Good Stories for Good Learning

Goals

The Good Stories for Good Learning Project aims to help educators enhance the learning of their students by:

• encouraging them to more frequently and systematically employ personal stories of their own, and
• making it possible for them to locate and borrow powerful, effective stories originating with colleagues elsewhere.

How did it all begin?

One day in 2004, Phil was telling a class at Clover Park Technical College about a communication concept. When he brought in a story from his own life which illustrated it, he noticed something: everyone in the classroom was paying attention. "What's going on here?" he asked himself. "Is my story really that wonderful?" Probably it wasn't, but this question led to more and more: "Do I use stories a lot in my teaching?" "Could I connect specific stories with specific ideas I want students to grasp?" "Does it matter if I tell a story about myself or about somebody else?" and so on... Read More

Theory

Research indicates that using well-selected stories in educational institutions can help students understand, learn, and grow. In fact, personal stories fit into almost every educator's "professional tool kit."

Get Involved!

You can participate by submitting stories, sharing comments about a particular story, or mailing us your suggestions and questions concerning this site.