Teaching
by Using Stories
By Bader Malek
The story
in itself has a tremendous power to influence both youths and adults. Therefore, many thinkers, philosophers, professors,
and teachers have given much attention to the story and its use in the field of
education. A narrative provides a wise
way of coherently linking these events in time.
This aspect of the story makes it interesting and genial. The power of the narrative to organize and
explain has recently been praised by historians, psychiatrists, and moral
philosophers. It is no surprise that
psychology, too, is witnessing an increasing appreciation for the role of the narrative
in human affairs, and the use of narrative methods for the analysis of
interviews and other textual materials (Packer, 1991, p. 64; see Encyclopedia
of Psychology, 1994, vol. 1, p. 224).
Storytelling
is one of the oldest art forms known in human culture. From a very early age, before man learned how
to write and before books were printed, there were stories (Nesbitt, 1992,
vol.17, p. 434). The parent told stories
to her child, the hunter to his peers, the survivor to his rescuers, the
priestess to her followers, the seer to his petitioners, and the teacher to his
student (Barton & Booth, 1990, p. 41).
Through telling stories, each society protects its values and keeps
alive its heritage, culture, and sense of identity.
The three terms of the pedagogical relationship are
teacher, text and student, just as the three terms of the story-telling
relationship are teller, story, audience. Teacher and story-teller identify with their
stories. They invite the students and
audience to identify both with the teller and with the story. The invitation will be declined unless
teacher and story-teller can also identify with students and audience. The imagination is the site of identification
and the place that allows us to relate to each other (Pagano,
1991, pp. 263-264).
A
significant idea in education is the raising of the awareness of people or some
times altering it. Both formal and
informal education are types of a direct or indirect
change of the student's knowledge and experiences. At the same time, we can see that the climax
and resolution are the cornerstones of any story. Thus, we cannot imagine stories or teachings
without a resulting change. From such a
view, the teacher, reformer, and hero in the story form, or in the educational
realm, always play a critical role.
Beginning
from the age of five, the child must have plenty of amusing physical
activity. Care should be taken as to
what tales and stories they hear in order to contribute to their intellectual
development, as Fredrick Froebel, the father of
kindergarten mentioned (al-Shaybani, 1982, p.
275). According to Aristotle and Plato,
all of these physical activities and stories should prepare the child for its
future (Eby & Arrowood,
1964, p. 445). Clearly, many scholars
recommend stories especially for children because they have strong imaginations
and they have the desire to learn and imitate.
Lipman (1995) confirms that stories as games
are creative activities for many skills such as language, communication, and
composition.
Today, in
the
Storytelling to children under age 3 was neglected
until fairly recently. Library
storytelling programs for preschoolers were designed for the 4 and 5-year-olds who were ready to participate in a group activity without
the presence of parents/caregivers. As
the theories of Jean Piaget became better known through translations of his
writings, and as professionals became aware of the research of Burton White and
others that demonstrated the importance of these early years in language
development and interest in books and reading, library programs followed (p.
88).
Stories
are not limited to children and youth.
Adults also can learn from the lessons of many stories. In the
1) Are storytelling courses being taught?
2) If so, where are they taught?
The
respondents were from Library Science (15), Instructional Media (1), Education
(17), Expressive Therapy (1), Behavioral Science (1), Speech (4), Theater (2),
English (1), and Comparative Literature (1) (Livo
& Rietz, 1986, p. 445-446). These respondents may confirm that
storytelling as an art form still attracts many higher education institutions,
where attention is given to stories, especially in the department of Education
and in Library Sciences.
Campbell,
Moyers (1991, p. 11) and Bennett (1993, p. 12)
suggest that stories about the wisdom of life and virtue should be studied,
since what is learned in school nowadays is not the wisdom of life. People merely learn technologies and commit
information to memory.
In the
In spite
of cultural changes and the technological revolution, the story still has a
huge influence on modern life. Unlike
the old stories, many modern stories are written, designed and presented by a
team of experts. One modern aspect of
presenting narratives is teamwork which produces stories in diverse and
creative forms. Videos, illustrated
stories, coloring books, audio tapes, animation and cartoons are all admirable
tools used to present attractive and magnificent stories.
