Reflection #8 - Story

  I have loved stories in every creation. While watching movies, reading novels, studying history and appreciating artworks, I could meet the fascinating stories in them which help me have a better understanding about not only the world but also myself. This chapter reminds me of my school days. I used to love make up and write a story. I was once in a trouble because I was writing a story during the music class. The teacher took the notebook from me and quickly read it. Then she called me and said “Even though this story is interesting but it is totally wasted on you. You’d better focus on preparing a test.” Eventually, I never got back my notebook. Maybe, because of this kind of experience, I might start to have bias toward story. I had been naturally accepted the idea that story is not really related to intellectual works as Pink mentioned that there are many people believing that stories amuse; facts illuminate, stories divert; facts reveal and stories for cover; facts are for real. However, my perspective has slowly changed after graduation. Even though, story hasn’t been important in school, I found that there were many places outside the school which earnestly need great stories. During this art education master’s program, inspired by many experiences, I could completely recognize the importance of story in education. 

“Stories are easier to remember- because in many ways, stories are how we remember. “Narrative imagining-story- is the fundamental instrument of thought.” (Pink)

”Rational capacities depend on it. It is our chief means of looking into the future of predicting, of planning and explaining… Most of our experience, our knowledge and our thinking are organized as stories. Story is just as integral to the human experience as design.” (Mart Tuner)

“Humans are not ideally set up to understand logic; they are ideally set up to understand stories.”

(Roger C. SCHANK)

  There are many reasons why story is significant and essential in education. I personally believe the most important reason story is valuable is because it can contain imagination. It could be considered a fake when it has strong imagination in it however, that doesn’t mean it is not valuable. That’s because human initially used imagination to come up with totally new ideas for the innovative inventions all around us even though they are easily taken for granted now such as car, air plane, movie, TV, smart phone, internet and etc. The stories containing this kind of invention used to be considered as someone else’s fake at some point in the past.    

  In terms of importance of story, arts would be the most effective education method in school curriculum. Art education cares about stories artworks contains and how to use stories involving imagination because is often used for understanding artworks and myself as an artist. As Pink mentioned, it is easier for many people to remember when they learn something through story it contain. Besides, it lasts so long. The information which is memorized during the short term wouldn’t last that long unless learner repeats or add personal experience to it because it focus primarily on memorization rather than understanding. While having VTS classes with my students, I have been very impressed how much efficiently narrative is used for higher level thinking. My students were continually developing and now they can make many various narratives, seeing the photograph only focusing on figure’s facial expression. Their stories are not only mixed with imagination based on cultural contexts, their experiences and background information but also work with emotions. The story activates their thinking skills, imagination and creativity. This has been a beneficial experience to me as a future art educator because I am convinced that the ability to encapsulate, contextualize and emotionalize which are required for the Conceptual Age could perfectly be developed through art education.  

The story is one of the basic tools invented by the human mind for the purpose of understanding. There have been great societies that did not use the wheel, but there have been no societies that did not tell the stories. (URSULA K. LE GUIN)