The knowyourself name comes from the Gaelic phrase Tha fios agad fhèin, which translates as “the knowledge is upon you“, often added at the end of a Scottish statement as “aye, you know yourself“. This Celtic / Delphic alignment came to me during a solo day with the Natural Change project in Knoydart along with the conceptualisation of knowyourself.me – Storytelling and Community Philosophy.
Groups can participate in knowyourself.me sessions in their original form at https://auchgoylefarm.com/ . We offer bespoke sessions to honour our traditional tales, myths and legends and explore how they manifest themselves upon and within the many layers of our “selves”.
Sessions would typically last two hours: including time outdoors to gather wood to kindle a metaphorical fire circle; a community philosophy session with full facilitation by a professional storyteller with 21 years experience with his stories. Cost £150 per session.
Knowyourself.me model – approx 1 – 1.5 hours duration – in a sheltered environment with access to the outside.
Introductions
Short story shared
Participants get free time outside to collect small kindling sized sticks for a metaphorical fire. This is also a comfort break.
Participants gather together and agree on a set of rules for community philosophy session (one speaker at a time – respect other views, etc)
Main story shared
Each participant is invited to suggest a discussion point – these are collated and an initial discussion point agreed.
Sticks are shared out equally between the participants and each stick represents a contribution to the discussion – one stick = one statement. The sticks are placed centrally into a metaphorical fire. The discussion is allowed to flow and will conclude naturally.
The knowyourself.me (KYS) process returns traditional stories to their role as educational resources rather than casual entertainment. We respect that school leaders need to see how any activity complies with national and local policies like Getting it Right For Every Child (GIRFEC) and the Curriculum for Excellence (CfE) so we have prepared this document to evidence how much the KYS process aligns to both GIRFEC and Experiences and Outcomes (E&Os) of the CfE. We have also evidenced how it complies with the United Nations Rights of the Child art 29 and provided evidence of how it can help bridge the attainment gap.
United Nations Rights of the Child
Article 29 of the UNCRC says that a child or young person’s education should help their mind, body and talents be the best they can. It should also build their respect for other people and the world around them. In particular, they should learn to respect:
their rights and the rights of others
their freedoms and the freedoms of others
their parents
the identity, language and values of countries— including their own.
Education should prepare children and young people for a responsible life in a free society. It should teach them how to live in an understanding and tolerant way that is non-violent and that respects the environment. (1)
Knowyourself.me is an excellent expression of article 29 – UNCRC. With equality and respect for the views of others inherent in the process it embodies freedom of thought; and the expression of those thoughts. In addition, there is no better way to learn about a countries’ identity, language and values than through its traditional myths, legends and folk tales.
Getting It Right For Every Child (GIRFEC)
The GIRFEC model has eight wellbeing indicators, also known as “SHANARRI”, that knowyourself.me complements well. The relevant elements of knowyourself are shown as green text on the diagram below.
Curriculum for Excellence : responsibility of all practitioners (3)
CfE expects to see Health and Wellbeing, Literacy and Numeracy to be developed in as many school activities as possible – the KYS process excels at this.
Health and wellbeing across learning
“Learning through health and wellbeing promotes confidence, independent thinking and positive attitudes and dispositions. Because of this, it is the responsibility of every teacher to contribute to learning and development in this area.
The responsibilities of all include each practitioner’s role in establishing open, positive, supportive relationships across the school community, where children and young people will feel that they are listened to, and where they feel secure in their ability to discuss sensitive aspects of their lives; in promoting a climate in which children and young people feel safe and secure; in modelling behaviour which promotes health and wellbeing and encouraging it in others; through using learning and teaching methodologies which promote effective learning; and by being sensitive and responsive to the wellbeing of each child and young person.”
Everything about the KYS process encourages an open positive and supportive community. It employs the traditional storytelling setting of a circle of people. In the case of KYS we sit around a metaphorical fire and, as such each person holds a position of equality in the circle. The storyteller emphasises that it is the story that is the special “guest” rather than the storyteller, and that the purpose of the process is to explore the story for the benefit of all participants, including the storyteller. Powerful traditional tales delivered properly will captivate the audience and create an environment of effective listening. It is important to recognise how the words “once upon a time” transport our selves to a place a safety and security! The phrase opens a portal to the realm of the story where we have explored our hopes and fears for countless generations
During the community philosophy stage the process excels at providing an environment where the children are listened to and can discuss all aspects of their lives. Following the sharing of a traditional story each child is invited to offer a question for discussion on the community of enquiry session. Participants are able to use elements of the story that resonate in their own lives as a proxy for peer-to-peer learning and development.