Today,
companies are the story-makers. For
instance, Family Entertainment Network has presented a series of animated
stories from the Bible. This company
deems that the stories that they present are based on absolutely necessary
values to build families and nations (Family Entertainment Network, 1993, p.
14). Trabasso
(1994) says:
The narrative is powerful because it is the dominant
form of written discourse in the literary, historical, social, and personal texts
we encounter through our formal schooling.
The narrative is especially pervasive in the elementary school
curriculum. It has been estimated, in
fact, that as much as 90% of what is read by elementary schoolchildren is
narrative in form (p. 187).
Why Do We Need Stories?
Stories
are usually related to our daily life whether at home or work, and whether in
our culture or in our conversation.
Stories are a function of our imaginative lives and our need to express
our experiences. There is no doubt that
experiences have many sources. Human
beings take their experiences from critical life incidents, or what their
family imprints on them through telling stories. It is definitely worthwhile to look at some
examples of the role stories play in our lives, in order to see the insight
that can make work in the classroom more productive (Jones & Buttery, 1970,
p. 2).
Stories
help one to "gain an understanding of the complexity of our emotional
responses, demonstrated by the expressive voices of characters speaking
eloquently and powerfully of their feelings.
We can not teach children emotions, we can only help them reveal them
and understand them" (Barton & Booth, 1990, p. 13). Stories and thoughts are the windows of the
house in which people live (Beisser, 1991, p. 43).
The story
is an internal and external mirror that shows something about the individual
and other people. When one looks into
this metaphoric mirror, one can see daily routines and mundane circumstances
transformed into something profound. Inside
the story one can accept pain, understand conflicts, find justice, and
experience exaltation. Inside the story
one can recognize and understand his/her own motivations, because he/she the
subject of the stories. When one enters
into the realm of story, one can find the story inside oneself (Livo & Rietz, 1986, p. 4).
The story
as a universal mirror could illustrate many concepts which are difficult to
explain. For example, it is hard for the
child to understand the concept of compassion or loyalty without illustrating
such terms for them. The story can bring
this term closer to their understanding.
"Hearing
or seeing stories provides young children with models of how experience can be
shaped and organized into meaningful patterns.
It is a rare preschooler who does not imitate the
models that are available to her by creating stories of her own" (Grago, 1985, p. 133).
Nancy
King is a professor of symbolic learning in the Honor's program at the
Without telling and sharing stories through storymaking and drama, our communities die. Many of us already feel a sense of isolation,
a lack of real community. We live very separate lives, often at great distance
from family and childhood homes. We
learn to keep our thoughts and feeling to ourselves (p. 4).
Educators
can use stories to help solve many educational and social problems. Teachers and parents can use stories to
encourage children and students to read, write, think, and discuss an endless
range of concepts and issues. The
creative use of stories and the making of drama can help teachers at all levels
to overcome many deficiencies in schools.
Stories are needed because the story can provide the audience with a
clear vision, and through this vision the audience can make sense of their
lives. The story also creates a desire
to follow the right path and imitate the good behavior of its characters.
Plato,
who believes that the tales which children hear should be about moral virtues,
recommends that children be brought up in such a way that they fall in love
with virtue. He thought that stories and
histories were the key to sparking the love of virtue. No amount of discussion or dialogue could
compensate if that spark is missing (Kilpatrick, 1993, p. 24). With stories, people go through life and have
new experiences. "By arranging the
flux and welter of experience around a narrative line, we make sense of our
pasts, plan for our futures, and comprehend the live of others" (Narayan, 1991, p. 114).
Kilpatrick
(1993, p. 24), Smith, and Habenicht (1993, p. 541)
agree that stories have been used from the earliest times in all cultures as a
method of instilling the society's values into children. Stories have always been a traditional way of
transmitting values, principles, and common sense (Kilpatrick, 1993, p.
