Bilingual Storytelling

Susan O’Halloran and Edie Armstrong perform at Plainfield School District this summer for K-5th graders.

June 30, 2011 Bilingual story tellers teach value of cultural communications “Mama” Edie Armstrong, dressed in African garb told a cute story about a family of mice who encountered a big, scary green-eyed cat while on a family picnic. Armstrong relayed the tale in Spanish while her storytelling partner, Sue O’Holloran translated it into English on June 27, 2011 to the classes of children attending Title 1 and Title III elementary summer school classes at River View Elementary School. Title 1 serves low income students, and Title III serves bilingual students. The mother mouse, and eventually the whole family began barking like dogs, and the cat ran away, leaving the mice to enjoy the rest of their picnic. The punch line was just as funny – and the point just as clear – in both languages: “It is very important to speak a second language!” the women said. O’Holloran and Armstrong presented assemblies for the students to teach them the importance of cultural awareness and appreciation. They sang songs, played special instruments from Africa, Mexico and Ireland, and shared personal stories to show how cultural information can enhance communications. O’Holloran also worked with teachers to teach how personal cultural stories can be integrated into the classroom. “The objective was to show teachers that they don’t have to be ‘the expert’ of every culture, but that they can include the children’s voices in the classroom via the students’ own stories,” said Dr. Carmen Ayala, assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction. O’Holloran will work with students to develop their own stories on July 20-21, 2011, before students present their own stories at another assembly. “District 202 continues to grow and change,” Ayala said. Student enrollment was about 96 percent white in 1990. Last school year it was about 59 percent white, 23 percent Latino, and 9 percent African American. Nearly 80 different languages were represented in District 202 last year. “This program was a great opportunity for us to serve the special needs of our English Language Learner students, engage in some unique teacher professional development, and continue to show our commitment to every student in our community,” Ayala said.

Why Use a Story Coach?

Yes! Even the best storytellers rely on coaches to help edit their new stories before they perform them in public. Syd came over to my house this week to work on a new story that he is going to perform at the Celtic Knot in Evanston, IL at 8 pm on March 20, 2011. It was an honor to work with him and he was a huge help to me as I am working on a new story as well. Storytelling: don’t try this art form alone! Get yourself a story coach!

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Setting the right tone for your message

All good outer work starts with inner work. We need to become good detectives on ourselves. Before telling a story around a social justice theme, interviewing people for your research, or inviting someone to speak to your class or organization, boldly delve into your own history of difference. Be willing to look at not only when you were on the receiving end of other people’s ignorance and hate, but the much harder task of when and how you’ve dished it out. We need to understand how we are like the things we want to change in order for our stories to achieve the tone that opens hearts. Get to know your defenses and your hiding places, your large reserve of prejudices and fears. When we cozy up to our shadow sides, we sound less righteous and people are less likely to close down when we speak. If we want to change hearts, it is wiser to speak of our journey, not what other people should say or do.

Plus, read everything you can about your subject. Learn from others in a Gettrespectful way, that is, don’t turn traditional outsiders into a project by asking a thousand questions. We need to take the responsibility to educate ourselves and be ready to share who we are. People who have been placed on the outside have enough burdens without feeling as though they are specimens under a microscope or spokesperson for their entire group We can look for ethnic film festivals or panel discussions where it’s set up for us to ask questions and the people involved are being paid for their time or, at least, voluntarily in education mode.

To tell our stories without sounding “preachy,” we need to use all the tools of the storytelling trade — suspense, humor, clear characters the audience can care about and so on. Listen to storytelling and political speeches that don’t work. Analyze when you started to shift in your seat because you felt as though you were being chastised. When does a description of a situation immobilize you with guilt and overwhelm you with its complexity and when do you feel compelled to pick up the phone, write a check or go to the meeting?

Video from Ireland

The struggle for gay rights goes on in every country. Thought you might like to see one way it’s being approached in Ireland.

Storytelling note: See how so much of good storytelling is what you don’t say. Not knowing what is going on creates interest. There is no punch line, no payoff if you give away too much information too soon.

Go to youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ULdaSrYGLQ