One example of a benchmark that can be achieved through traditional storytelling is “I am learning skills and strategies which will support me in challenging times, particularly in relation to change and loss.” One of the very popular tales told by Duncan Williamson is Death in a Nut. It is a “jack tale” and involves Jack stopping death from taking his mother, but in doing so he stops everything from dying and chaos ensues. It is a great example of how we use stories to navigate life events.
In some cases it is a subtle way for the group to steer one of their own to reflect on their own actions. (e.g. One group was facing significant disruption from one pupil. Although this pupil listened attentively to the story – world tale – “Childe Roland” he persisted in being problematic throughout the rest of the process. When the group had a blind vote about what question they wanted to explore together they choose “why did the child not do as they were told in the first place?” the group then dissected the motivations and implications of the disrupter’s behaviour by analysing the actions of the character. It was cathartic and empowering for the group members and a not combative way for them to feedback to the unruly pupil).
In addition, each participant has an equal amount of “talking sticks” which is a physical representation of an equal share of talking time. Each stick is a child’s right to speak and be listened to. (e.g. When I started delivering sessions to a teenage book group at a library I was informed of a particular participant never contributed her thoughts or ideas into book group discussions. The librarian was delighted to see her contribute quietly during the first session and at each subsequent session.)
Literacy across learning
“Language and literacy are of personal, social and economic importance. Our ability to use language lies at the centre of the development and expression of our emotions, our thinking, our learning and our sense of personal identity. Language is itself a key aspect of our culture. Through language, children and young people can gain access to the literary heritage of humanity and develop their appreciation of the richness and breadth of Scotland’s literary heritage. Children and young people encounter, enjoy and learn from the diversity of language used in their homes, their communities, by the media and by their peers.”
Everything about KYS complements the literacy requirements of the CfE – it is overflowing with examples of how we, as a group, develop our literacy skills in the realms of “Enjoyment and choice”; “Tools for listening and talking” and “Understanding, analysing and evaluating” – the very essence of knowyourself.me is to experience a piece of Scotland literary heritage and then explore it as a group of creative, collaborative and critical thinkers. What is crucially important is that the process is fully inclusive as it uses the spoken word to convey the text so that all learners can experience it equally.
Numeracy across learning
The KYS process complements the CfE requirement to “develop essential numeracy skills which will allow me to participate fully in society” in two areas of the process.
Firstly – the collection and distribution of “firewood for a metaphorical fire” – the participants are asked to spend some time collecting a handful of windfall wood to act as kindling for a fire – once this is collected the group are asked to share it out equally – with minimal interventions from the storyteller the group work out the size of the group and number of windfall kindling sticks and share it – this may be achieved through mental maths division or disbursement to each member one at a time.
Secondly – The group are asked to identify a key question for discussion. Each participant is asked to offer a question and the group then selects which one is used to initiate the community philosophy session. The process can be done in a variety of ways and it’s helpful to get the group to decide which way they want to process the results. They sometimes opt for a blind vote; tally marks; post it note bar graphs or whatever. Whichever way is employed the young people are processing their own data.
The tables below show the current E’s and O’s that are met with the consistent delivery of knowyourself.me. The basic bones of the knowyourself process are explained as:-
The knowyourself (KYS) process is delivered in a group circle (GC). Then we go outside to search for windfall wood to act as talking sticks (STS) and the pupils then distribute the talking sticks (DTS) evenly among the group. Sessions then involve the sharing of Scottish stories (S-Scot); local stories (S-Local) and stories prompted by the pupils (S-Pupil). The community philosophy element starts with the pupils offering a question for discussion (OQ). They then democratically choose a question (CQ) to start the community philosophy sessions (P4C).
