What can be gained when we allow students to share, reflect on, and learn from storytelling?

After years of emphasizing data over personal anecdotes in my teaching, I now embrace a reframing of teaching, learning, and social connection through storytelling.

Exploring the power of storytelling has encouraged students to engage with challenging course themes in exciting ways.  Students come to  realize that stories, and opportunities to learn from stories, are all around them- even within research papers. The connections that emerge from shared stories in class or those uncovered in assigned material spark meaningful reflection and discussion.

How do I frame this in class?

In my seminar on adolescent identity, we begin by analyzing Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s TED Talk The Danger of a Single Story and discussing common media and cultural portrayals of adolescence. Course discussions and reflection essays encourage students to challenge these narratives and develop new insights.  Recognizing that a range of creative, and interconnected course materials can foster storytelling has deepened classroom discussions and engagement.

I invite guests from the campus and Williamsburg community to share personal experiences with identity exploration and assign qualitative research on marginalized identities. We examine podcasts, TED Talks, and memoirs to connect real-life stories with academic scholarship. Through open discussions, shared narratives, and active engagement with diverse materials, students critically reflect on both their own adolescence and broader societal perceptions.

Student experience
Students are:

• • Gaining skills in reframing narratives about diverse identities and an openness to seeing how stories lead to impactful learning and reflection
• •  Engaging in the course through intentionally listening and uncovering themes about adolescence 
• •  Connecting actively and consistently to to other courses (e.g., sending me readings from other courses where themes on storytelling and identity come up); 
• •  Making connections to how the threat of the single story impacts their understanding of themselves and of adolescents in general
• •  Sharing favorite books, media, and ideas from class that resonate with them

Instructor experience
I am:

• • Showing students their stories, and identity, matter to me by supporting their stories and their intersection with course themes
• • Showing students how learning is more than reading and talking about research papers
• • Developing a supportive space for stories to be shared and valued
• • Empowering students to engage with stories in meaningful ways through active listening
• • Connecting attentively to community members
• • Helping amplify diverse stories and marginalized voices 

Suggested Tools
• Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie: The danger of a single story | TED Talk

This Ted Talk stresses the importance of stories we have yet to hear.  Consider asking students to reflect on experiences with a single story, either one they have held or how they have been impacted by a single story.

• Podcasts like Grown, a Moth Podcast or The Moth help students discuss what makes a good story “good.”

Related W&M Resources

• Swem Living Library
• Reves Center storytelling workshop