Tell Empowering Stories
Storytelling might be the hardest and most important habit to cultivate. It’s the habit that gives you complete power over what to think about what happens to you. Stories tell us who we are and what’s possible for us. The words we use to create and craft these stories are powerful. They can paint the same incident as an opportunity for growth, or as the “worst day ever!”
We introduced the idea of storytelling during Academy Week as we welcomed our newest teachers to the District. In order to build our own resilience, we must learn to be honest in sharing our own stories, but we must also learn to listen to the stories of others as well. We have a responsibility to build and foster our collective resiliency at the same time we work to build and cultivate our own.
Explore Chapter 3 of Onward: Cultivating Emotional Resilience in Educators for more detailed support for this month's habit of telling empowering stories. Consider including some of these as the topic of conversation during your weekly mentor/mentee meeting.
Read pages 69-87 for more information on topics like how to cultivate our awareness of when our core beliefs and values are causing us to misinterpret the stories of others, strategies for crafting new stories, and how storytelling can lead to collective empowerment. This is a particularly powerful chapter to guide us through beginning the year with classrooms that ensure ALL students are seen, heard, and valued.
The Danger of a Single Story
In this video, novelist Chimamanda Adichie shares her very personal account of how she found her authentic cultural voice and warns that if we hear only a single story about another person we risk a critical misunderstanding. Adichie goes on to explain that the danger of the single story is that it 'creates stereotypes' and that these stereotypes are not only untrue but also incomplete. They work to make one story become the only story and in doing so, deny everyone the ability to be seen, heard, and valued.
As you watch this powerful video, ask yourself, "How am I ensuring ALL of the stories in my classroom are being told AND listened to?"