Languages Gaelic (learners)
I gain a deeper understanding of my first language and appreciate the richness and interconnected nature of languages
S-Scot S-local P4C KYS
I enhance my understanding and enjoyment of other cultures within and outwith Scotland, including Gaelic, and gain insights into other ways of thinking and other views of the world
S-Scot S-Local S-Pupil P4C KYS
Literacy – Experiences and Outcomes
communicate, collaborate and build relationships
GC/KYS/P4C
reflect on and explain my literacy and thinking skills, using feedback to help me improve and sensitively provide useful feedback for others
P4C
engage with and create a wide range of texts in different media, taking advantage of the opportunities offered by ICT
S-Pupil
develop my understanding of what is special, vibrant and valuable about my own and other cultures and their languages
S-Scot/S-Local/S-Pupil
explore the richness and diversity of language, how it can affect me, and the wide range of ways in which I and others can be creative
S-Scot/S-Local/S-Pupil/P4C
extend and enrich my vocabulary through listening, talking, watching and reading
S-Scot/S-Local/S-Pupil/P4C
Numeracy- Experiences and outcomes
develop essential numeracy skills which will allow me to participate fully in society
DTS/CQ
apply skills and understanding creatively and logically to solve problems, within a variety of contexts
CQ
Expressive Arts-Experiences and outcomes
enables me to experience the inspiration and power of the arts
S/P4C/KYS
recognises and nurtures my creative and aesthetic talents
GC/S/KYS
allows me to develop skills and techniques that are relevant to specific art forms and across the four capacities
S/KYS
provides opportunities for me to deepen my understanding of culture in Scotland and the wider world
S/P4C/KYS
is enhanced and enriched through partnerships with professional arts companies, creative adults and cultural organisations
KYS
Religious and Moral Education-Experiences and outcomes
recognise religion as an important expression of human experience
S-Scot/S-Local/S-Pupil
learn about and from the beliefs, values, practices and traditions of Christianity and the world religions selected for study, other traditions and viewpoints independent of religious belief
S-Scot/S-Local/S-Pupil
explore and develop knowledge and understanding of religions, recognising the place of Christianity in the Scottish context
S-Scot/S-Local/S-Pupil
investigate and understand the responses which religious and non-religious views can offer to questions about the nature and meaning of life
S-Scot/S-Local/S-Pupil/C4E/KYS
recognise and understand religious diversity and the importance of religion in society
S-Scot/S-Local/S-Pupil/C4E/KYS
develop respect for others and an understanding of beliefs and practices which are different from my own
S-Scot/S-Local/S-Pupil/C4E/KYS
explore and establish values such as wisdom, justice, compassion and integrity and engage in the development of and reflection upon my own moral values
S-Scot/S-Local/S-Pupil/C4E/KYS
develop my beliefs, attitudes, values and practices through reflection, discovery and critical evaluation
S-Scot/S-Local/S-Pupil/C4E/KYS
develop the skills of reflection, discernment, critical thinking and deciding how to act when making moral decisions
C4E/KYS
make a positive difference to the world by putting my beliefs and values into action
C4E/KYS
establish a firm foundation for lifelong learning, further learning and adult life.
KYS
Sciences-Experiences and outcomes
develop a curiosity and understanding of their environment and their place in the living, material and physical world
S-Scot/S-Local/S-Pupil/C4E/KYS
making informed personal decisions and choices
KYS
expressing opinions and showing respect for others’ views
GC/C4E/KYS
developing informed social, moral and ethical views of scientific, economic and environmental issues
S-Scot/S-Local/S-Pupil/C4E/KYS
developing self-awareness through reflecting on the impact, significance and cultural importance of science and its applications to society
S-Scot/S-Local/S-Pupil/C4E/KYS
discussing and debating scientific ideas and issues
C4E
develop curiosity and understanding of the environment and my place in the living, material and physical world
S-Scot/S-Local/S-Pupil/C4E/KYS
demonstrate a secure knowledge and understanding of the big ideas and concepts of the sciences
S-Scot/S-Local/S-Pupil/C4E/KYS
develop skills for learning, life and work
GC/C4E/KYS
apply safety measures and take necessary actions to control risk and hazards
STS
recognise the impact the sciences make on my life, the lives of others, the environment and on society
S-Scot/S-Local/S-Pupil/C4E/KYS
recognise the role of creativity and inventiveness in the development of the sciences
S-Scot/S-Local/S-Pupil/C4E/KYS
develop an understanding of the Earth’s resources and the need for responsible use of them
STS/ S-Scot/S-Local/S-Pupil/C4E/KYS
express opinions and make decisions on social, moral, ethical, economic and environmental issues based upon sound understanding
C4E/KYS
develop as a scientifically-literate citizen with a lifelong interest in the sciences
KYS
establish the foundation for more advanced learning and future careers in the sciences and the technologies.