24). For instance, in the
Stories give a much broader background than is usually
afforded in either moral dilemmas or real life situations. The story is able to present both sides of
the conflict. The interplay of needs and
values of both sides which is present in the real life situation is not usually
known to all the participants, but in stories these conflicting needs are often
shown (Smith & Habenicht, 1993, p. 541).
In other
words, stories provide a picture of people while they are struggling and
suffering (Noddings & Witherell,
1991, p. 280). Hearing and reading
stories has many advantages. One of
these advantages is that it points out which things are common among the
people, as well as those things which make individuals unique. Also, reading together would involve people
in a group and create different relationships (Pagano,
1991, p. 266). Educators can use
stories to "give examples of conflicts similar to ones arising in school
or home, which may encourage discussion of things otherwise hard to talk about
calmly" (Schimmel, N. 1992, p. 39).
When the
U.S. Department of Education (1991) published America 2000: An Education Strategy, parents
were encouraged in this report to read stories to their children to be
instrumental in their children's education, since one parent in the home is
worth a thousand teachers in the school (Rich, 1987, p. 53). The U.S. Department of Education stated that
parents "are the keys to their childrens'
education, and there is no part of the America 2000 strategy in which they do
not have an important role. As for what they can do today-they could read a story to their
children" (p. 34). This
report shows us how substantial the story is in training the new generation in
modern countries such as the
Finally,
we need stories because they have effective emotional, educational, and social
appeal. As children listen to a
well-told story, they are inspired to model and imitate the virtuous behavior
of the hero because they partake in the good feelings of doing good. Moreover, in the same way the children learn
about good deeds from stories, they may also learn the reverse, by knowing the
opposite of good deeds. Thus, the
children grieve over the effects of the mistakes the hero and others in the
story make, and emotionally experience the ill effects of the bad behavior
without doing it themselves (Smith & Habenicht,
1993, p. 543).
Stories for Developing Language
One of
the more important aspects of storytelling is improving and developing the
children's language by their gaining new words.
Moreover, children may become more fluent in their language through
storytelling. Every writer has a unique
style in his writing, so we learn a new source for developing our writing when
we read or listen to interactive stories.
Taylor
and Srickland (1986) stress the importance of reading
stories in family life. They say that
educators have known that children who share storybooks with their parents are
more likely to read before they are given formal instruction (p. 15). In addition to that, they mention that
sharing storybooks between parents and children "is one part of a broad
socialization process. It provides an
important occasion through which children learn language, play with ideas, and
build trust and understanding as they learn about life within the family"
(p. 31).
Hearing
and reading narratives in school and at home gives children many different
ideas which may be good topics for writing.
That writing, in turn, can be used for sharing their insights into the
stories they have known and experienced (Barton & Booth, 1990, p.
148).
"It
is clear from more than a decade of research that interactive story reading is
a powerful social avenue for developing language and literacy, and that it can
be used as influential literacy tool both in the home and in the school"
(Kerr & Mason, 1994, p. 145).
Hearing stories during the course of their school life
can strengthen childrens' creative impulses,
particularly in the area of writing.
Through stories, children become aware of how figurative language is
used, by "role-playing" as writers they can try out this literary
language... Story telling and reading aloud expand and enhance the young
child's exposure to literature. Through
stories, students claim a bit of their literary heritage (Denman, 1991, p. 7).
The short
story booklet is an instructional activity used with exceptional students in
grades 7 through 12 who have trouble putting their thoughts on paper. In order to be successful with this activity,
students must be able to write sentences and paragraphs during this
project. The students write stories
using the processes of prewriting, drafting, revising, editing, and
publishing. The stories are then
gathered in booklet form. The main
purpose of this successful experiment, as Rapp (1991) says, is that the
"short story booklet provides encouragement and motivation for exceptional
secondary school students to write stories.
It also can be used to build confidence in
writing" (p. 58). The result
of this project was a positive one since several students wanted to write more
than one story. It indicates that the
stories motivated the students because every one of the students participated,
and no one received a grade lower than a "C".
By and large, for many psychological, educational, and linguistic reasons, listening to and
reading stories are essential to a child's development. Stories teach a child to read and write (May,
1982, pp. 346-348). Moreover, well-told
stories and interactive story reading provide new vocabulary words and
ideas. Stories help a child to make
sense of their inner and outer world.
