Founding the storytelling movement in India

Interview – Geeta Ramanujam

Your experiences as the Founder of the Storytelling Movement in India and in many parts internationally too?

This is my feeling and thought that there is nothing new in what I am doing. It is like reinventing the wheel. Storytelling is as ancient as human time itself. We have always said at Kathalaya that the world is made up of stories not just atoms. Right from the time the first atom appeared, stories appeared. Human beings are social animals from the very beginning, sitting around the fire, where they shared food and along with the food stories. We must thank fire. All around the world, people have been moving in 18th and 19th centuries with the beginning of industrialization from small towns and villages to big cities. Historically in India, approximately from 1945 to 1990 there was nothing happening with storytelling – all due to nuclear families, the search of jobs, the moving away from traditional roots, Macaulayan education, there was no time to listen to stories! There were no grandmothers being heard as they narrated stories, no time for community gatherings. The only way children listened to a story was by reading them. Originally in India, we had listening, retelling of stories along with a discussion on them – that was the guruvul. All this got converted to reading and writing. When I was growing up, it was a mixture of tales that is a mixture of heard and read stories – my parents were from the old times from villages in Tanjore and Nagercoil – I both listened to stories and read them. There was both the oriental input and the western input. Curiosity is very important for learning, for growing up, if you didn’t wonder, if you are not curious you can’t learn. Stories became a diet and this diet was very nourishing for my soul. I became a teacher and a librarian – wherein I found that 45 minutes was all that was allotted to each class, it was all very divided. I figured out that the best way to teach concepts was through a story. I didn’t know I was starting a movement, it was like climbing a ladder quickly – teachers called, NGOs called – storytelling was tool that could be used everywhere. Teachers called to get help with concepts, NGOs on how to use stories for special education and for teaching the deaf mute. This waterbody of stories had many tributaries. And at that time, there was no competition as people did not know ‘what was storytelling?’. People didn’t challenge us much because they thought storytelling was not a ‘real business’. I wanted to give storytelling a genuine pedestal by professionalising it. I wanted it to have goodwill. It was the right time and the right thing happened – to be able to do all this without obstacles and to be able to build the whole universe of storytelling. I was one of the facilitators to make storytelling happen.

You used the symbol of the fire, could you elaborate on this key Indian metaphor?

What we call learning is rooted in our civilisation and its fondness for storytelling. Gypsies had it. So, it bards. This culture of learning through stories. If you look at the ancient Egyptian, Chinese and Indian civilisation, they were very ahead of modern western education and societies. Much of the learning was integrated with healing and therapy based. Of the therapy based traditions, India has strong storytelling roots. One of the earliest art based civilisations was the Indus valley or Harappan Civilisation. So many things we were doing ahead of its time. Our rishis were true seers and had the power of foresight. The Chinese, Egyptian, Mesopotamian, civilisations were all gifted with seers. The seers in the Indian civilisation were the rishis.  These Rishis foresaw the universal values, that is the basis of all storytelling. They also heard sounds from the cosmos, its vibratory patterns, these were converted to chants.

The elements – eternal and universal, have a way of syncing up with and helping human beings. In times of old, people wandered around and sat around trees waiting for ideas. One day, while sitting under a tree, early man heard a voice – this voice informed him that by bringing out the fire from the stone he will prosper. In those days early man used to eat raw meat. Once early man became a settler, he heard the sound from the stone and fire came out. Now he could cook his food.

There are these stories of Nachiketus in the Upanishads, who as a littleboy, who questioned whatever his father offered as sacrifice. His father, when a cow became old, would offer that as the danam. As a consequence of an altercation with his father, Nachiketus goes looking for Yama. The god of Death, Yama, is fascinated by the questions the boy has for him. Yama tells the boy the secrets of death and gives fire the name the Nachiketa Yagna. This is also known as the agni vidya. It is through the vidyas that people learn and the vidyas had stories behind them. Fire helped man settle down. Fire and flames were powerful in that they let man know that everything can’t be conquered.  Water and fire became very important. Pranayama is done for wind. That’s why in human life the elements are so important. The rishis could perceive the elements – they could see the tree in the seed.

How would you describe the potency of storytelling as a form?