KYS
Social Studies-Experiences and outcomes
develop my understanding of the history, heritage and culture of Scotland, and an appreciation of my local and national heritage within the world
S-Scot/S-Local/S-Pupil/C4E/KYS
broaden my understanding of the world by learning about human activities and achievements in the past and present
S-Scot/S-Local/S-Pupil/C4E/KYS
develop my understanding of my own values, beliefs and cultures and those of others
S-Scot/S-Local/S-Pupil/C4E/KYS
develop my understanding of the principles of democracy and citizenship through experience of critical and independent thinking
GC/C4E/KYS
learn how to locate, explore and link periods, people and events in time and place
S-Local/S-Pupil/KYS
learn how to locate, explore and link features and places locally and further afield
S-Local/S-pupil/KYS
engage in activities which encourage enterprising attitudes
C4E/KYS
establish firm foundations for lifelong learning and for further specialised study and careers
KYS
Technologies-Experiences and outcomes
develop understanding of the role and impact of technologies in changing and influencing societies
S-Scot/S-Local/S-Pupil/C4E/KYS
contribute to building a better world by taking responsible ethical actions to improve their lives, the lives of others and the environment
C4E/KYS
gain the skills and confidence to embrace and use technologies now and in the future, at home, at work and in the wider community
S-Pupil/KYS
Awareness of technological developments (Past, Present and Future), including how they work.
S-Scot/S-Local/S-Pupil/C4E/KYS
Impact, contribution, and relationship of technologies on business, the economy, politics, and the environment.
S-Scot/S-Local/S-Pupil/C4E/KYS
critical thinking through exploration and discovery within a range of learning contexts
GC/C4E/KYS
discussion and debate
GC/C4E
presentation and communication skills
OQ/CQ/P4C
awareness of sustainability
S-Scot/S-Local/S-Pupil KYS
Emotional Literacy
A storytelling and community philosophy project was delivered In Glasgow in 2005, prior to the full launch of CfE in Scottish schools (5) – The project did measure and report on the significant emotional Literacy outcomes.
“A standardised test was used as a measure of whether children involved in the project showed significant increases in ‘emotional literacy’, compared with children who were not involved in the project. ‘Emotional literacy’ refers to an individual’s skills in areas such as self-awareness, emotional resilience, motivation, and handling of emotions and relationships – all areas reputedly affected by regular involvement in a Community of Enquiry.
To determine whether any changes of statistical significance had occurred over the year, paired tests were carried out comparing the before and after results for the two sets of data, with significance identified by a measure called the p value. The lower the p value, the higher the likelihood of any change being significant. A p value smaller than 0.05 was used as the level of significance: any values higher than this are deemed not significant as it is highly possible changes were due to random factors.
Variable
Experimental group p score (n=98)
Control group p score (n=33)
Pupil score
0.096
0.219
Parent total
0.022
0.145
Teacher total
0.368
0.503
These results would imply that a significant increase in emotional intelligence was noted by parents of the children involved in the project (the ‘experimental group’) but not of the parents of the control group children.”
Bridging the attainment gap
The attainment gap continues to plague Scottish education, and we believe knowyourself.me is an effective tool to bridge that gap. Everything about knowyourself is about equality. Philosophy for Children is a key component of the process and there has been empirical research into how P4C can impact on the learning of disadvantaged pupils. The Sapere website holds extensive evidence here https://www.sapere.org.uk/what-is-p4c/research-evidence/
Below are some excerpts from that research:-
” Free School Meal eligible children who took part in P4C, made 4 months’ additional progress in reading, 3 months’ in maths and 2 months ’ in writing ” (6)
“10-12-year-olds having 16 months of P4C showed significant standardized gains in verbal and also non-verbal and quantitative aspect of reasoning, consistent across intervention schools and gender. The most significant gains were for pupils who started at a lower pre-test ability – these pupils are usually the most socially disadvantaged. The control group did not gain in any aspect” (7)
They completed a two-year follow-up to this research and:
“the significant pre-post cognitive ability gains in the experimental group in primary school were maintained towards the end of their second year of secondary school …The control group showed an insignificant but persistent deterioration in scores from pre- to post-test to follow-up.“
“The study provides evidence of maintained cognitive gains from collaborative philosophical inquiry, transferred across contexts.”
The Trickey and Topping report also showed that children in intervention groups reported increased self-esteem and showed evidence of ‘significant reduction in dependency and anxiety and of greater self-confidence’, particularly for girls (8).
Where schools were implementing P4C, teachers and pupils found it enjoyable, engaging and that it encouraged pupils to share opinions in a non-judgmental way, finding it particularly beneficial for English as an Additional Language pupils, those who lacked confidence or Special Educational Needs pupils.
In addition, no negative impacts were found, confirming that schools can reap all the benefits of P4C – in terms of social, emotional, behavioural and well-being outcomes – without reducing reading or maths outcomes.
