Stories are Entertainment or Edutainment?

Stories have existed from time immemorial and is traced back to Plato and Aristotle in European culture and to Vishnusharma and Buddhist monks in Indian. ( Mahabharata: a wonderful Story within a Poem...  
I am sure it predates even these names I have taken, as I do it off my hat and not actually give you information based on keen research. The need to mention it here is a desire for educationists to see it as a tool for learning.
My question is when Historically and Culturally we have used stories to enhance learn, why does Contemporary Society shy away from Story telling as a form of Entertainment and not as an important tool for Education.
What are your Views on this?

NCERT to my greatest delight has incorporated wonderful stories into their textbooks...just pick up Primary NCERT Texts and you will understand what I say.
Maths concepts are introduced with Stories...real life people and children talking and sharing their Daily interactions with different mathematical concepts like a girl selling junk (Kabadi wallah) talking about weights and measures and money concept.
Environmental studies has stories of the Bishnoi tribe, about Warli..and much more...

Yet what it lacks is effective teaching.
Great books but inadequate and poor execution at the classroom level, takes away from the tool that has been provided. Unless Teachers are trained to effectively use these tools provided, there is not going to be  a great qualitative change.

That brings me to another point that needs greater thought, may be in the next post. Great Stories exist, but what the Storyteller does with it is of tantamount importance.

Comments

  1. AshaJanuary 11, 2010 at 11:43 PM

    Why aren't stories used as a medium to enhance learning in contemporary society? I too have the same question, basically I am a freelancing life skill facilitator in many schools. We impart life skills through interesting stories.

    We allow the children to don thinking hats in historical stories and put forth questions to them what they would have done in such situations. Actually stories help them in improving their language/communication skills also like vocabulary, modulation etc. It also helps them to visualise. This concept of visualisation helps them in higher studies when they can visualise co-valent bonding etc. in science.

    But again story telling is an art. How we keep the children/elders glued by story telling is a knack only few people know.

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