The power of storytelling lies in that you sit near a person, when you listen to a story. The west has been very good with documentation. In storytelling, everything had to be told from the heart. It has to be felt and told. It comes from the heart. There had not been too much reasoning. Storytelling as a form looked like it was a very rote process and retentions helped. Because of retentions it helped in rethinking the story. Today, the same thing is converted to a digital form. When you see an animation the effect is not the same as person telling the story. In a telling, the energy of the person reaches the student.

In India the tradition we have come into is that the purpose of living was to live in service of others for the rishis. In the world this can be seen as well – In Egypt’s desert areas there were learned fakirs and Sufi ascetics, in China there was Confucious and then there was influence of the Buddha. They were role models and seers for who life had to be lived.  

On storytelling in Adivasi communities?

In the Adivasi communication they have a lot more oral traditions, lots of music and a lot of folklore. They will sing the story so beautifully. Santali tribals don’t have a written script. They still tell stories to impart knowledge to children, stories to impart knowledge to children – the stories of the first Diwali, the story of how a woman married a peacock, the story of why the lizard’s tail keep growing back. There is humour in the stories, music and songs. In Mangalore, there is a story for why two types of fish are not cooked together.

Could you talk about your experiences in setting up storytelling internationally?

I was asked to build a culture of storytelling. In Sweden, they had their culture and their teachers. They wanted to bring storytelling as a concept of learning. Before this storytelling was for performance and entertainment. They did not know that storytelling could be integrated with the classroom to set up a cultural curriculum. I helped them integrate storytelling with lifeskills and values. I trained them in the art of communication through storytelling. In Scotland, Sweden, Brazil – storytelling was all about building the bridge.

The science of teaching in a technology driven world – Interview with Chitkala Shanker

You have won many awards for teaching could you talk about these?

I was awarded the “Best District Teacher” award   by   the Olympiad foundation for the year 2014-15. I have won the “Shiksha Gaurav” – “National Teachers Award” 2018 from CED Foundation New Delhi. I have won the top performing school educator award and the progressive school educator award 2019 from the CED Foundation. I have won the Asian Educational Award 2020 virtually on September 5th 2020 for contribution to Educational Community.

Can you take us through your teaching career?

I started as a Lecturer in Stella Maris College in 1988. I was a Teacher in G. D. Matriculation School, Coimbatore from 1992-1996. I worked in Euro-Kids international pre-school, Chennai from August 2004 to April 2006. I then worked in Vales Billabong High International School, Chennai from June 2006 to 2008 and 2009- 2011. I worked at Dr. C.L. Metha Sishya Omr School from 2011 as senior teacher handling Physics, chemistry, Biology and EVS

for grades 6, 7, 8 and 9. I handled CHEMISTRY from grades 6 to 10 at DR.C.L. Mehta Sishya OMR School. I was the School Olympiad Co-ordinator for NSO, NCO, IMO, and IEO Examinations at Sishya Omr School from 2011. I worked in  Dr. C.L. Metha Sishya Omr School from June 2011 to September 7th 2016. Worked as senior co-ordinator and Head of the Department of Chemistry. I worked as the Centre Head at Babaji Vidhyashram OMR managing the Kindergarten section and acting vice principal taking care of academics and teacher related matters and documentation from November 14th 2016 to March 2018.  I was in charge of managing teacher observations, checking teacher lesson plans and teacher comments from grade 1 to grade 10. I was in charge of the Academic Documentation for the affiliation process. I was organising all the events of kindergarten and also reviewing all the major events of grade 1 to grade I worked as “PRIMARY HEAD” at AKG Public School from June 2018 to December 2018. I was in charge of checking question papers, comments of teachers in report cards, teacher observations, reviewing school events, conducting PTMs, whole school general administration. Joined VELS INTERNATIONAL School from February 2019 as Admin in charge and Science Subject Matrix Expert of the R and D divison of VELS GROUP OF SCHOOLS. I have enriched the Primary Science Curriculum based on the learning outcomes of Cambridge which is currently followed by kindle kids’ international school at Singapore. I am currently working as content developer for Science at TVS Educational Society from  December 13th 2021

Would you tell us about other career highlights?

I participated in the “Teachers Conference” 2013 conducted by Jane Good all International network and U.S. consulate General, Chennai on teacher’s involvement for Biodiversity conservation awareness. I participated and submitted a project in the workshop” I Can Make a Difference” conducted by Kuruvilla Jacob Foundation for promoting excellence in education in 2016. It was a proud moment when out of the 12 students sent from Dr. C. L.  Metha Sishya OMR School for ICSE board examination in the year 2016 four of my students secured A grade in Chemistry.