Because of its impact across cognitive and social domains philosophical enquiry develops seven of the top 10 skills for the future:
Analytical thinking; Creative thinking; Resilience, flexibility and agility; Motivation and self-awareness; Curiosity and lifelong learning; Empathy and active listening; Leadership and social influence :2023 Research World Economic Forum (9)
Interventions for Equity
Schools receive guidance on how they may reduce the attainment gap.
One of the most relevant is The Interventions for Equity guidance at Education Scotland (10). It references the Education Endowment Foundation’s teaching and learning Toolkit (11) as an effective and measurable way to evaluate the effectiveness of interventions.
We are pleased to report that three of the highest scoring interventions are integral to the knowyourself.me process :-
Collaborative learning approaches = High impact for very low cost based on limited evidence
Metacognition and self-regulation = Very high impact for very low cost based on extensive evidence
Oral language interventions = Very high impact for very low cost based on extensive evidence
Lon fhìrinn na sgeòil . The truth is in the story
References:-
Children and Young People’s Commissioner Scotland UNCRC Simplified Articles Article 29
5. Storyteller in Schools Project :-A report into the effects of a Storytelling and Community of Enquiry approach to learning in six primary schools By Julie Dawid The Village Storytelling Centre Glasgow August 2005.
6. 2015 Research Dr Nadia Siddiqui and Prof Stephen Gorard Durham University Gorard, S., Siddiqui, N. & See, B.H. (2017). Can ‘Philosophy for Children ’ improve primary school attainment? Journal of Philosophy of Education 51 (1):5-2
7. 2007 Clackmannanshire Research Prof Steven Tricky and Prof Keith Topping University of Dundee Topping K, J. Tricky, S. (2007) Collaborative philosophical enquiry for school children: Cognitive effects at 10- 12 years. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 77, 271-288. The British Psychological Society
The core story range of the knowyourself.me sessions have been developed over twenty one years of researching and sharing. Some of the vignette stories were told to me by my father. The core range of “Stories of the People Scotland” are from the four main cultural influences that created modern Scotland.
From this we start to explore local stories – Argyll is lucky enough to lay claim to great storytellers including Duncan Williamson. There are excellent resources that hold stories in their unadulterated form such as the School of Scottish Studies and Tobar an Dualchais.
Many of our traditional stories help us reconnect with our place in the natural world. Reoccurring tropes like shapeshifting from human to fish to bird are present in stories to help us understand our place in a wider ecological frame. As explained by Mairéad Nic Craith, Professor of Public Folklore at University of the Highlands and Islands (12)
The animation of trees and mountains help us reimagine the natural landscape around us and the ever present “magical” elements help us look again at the constants of time and space. This is very much the realm of quantum physics, literally the science of the future, in the present.
For younger pupils a carefully selected repertoire of classic fairy tales provides an excellent introduction to Knowyourself.me. The power with fairy tales is immense and best summed up by the esteemed child psychologist and writer Bruno Bettelheim “Each fairy tale is a magic mirror which reflects some aspects of our inner world, and the steps required by our evolution from immaturity to maturity. For those who immerse themselves in what the faory tale has to communicate, it becomes a deep, quiet pool which at first seems to reflect only our own image, but behind it we soon discover the inner turmoils of our soul – its depth, and ways to gain peace within our selves and with the world, which is the reward of our struggles.” (13)
For older pupils we explore the classic stories of Greek myths “for the ancient Greeks and Romans, myths were everywhere…Myths provided a shared cultural language, and a tentacular, ever branching network of routes towards understanding the nature of the world, of human and divine life.”(14).Through knowyourself.me we can also explore the stories from the world’s religions through time.
Through these foundation stories we can cover every element of the curriculum, and more.
Story TELLING in education
The stories we discover and share in knowyourself.me are powerful tools for learning. So, why not just give each pupil one of the numerous collections of folk tale compilations available in libraries and book shops? It is the act of animating that story by telling it in a safe storytelling space that allows the story to flourish and become an active agent in the learning process. We suggest that story compilations are indeed made available for those pupils who want to research the stories further; find one for sharing in a knowyourself.me session and maybe fuel their interest in storytelling. The listeners of today are the tradition bearers of the future.
The founding patron of the Scottish storytelling centre – George Mackay Brown was quite clear “without the story, in which everyone living, unborn and dead participates men are no more than “bits of paper blown in the wind” (15). He saw the story as something more important than entertainment.
