Digital Storytelling: Not Just Found in the Classroom
I received several Google alerts this week on the topic of digital storytelling being used not only in the field of education, but also in the community to unite people and celebrate people’s diverse stories and experiences. One of the articles was called “Using Storytelling to Reduce Ageism in the Community”, which explains a project run by Swinburne University in Melbourne, Australia. Students at the university collaborated with community groups to interview older people about their life stories and how they keep active, healthy, and social in their older age. The goal of this project is to educate others on the value of older people to prevent ageism and reduce the chances of elder abuse. Learning happened on both sides of this project as it was made to teach younger people, but the older participants acknowledged they learned about themselves through the project as well. The participants realized even they had their own negative beliefs on aging which had “a significant impact on their confidence, abilities, and the extent to which they engage with their community” (“Using Storytelling”, 2020). The completed video stories were presented to the community as part of the OPERA Project (Older People, Equity Respect and Ageing) to challenge the negative assumptions about getting older and can be seen here at this website: https://opera.eclc.org.au/stories.
A second Google alert I found is a newspaper article from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette announcing an event which was held on Monday, February 24th by the Whitehall Public Library. It was a potluck dinner to welcome community members, specifically refugees and immigrants who have resettled in the area. While this article did not provide many specific details, one part of the event was the sharing of a digital storytelling project, which the library created about immigration journeys to represent the different cultures the attendees came from. Another nice part to this event is that they had local ELL high school students stand in the buffet line to engage people of diverse language backgrounds in conversation and escort them to their seats. This helped integrate the different language groups together, instead of having them sit only with people they might know or share a language with. This made me think of an event I attended three years ago at Moravian College with the same goal of welcoming immigrants and refugees to the Lehigh Valley. It was a meaningful event where we shared a common meal, listened to representatives from the Christian, Jewish, and Muslim communities in our area, and engaged in meaningful dialogues around the table about what home means to us and how we can show hospitality to others. This quote from John Amos Comenius, known as the Father of Modern Education, in 1649 summarizes the goals of these events and, in my opinion, what we needs to be a global focus in 2020.
“We are all citizens of one world, we are all of one blood. To hate a man because he was born in another country, because he speaks a different language, or because he takes a different view on this subject or that, is a great folly. Desist, I implore you, for we are all equally human…. Let us have but one end in view, the welfare of humanity.” (John Amos Comenius, 1649)
While our course readings in this unit focused on using digital storytelling in the second language classroom, these two articles show that it can also be used to unite people of different ages, races, and backgrounds for community outreach and events. I enjoyed seeing these examples of how digital stories can help celebrate the diversity and lead to the acceptance of others.
References:
Sodergren, R. (2020, February 19). Potluck dinner offers a neighborly welcome to longtime and new residents. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved from https://www.post-gazette.com/life/food/2020/02/19/Whitehall-Public-Library-Baldwin-school-district-potluck-dinner/stories/202002190004
Using storytelling to reduce ageism in the community. (2020, February 24). Retrieved from http://www.swinburne.edu.au/news/latest-news/2020/02/using-storytelling-to-reduce-ageism-in-the-community.php
Courtney,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading your blog post this week! The article about digital storytelling a project outside of the classroom was great. I love the idea of "telling the story" utilizing digital storytelling of older people living in the community in Australia. This is a wonderful way for people to in the community to learn more about their elders and their lives whom they are sharing their community with. I also love the fact that the students who participated in this project were able to gain valuable lessons from the elders involved in the project. This was such an awesome way for digital storytelling to be utilized, and a wonderful way to honor elders in the community and provide connections between community members. Thanks for sharing a feel good article!