Liz Warren | Storyteller

“If you wanted to create an education
environment that was directly opposed to what the brain was good at doing, you
probably would design something like a classroom.  If you wanted to create a business
environment that was directly opposed to what the brain is good at doing, you
probably would design something like a cubicle. 
And if you wanted to change things, you might have to tear both of them
down and start — with story.” John Medina 

This
quote struck me since I am an educator who has been enamored with neuroscience
in the last few years.  It is time to
change our learning environments (at school and at work) and go with what we
know to be true!  What if we created
environments that were especially designed for storytelling?  What do you think that would that look like
in an elementary school?  A high school?  A college? 
The place where you work?  What
would it mean if schools and work places purposefully invited people to tell
stories in order to expand creativity, collaboration, community, morale,
productivity? 

Since
I am a Counselor at a community college, I could get very excited about working
in an environment where stories of struggle, perseverance, humor, overcoming
obstacles, personal growth, celebration, and achievement represented what our
department is about.  Would it change a
student’s view of counseling if they saw it as place to tell their story and
create new endings?  Would it change what
our environment looks like and feels like? 
Would it change how our team works together?  I suspect it would.   

Here
are a few other quotes that impacted me as I thought about creating learning
and work  environments that facilitate
storytelling:

“Through the sharing of stories, we create
the potential for new connections that link us together inside a new tale.”  (Moving Tales – Bringing Stories to Life

A new era in
storytelling designed for the iPad and iPhone http://www.moving-tales.com/downloads/MT_presspack_spring2011b.pdf).

 

“Stories
give meaning and context to what would otherwise be a collection of easily
forgettable facts.”   (I’m thinking of
this one in relationship to most college classes!)(Simon
Kelly, quoted in the Inspira Vita Blog http://inspiratavita.com/blog/).

“There is a
growing body of research that the power of narrative is not just a way to
engage people, but as the only way to change deeply entrenched views.” (“(Author)ity:
The Importance of Storytelling” by Simon Kelly, http://www.adweek.com/news/advertising-branding/authority-importance-storytelling-96467).