Stories project an emotional fingerprint into the fabric of the world and when they are retold magic happens. The Traditional Arts Working Group 2010 report to the Scottish Government stated “The arts of tradition- songs, music, dance, story – live continuously. Every time they are re-animated they consolidate a link in a chain that snakes back centuries to the individuals and communities that made and shaped them”(16). The philosopher Karl Popper proposes there are three Worlds at work in our reality – physically we are in World One , our minds are in World Two but the products of the mind including myths and legends exist in World Three (17). As such they are things and exist in our reality.
Carl Jung was one of the prominent ambassadors of stories as holders of something special – he specifically identified them as carriers of the building blocks that make us – “archetypes express themselves through myth and fairytale” (18). It is these story elements that make up our lives and this important work has been followed and elaborated on by Marie-Louise von Franz and Joseph Campbell.
When we start to look at stories with a respectful eye we can start to understand why they behave in such incredible ways. In the 1970’s Idris Shah wrote and published “World Tales” a collection of stories that have striking similarities in plot and message but told at very different times and places in the world. These tales were being told before global travel or even knowledge of other continents existed. Their cultural duplication remains unexplainable.
One example is “The Brahmins wife and the mongoose”, a story that exists in 5th century China but also appears in 13th century Wales as “Llewellyns Dog.” A very powerful story about how we interact with the nature that surrounds us. It is one of the first stories that John Muir recalls from his childhood – clearly it had a lasting impression on the father of the modern conservation movement.
Idres shah also comments “Many traditional tales have a surface meaning (perhaps just a socially uplifting one) and a secondary, inner significance, which is rarely glimpsed consciously, but it nevertheless acts powerfully on our minds. Perhaps, above all, the tale fulfils the function not of escape but of hope. The suspending of ordinary constraints helps people to reclaim optimism and to fuel imagination with energy for the attainment of goals: whether moral or material”(19)
Various academics have reported the positive effects of storytelling. In their book, Human Givens, Griffen and Tyrell write “In our technological civilisation we are flooded with factual information from a myriad of sources. But facts, on their own, don’t make us wise. And an excess of facts just raises our stress levels. What makes us wise is fitting facts into meaningful context, and that is the job of the right neocortex. We, therefore, firmly believe that the children need an education that involves history and stories – the patterns that give context and make learning a real experience. It has long been known that children and adults exposed to “classical” stories brimming with rich psychological templates) become more flexible in their thought processes, more creative and more intelligent as adults” (20)
The idea that the right neocortex is being utilised is important and was proposed decades ago by Dr Robert Ornstein – “Down the ages all good teachers have always been great storytellers, but only now do we have a physiological understanding of why it is necessary for them to be so. Research by Dr Robert Ornstein and others shows that, when people are listening to stories, their right hemisphere is very actively engaged in the process. Our left neocortex processes facts and factual information, whereas the right neocortex seems to be involved in creating and revising the “context” – the bigger picture-through which facts make sense.” (21).
During a radio interview to promote his book, The Master and his Emissary: The Divided Brain and the Making of the Western World. 2009 Dr Iain McGilchrist summed up the importance of stimulating and working our “right” side of the brain “The difference is one of attention. The left hemisphere has its own agenda which is to help us to manipulate and use the world. The right hemisphere has no preconceptions and simply looks out to the world for whatever there might be. It doesn’t have an allegiance to any particular set of values.
Over the course of time there has been a shift more and more, in the West, towards the view of the left hemisphere. Which is one of a mechanism. It affects our view of our relationship with the world and what the world is like. It results in a rather virtualising and self-referring world.
What it means in the end is that we have substituted a rather lifeless, mechanical, fragmented picture of the world which has robbed it of its complex changing interconnected quality. That has a huge impact on our view of ourselves as human beings and what we are doing on the planet and our relationship with it.”(22)
I find it difficult to express this information in a better way than the experts quoted above. In short, stories and storytelling can start manipulating and medicating the parts of our brains that will make us happier people and better global citizens. Maybe it was sharing stories that got us this far in the first place.
The simplest statement of the importance of stories comes from Albert Einstein “if you want your children to be intelligent read then fairy tales. If you want then to be more intelligent read then more fairy tales”(23)
Young people are in a process of transition. Traditional tales exist to assist them in the process “In most societies, including African tribes and the travelling people of Scotland, all stories were believed to have an educational function as well as being entertaining, so they were directed particularly at adolescents, who might pick up hints from them, at least on how to face the wider world with confidence and optimism: but they would also be appreciated by older people who had heard them before”(24) –
