"What more could three teachers ask for?" -- Storytelling Integrated Studies
LynnAnn Wojciechowicz, SMCC

I always feel that I learn more than I teach. In the Integrated Studies Storytelling class at South Mountain Community College, I especially felt that way because I was learning from two masterful teaching colleagues in addition to learning from the students. We used cooperative learning, experiental learning, mini-lecturing, modeling, guest presentations, and writing on the Electronic Forum to help students learn and build a community within our classroom. The rapport we had with each other spread quickly to the students. Our attitude as teachers was that we were facilitators, providing opportunities for learning. Our students embraced these opportunities and went far beyond our expectations. In the words of one of the students:

This class helped me learn things about myself and my attitude towards others. I liked coming to the class, and I think that is what is remarkable about it. The class teaches not only surface things about Story but also how each story tells something about yourself. The class is an adventure; we all went on a journey to find the storyteller inside of us.

Our Integrated Studies class on Storytelling evolved through our South Mountain Community College Storytelling Institute. Lorraine Calbow, a Counselor at the college, has used storytelling as a counseling technique for a number of years. On a Sabbatical to explore Experiential Therapies (which she applied to education upon her return), Lorraine made contact with The Tellers of Tales, a local storytelling group, and she saw the power of storytelling in action at an Arizona Storytelling Festival in Tucson. As she shared her excitement about the possibilities of using storytelling with faculty and staff at the college, she found many who were interested in working in this area. From this interest, the South Mountain Community College Storytelling Institute was born.

One of the focuses of the Institute is the development of an Academic Certificate Program in Storytelling. As we discussed this project, I remembered that Mesa Community College offered a section of Integrated Studies (IGS 290) based on Storytelling. I discussed the possibility of our offering a similar class to Lorraine and Liz Warren. Once we had the approval of our Division Chair, we went to work. Lorraine brought the Counseling and Experiential Learning background, Liz brought Anthropology and English, and I brought Humanities and English.

We decided to organize the course around "Culture of Birth," "Culture of Choice," and "Mythological Foundations," asking students to look at personal stories, family stories, and cultural stories in each of these areas. Students chose service learning, performance, or research for semester projects. The Electronic Forum was used to provide students an opportunity to share insights and stories. Before the semester started, we were not sure if all students would want to "tell" stories, so we wanted to make sure that we provided options.

This course was successful beyond our fondest dreams. Of 22 students who initially signed up, 19 completed it successfully.

Even the shyest of students was telling stories before the semester ended, and the Electronic Forum was filled with personal, family, cultural, and creative stories, many of which came in installments, keeping everyone anxiously waiting for the next entry. In class we had students telling stories in pairs, small groups, and to the entire class. Students worked in groups to create an original tale of "A Hero's Journey" which they later shared with the class. Two professional storytellers came into the class to tell stories and to critique our student tellers. In response to student requests for more time to practice telling their stories, we agreed to meet with those interested for two hours after class once a week. We always had at least two people telling at these sessions. Our Service Learning students worked with Head Start, Day Care, Elementary classes, and Sunday School classes. Those doing Performance projects told to family gatherings, after school programs, a sixth grade overnight retreat, and our SMCC Spring Storytelling Festival.

Having three teachers collaborating in the classroom at all times certainly made for an ideal teaching and learning situation. We were able to divide the class into three groups for some activities, and have a teacher in each group. Because of our varying personalities and backgrounds, we were able to employ a rich variety of teaching methods and approaches in this course. Lorraine used her expertise in designing "processing" activities such as pantomime and visualization exercises to aid students in "mining stories" from their personal experiences. Liz brought in materials from mythology and introduced the concepts of "The Hero" and "The Heroic Journey" around which we involved students in group storytelling activities. I added my humanities background in discussing inter-cultural perspectives as we worked on cultural stories. We all modeled the techniques we wanted the students to work on.

One of the goals of the South Mountain Community College Storytelling Institute is to build community. The following quotes taken from student Electronic Journal entries or from their Final Exams illustrate that we not only had a community in our classroom, but the students did reach out and plan to continue reaching out into their own communities to share the power of story:

What I've learned in this class is the strength and power that people have within this art. Storytelling is an art I knew nothing about and had no interest in; however, as this semester comes to a close, I realize how important this art is in every aspect of life. Storytelling doesn't stop here. I have taken many courses but no class has had such a strong impact as this one. I hope to continue storytelling within my community and to others. Thanks Guys!

Well, for me, I think that my future with storytelling is already here. I am thinking up stories that I am going to write down during the summer when I'll definitely have the time to do so.

I don't ever want to stop storytelling. I want to keep on practicing, so that I might tell professionally and use it as an integral part of my curriculum when I begin to teach.

What more could three teachers ask for?

Note
Additional comments from students in the Integrated Studies on Storytelling are available on the Forum website: http://www.mcli.dist.maricopa.edu/labforum/

-t h e   f o r u m-

URL: http://www.mcli.dist.maricopa.edu/
     labyforum/Fall96/forum8.html