Listen Then Tell

As storytellers, when we enter a new telling-environment, our first job is to listen, to watch – to learn who we are speaking to. Then, once our hearers are known to us, we will know the right story to tell.

That’s the theory, any way — the best case scenario. But...

Have you ever had a student who refused to be known? 

Have you ever struggled to find the right story, the right activity, the right way to connect with a student?

I’d like share a story with you about a friend of mine who is a teacher in Tasmania. She tried for weeks to break through to a new refugee boy from Africa named was Kwami. 

I call this story: Brave Kwami.

STORY - Brave Kwame

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Read the story, then come back here for the conclusion...

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Conclusion:

To feel safe in a new environment, most people need to hear a story, not from a book, but from deep within themselves. A story that teaches both them and those around them that they are ok — more than ok, that they are amazing. It is our job, as storytellers, to listen carefully until we hear their story and then tell it back to them.