Finally, stories convince us that reading is worth doing (Sloan, 1991,
p.107; The International Encyclopedia of Education, 1994, vol. 4,
pp.1961-1962).
Stories as an Approach to Moral Education
Using moral stories in education is a meaningful way of socialization
that enables us to learn more about values without using ethical
abstractions. It is true that abstract concepts,
as Trelease (1995) says, "are all too quickly
lost in the dust of yesterday (p. 57)."
Many times the indirect ways of preaching are more effective than the
direct ways.
John
Dewey has written, "The sum total of the effect of all reflective
treatises on morals is insignificant in comparison with the influence of
architecture, novel, drama, on life" (quoted in Jarrett, 1991, p.
163). Kirschenbaum
(1995) suggests that storytelling is one of the effective tools for inculcating
morality, especially for the youth (p. 68).
For him, "Stories contain powerful images and symbols and operate
on both conscious and unconscious levels, conveying intellectual and emotional
meaning" (p. 68). "Early
children's stories were written with a moral purpose; this was particularly
true in the 19th century" (Webester's
New World Encyclopedia, 1992, p. 235).
A
narrative, as an approach to moral education, ingrains children with
virtue. The story provides the students
with the opportunity to tell their own moral stories, and thus to express and
enhance their own responsibility through the process of authoring (Tappand & Brown, 1991, p. 184). Martin Luther says "I would not for any
quantity of gold part with the wonderful tales I have retained since my
childhood" (quoted in Colwell, 1980, p. 1).
It is
hard to teach values without using stories.
If educators share real events from their own stories and experiences,
they will capture children's minds and lead them to believe in certain moral
virtues from the story, no matter how short the event or the story is. Educators should not be ashamed or hesitant
to talk and tell stories about their own experiences so long as they relate
them with modesty and the main purpose is to educate not boast.
Everywhere audiences are interested in what life has taught us (The
Dale Carnegie Course, 1974, p. 42).
Today, we
need stories as a vehicle for moral education.
It is not a secret to say that we have moral problems in our schools,
such as student suicide, violence, drug abuse, pregnancy, and many other moral
problems.
There have been dramatic increases in the rates of
adolescent death by homicide and suicide.
The number of out-of-wedlock births has soared to about a million a year
... In view of these as well as other serious moral problems, such as
pornography and a high level of sexually transmitted disease. It is clear that we need to recover and
implement a much more effective way of teaching morality (Vitz,
1990, p. 709).
For too many of our children, the family that should
be their protector, advocate and moral anchor is itself in a state of
deterioration...And other modern plagues touch our children: drug use and
alcohol abuse, random violence, adolescent pregnancy, AIDS and the rest (U.S.
Department of Education, 1991, pp. 6-7).
One of
Stories
can make the audience think seriously about the consequences of their
behavior. Concerning the use of stories
in moral development, Vitz (1990) argues that on the
basis of several recent major psychological contributions, narrative materials
are an essential component of effective moral education. This can include oral, written, or cinematic
narration. In schools, written
narratives are the most common, although cinematic or video forms are now
growing in influence (p. 709). Special
attention should be given to TV stories because, as experts say, "The TV
set is the most powerful storyteller ever invented" (Hamilton, 1994, p.
82). Unfortunately, the weakness and
danger of television and video forms is that the medium can neutralize it own
material, satiate the viewer with wrong images that are drained of any true and
real value (Jones & Buttery, 1970, p. 10).
Schrag (1991) says that the fable-makers of
children's television must turn their considerable talents to create worthy
children's television; they need to accept the fact that the best fable is not
always the most profitable one (p. 319).
The
media, after all, needs to recognize that their products are responsible to
protect children and provide moral virtues.
As long as schools are doing otherwise, children will live in real
conflict because they will see that what is wrong in the school becomes all
right on the T.V. One should recognize
the need for moral educators to develop the field of teaching morality (Downey
& Kelly, 1978, p. 49). Utilizing
stories can support educators in developing such good character.
