Homo narrans, we are all storytellers!

Did you know that homo sapiens means "knowing person"? Some authors suggest that we should better call ourselves as homo narrans, "storytelling person". Our life is made of stories and it is, in fact, what differentiates us from other animals. We "know" because we are conscious of world and we are able to shape it through the "stories" we tell. We all learn, communicate and amuse ourselves through stories. So, without a doubt, we are all storytellers (and storylisteners!).

If stories are so important in our life why don't use storytelling in class? Traditionally storytelling has been used in pre-school and primary education. In this way, images such as the one below are quite common in our classrooms.




But what happens in secondary education? Teenagers are still storytellers and, indeed, they are going to be during all their life. And they enjoy listening stories as well! It is certain that the idea of a teacher in front of a class telling a story might not be very attractive for our students and, actually, it might not involve them too much into their own learning process. Therefore, don't you think using the tools that Internet offers us could be an excellent solution to bring storytelling to our secondary class? 

This blog is going to be my portfolio in a Digital Storytelling course. And I really hope it is going to be the perfect frame to learn about new strategies to work with my students and to take benefit from storytelling in the digital era.  

So, let's make our own story!





Xisca Castell



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