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| As a teaching medium for illustrating moral and ethical principles, the telling of stories is unsurpassed. Depending upon the skill of the narrator, a story can elicit powerful emotions and inspire a desire in the student to imbibe the values demonstrated by the characters described. |
 In all cultures, ancient and new, the elders in the group have sought to pass on to the children  their own ethical and cultural mores. In those older societies with high ethical standards, the most common method of teaching virtues to children has been through story-telling, whereby the lives of great persons in that tribe or culture are recounted over and over again until the desirable traits are awakened in the young listeners. |
| In more recent times the responsibility that comes with adulthood has been largely forgotten, resulting in the bombardment of children with stories via television, videos and cinema productions which repudiate the ideals of good citizenship. By identifying with the main character(s) in the video game or movie, the child subconsciously takes on an aspect of their personality, both the good and the bad. Disrespect for parents and teachers, lack of civic responsibility, and rampant aggression are - the research shows - the common outcome. |
 Story-telling as a teaching technique in Toogoolawa Schools aims to counter these negative images and to replace them with stories which create a yearning in the listener to bring out the very best in themselves. When they vicariously experience the values and emotions which have guided the exalted hero in the story, the young students automatically affirm in their own silent way, "I too will be as noble and courageous as Crazy Horse (American Indian)", or "I will live my life in service to others like Mother Teresa". |
| The aim is to tell the children what they cannot learn for themselves in their day-to-day observations; namely, the stories of great people like Jesus, Buddha, Krishna, Abraham Lincoln, Florence Nightingale, Mother Teresa, Martin Luther King, Weary Dunlop, Fred Hollows and so on; as well as ancient myths of high moral adventures and more local or modern stories of outstanding virtuous people. |
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| We adults, in this technological age, are all heirs to a rich heritage of stories, and so there is much from which to choose. |
| The stories should be short and simple, with a strong moral theme, told in such a way that they are easy to grasp and understand by the students. |
| At Toogoolawa Schools, a story is told on the first day of the week at school, with a theme illustrating the Thought- for-the-Week (see later under 'Quotations and Prayers'). In telling the story, the teacher seeks to give further understanding of the Human Value (e.g. 'Peace') which the Thought- for-the-Week is based upon. |
| Before giving some examples of stories told at Toogoolawa Schools, let us look in more detail at the technique itself. |
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Finding a good story
Stories can range from personal-experience stories to passed-down myths and made-up fables, folk tales, revealing episodes in the lives of saints and other great people, historical events and stories from spiritual sources like the Bible and the Ramayana, news items and many other sources. The teacher of Human Values will always be on the look-out for a good anecdote or story, committing it to memory or recording it for later use. It helps to have your own resource library of short stories, old and new, all of which illustrate and extol the development of good character.
Keeping in mind the Human Value for the week (e.g. Love) and the associated Thought-for-the-Week (e.g. 'Help ever; hurt never'), the teacher selects, modifies or creates a story suitable for the ages and interests of the students. The chosen story ideally is one which touches the heart of the story-teller herself - this brings passion and earnestness to the telling of the tale. |
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Changing a story
If a good story is hard to find, we can look for one that can be modified in the telling so that it fits in with our aim of awakening the Human Values in the child.  Further, the story must captivate and not lose the student group. For example, where there is a bias amongst the students against Bible stories, the narrative might begin with: "Many years ago there lived a young man who not only treated everyone as his friend, he could do miracles…." Then, at the end of the story: "The name of this extraordinary man was Jesus." The 'educare' teacher also needs to keep in mind that some of the stories need to refer to other cultures, lands and religions, so that the students grow in tolerance and understanding of others. Such stories can also be modified so as to be relevant to the students' own life experiences. |
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Telling the story
Most people in this modern age read stories to children from a book, word for word, rather than telling the story from memory without refering to any book. However, the story told with full eye contact with the students as well as body movements, hand gestures and facial expressions as the story unfolds, is far more captivating for the young listeners than when a teacher is reading from a book.
The advantages are:
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The story-teller owns and lives the story, almost as if they were there, in the story at that time, and have returned to pass on what they saw and heard. |
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Pauses, intonations, expressions and emotions can be more readily injected at appropriate points in the story, guaging the effect on the listeners as the tale unfolds, when the story teller is looking only at the listeners without being distracted by having to read from a book. |
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Discussion after the story
By discussing the story after it has been narrated, children develop a deeper understanding of what they have heard, and they learn how that wisdom has relevance in their own lives today. There are four important areas to explore in these discussions. Using as an example the story 'The Boy Who Cried Wolf', these areas are:
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Recall of the story
Examples: "How many times did the boy lie?" or other factual questions. |
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Comprehension of the story's parts
Examples: "Why did the boy cry 'wolf' when he had not actually seen one?" |
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Understanding of the Human Values in the story
Examples: "Do you think crying 'wolf' is the same thing as telling a lie?"; "What happened when the boy cried 'wolf' for the third time?" |
Of course it is important for the teacher to accept all answers in a non-judgemental way, except when there is an obvious attempt by a student to disrupt the activity. |
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