Generally,
from ages
After all, the use of stories is one of the few
universal aspects of moral education.
From such unanimity it seems reasonable to conclude that stories have
substantial educational utility. Clear
policy implication and testable hypothesis is that stories should be more
effective at teaching morality than the present non narrative approaches (p.
717).
Narrative in Arab Life
It is
impossible for researchers to find any community without social
communication. Stories have been one of
the traditional methods of social communication from very early on in human
history, especially among peoples who are illiterate. There are many words which can refer to a
story such as "legend", "anecdote" and "myth" (Schimpf, 1972, pp. 17-20), which means that humans use
stories in different forms and for different purposes. Humans use true stories or fictional stories,
short or long stories. Like many
nations, Arabs have used the story as a form of social communication.
Arabs
before the time of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon
him) had their own heritage of stories.
Some non Muslim scholars mentioned that storytelling has always been a
favorite past-time in Arabic history and it provided both a job for the
narrator and relaxation for the listener (Goldziher,
1966, p. 88). There are many stories and
poems that present strong evidence that Arabs had their own heritage of stories
before and after Islam. Since the
earliest times of Islam, the story has played an important role in Arabian life
(Studies on the First Century of Islamic Society, 1982, p.165).
More than
a quarter of the Holy Qur’an deals with stories
related to historical events (al-Sayyid, 1993, p.
57), which means that Muslims live with stories and learn from them. The Qur’an emphasizes
stories in such sentences as:
"Relate the story; perchance they may
reflect" (S.7 A.176).
"We do relate unto thee the most beautiful of
stories" (S.12 A.3).
"Indeed in their stories, there is a lesson for
men of understanding" (S.12 A.111, al-Hilali
& khan, 1993, p. 358).
The story
of Joseph is one of the longest narratives in Qur’an. With regard to that Qur’anic story Pickthall
(1990) notes:
The differences from the Bible narrative are
striking. Jacob is here a Prophet, who
is not deceived by the story of his son's death, but is distressed because,
through a suspension of his clairvoyance, he cannot see what has become of
Joseph. The real importance of the
narrative, its psychic burden, is emphasised
throughout, and the manner of narration, though astonishing to Western readers,
is vivid (p. 243).
For
Muslims, Qur’anic stories about
prophets are historical events narrated by Allah to provide moral lessons and build the Muslim
community. Unlike Bennabi
(1983), Bucaille (1979), and Muhajr
(1992) there are few Muslim researchers who assert that Qur’anic narratives do not provide historical
facts and documents. For example Khalafallah, the Egyptian rationalist scholar, says Qur’anic stories were cast by God in affective
language and in dramatic style (Stowasser, 1994, p.
19; The Oxford encyclopedia of the modern Islamic world, 1995, vol. 2,
p. 412). In such view the divine purpose
in such Qur’anic stories "was
not to provide historical fact but principles of direction and guidance to mankind
in general and, most especially, the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him)and
his first community" (Stowasser, 1994, p.
19).
In the
context of Islam, stories have been one of the significant elements to edify
people. Moreover, "stories of the pious
and goodly are a part of Allah 's army, they
strengthen the hearts of those who strive in his path" (Hulbadist, n.d., p. 6). The mosques, with rare exceptions, are open
day and night for people to pray, study, or listen to stories. The narrators of the story would spend a
night standing at the base of a pillar in the mosque (see Mez,
1975, pp. 332, 333). "Religious
storytelling on the popular level has its roots in formal preaching in the
mosque" (The Encyclopaedia of Religion,
1987, vol. 4, p. 45). The great
Islamic hospitals of the Middle Ages, as Durant (1950) says, were provided for
the sleepless "with soft music, professional storytellers, and perhaps
books of history" (vol 4, pp . 330-331).
