and/or charter schools--or you are labelled a failure. And, the lie is a question that Florida asks in a recent blog entry, "Do Schools Kill Creativity?" And, the answer...well, friends, you will have to decide. The truth is that the power to transform schools lies within each of you, just like those people at the Festival, unafraid to stand up and tell stories, to share that storytelling empowers children. And, as they both prove that dispiriting test-prep is not the only way to prepare children to do well in life, or even, on standardized tests.
For the storytellers at the UTSA Storytelling Festival, there was a clear understanding that CREATIVITY IS SOMETHING EVERYONE CAN HAVE, THAT STORYTELLING IS SOMETHING YOU CAN DO. It is a frightening truth, one that forces us to realize that we have been silent for much too long. We have been silent when we should have been reaching out, silent and suffocating creativity when we said, "Teach the Test! Pound the [put the acronym for your NCLB-mandated state assessment here]!"
I recently read a blog entry that stirred me awake, made me remember why teaching was such great fun, why the words, "I have a story for you people today..." are so engaging. How can we block connectivity in
What practical step can we take? We can tell stories. At the end of the day, whether we are bison hunters or city-dwellers, we can sit around and tell stories. We are story-makers. Hope is only a flicker of a tale away.