Could you talk about your own education?

I hold a B.Ed. and Cambridge International diploma for teachers and trainers. [CIDTT]. I have a M.Phil. in Bio-Chemistry from the University of Madras. I also hold an M.Sc. in Bio-Chemistry from the University of Madras and a B.Sc. in Chemistry from Stella Maris College, Madras.

Could you talk about your teaching journey?

I have worked as a teacher for 23 years with the last three years in curriculum development. It has been very enriching for me to work as a teacher. It has been a very exciting journey. It has been very refreshing. I have been surrounded by youngsters full of enthusiasm and fresh, novel ideas. I typically research a lot for my teaching. I find it very refreshing to talk to the young with fresh and varied ideas. I had a lot of students who would come with a lot of interesting questions. This has helped improve my personal knowledge. It has helped me evolve into a better person.

Could you talk about the importance of keeping yourself up to date as a teacher through continuous reading?

Newspaper reading is very important for teaching. I am a science teacher. I teach biology and chemistry, also physics and environmental sciences. My basic degree is in biochemistry. The newspapers carry a lot of articles on fresh developments in the sciences. Google searches also yield a lot of science related articles. For a teacher today it is very important to stay upto date with newspaper and internet reading.

Could you talk about the technologies you use in the classroom?

The development of technology has helped the teachers. For instance, in the classroom when I talk of diverse organisms, I find it useful to show videos and PPTs on the subject to enhance the learning of students. How we use technology depends on the subject in concern. For Chemistry we need to work in the lab, for EVS you need local projects and case studies. In India, dissection is banned and I use a virtual lab to show students the internal structure of organisms. Technology is very useful in this instance.

How do you ensure students are not burdened by the information overload that the internet has become?

I first teach and explain the basic concept to the student. Then, I use technology to reinforce what I have already taught. At this second level I show students examples of the concept through videos, PPTs and give references of articles to read. I essentially use technology to recapitulate the concept I have already taught. For me the use and power of technology aids to teaching is that they help in recapitulating that which has been taught in the classroom.

As I explain a complex concept, I show an appropriate video side by side. This helps instil the concept in the class.

How do you locate videos to show to students?

I look for videos in biology and chemistry sites. I look for videos based on the grade level and also the concept I am teaching. The videos may not exactly correspond to the grade level and may have higher level information. But since I use science videos to supplement the information that I have already taught, even if the videos contain a little additional information it only stimulates the imagination of the child.  Students learn more this way and the additional information fascinates them.

How do you keep abreast of new technologies?

When I completed my studies there was no computer. As I was completing my Mphil the first computer entered India. I took a MS office course to learn computers. I learnt PPT for use in the classroom. In the pandemic time, use of zoom meetings became imperative. When I was designing the curriculum for a Singapore based school, I learnt to design google forms. I had used google forms extensively for this project.

What educational theories do you find useful?

Behaviourism, Cognitivism, Constructivism and Humanism are some theories I use in the classroom. Connectivism is the theory of our times, the 21st century theory. It teaches us to use technology effectively to do our research and to teach. I do believe in student led learning and self-learning. The LAAN theory or Learning As A Network Theory is useful in teaching about knowledge management with technology enabled learning, with learner centric knowledge involvement. Learning theories can be an effective way to get through to the learner.

How do you learn new educational theories?

Going in for professional development is the best way to pick up learning theories. I have completed the Cambridge CIDTT where I learnt the latest educational theories. The schools I have worked in have conducted various workshops which cover new educational theories. Once you get a understanding of the educational theories at courses and workshops you can take them to the classroom to see what works.

Your message for other teachers?

Reading is very essential for teachers and google has made accessing knowledge very easy. It is imperative for teachers to do research on their subject.

Anthony J. D’Angelo  has said, “Develop a passion for learning. If you do, you will never cease to grow.”

Enter the classroom with E cubed – Energy, enthusiasm, and engagement with learners. It helps the students learn, and teaching helps keep the process of learning alive. Never think of teaching as a chore. It is important to learn, unlearn and relearn. 

J Krishnamurti has said, “There is no end to education. It is not that you read a book, pass an examination, and finish with education. The whole of life, from the moment you are born to the moment you die, is a process of learning.”