The Arabs
call the storyteller "al-qassas," and in
the past some might have called him "qaria al-kursi," which means chairman (Al-Subki,
1987, p. 89). Al-Sabbagh
(1988) believes that the West adopted "chairman" as a term from the
early Arabs (p. 66). Some writers
believe that as early as the year 661 A.D.
the Islamic government employed
storytellers. Muawiyah
Ibn Abi Sufyan,
the president, "al- khalifah", in that time gave the storytellers a
salary and instructed them to relate stories in mosques (Ismaail,
1972, p.135). However, there were many
storytellers who did not take a salary from the government, such as al-Hasan al-Basri.
Some
Muslim scholars of the past despised storytelling for many reasons as Ibn al-Jawzi mentioned in his
manuscript dating to approximately 1200 (Pellowski,
1977, p. 73). Ibn
al-Jawzi (1971) says one of these reasons "is
that the majority of qussass [storytellers] did not search out what was
true, nor were they on their guard against error by reason of the meagerness of
their knowledge and their lack of fear for God" (p. 97). Ibn al-Jawzi is convinced that "when the learned man gave
exhortation, and those who knew the difference between what was authentic and
what was corrupt narrated stories, there was no loathing" (p. 97). Renard (1996) says:
In The Book of
Professional Story tellers, Ibn al-Jawzi describes the important role storytellers have played
in Muslim societies. Any group that
exercises such influence can, he admits, fall prey to various problems. Ibn al-Jawzi deals with those difficulties head-on in an attempt
to make it clear that, for all their human failings, storytellers perform an
essential service (p. 96).
One of
the major vocations of Muslims storyteller, Renard
(1996) concludes, is "to keep alive in the mind and hearts of a broad
public the words and deeds of Islam's religious heroes, for the power of
example in ethical formation is enormous (p. 97).
The
stories from the Arabs and Muslims had a deep impact on European fiction. Sibaai (1984)
states
So much so that several critics of Europe are of the
opinion that the travelogue by Swift and Defoe's Robinson Crusoe, are both indebted to the Arabian Nights and "Hai bin-e-Nafeezan"
by the Arab philosopher Ibn-e-Tufail. Nobody can entertain any doubt about the fact
that the repeated publication of "The
Arabian Nights" reveals that the Europeans have made it the center of
their attention and have been very much impressed by it (p. 22).
Exploring
the landscape of tales in Arabic literature, one can reject the view of some
Westerners that Arabs never invented their own stories and they are just
translators. Furthermore, exploring
Arabic stories might prove that the West in some cases took Islamic and Arabic
stories "while often removing from them all their specifically Islamic
features" (Irwin, 1994, p. 77). It
is definitely true that many tales in The Arabian Nights originally came
from India or Iran, but still "a number of stories of varying length
[were] composed in Baghdad" (Gerhardt, 1963, p. 9), or in other Arabic
cities to present stories of Arabic life, as in the "Tale of the Lover Who
Feigned Himself a Thief" in The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night
(1943. vol. |V, p. 155-157). This
example and many more examples confirm and support the idea that "the
Arabs originated and exported at least as much story lore as they
imported" (Irwin, 1994, p. 77).
On the
social level storytelling is still an everyday activity in many parts of the
Arabic world as Webber (1991) mentions (p.311).
One of her observations is that women used to tell fantasy stories and
men used to tell true narratives about their past experiences (p. 33). On the basis of her personal observations of
some Arabic countries, Pellowski (1977) says that
some Qur’anic schools use stories
to teach social and religious morals (p. 74).
In many
cases modern Arabic life the story is a tool for human rights faiding people who are exploited and treated unjustly by
dictators. Generally, in Arabic
countries today, as in the third world, people do not have the right to make a
president accountable for his actions.
Unfortunately many scholars, thinkers, and reformers are living behind
bars in less than basic human conditions.
In these circumstances, stories are one way for writers to explain and
express their feelings toward dictators in many Arabic countries.
However, many Islamic writers are still unfamiliar with the
story medium and they do not use this powerful means as much as they use poems
(al-Kaylani, 1987, p. 11; Yahya
1994, p. 52; al-Rashid, 1989, p. 32). In
order to increase awareness and change or develop social and political
situations, Islamic writers might contribute using the world of the story as a
powerful means to deliver their message.
This study will give some examples of using Prophetic stories for
reformation, especially at the social level.